I liked watching Charlie Kirk debates. I generally like debates - probably why I made this forum category.
I tended to disagree with many stances Charlie had, but I also respected that he was usually cordial in the debate. (in contrast I often agree with bill maher but hes sortuva dick). I enjoy hearing opinions different from my own, when shared cordially, as it feels more like education and widening of aperture. I don’t have to agree, but it’s helpful to understand. I often watched clips of his on TikTok from the various college campus tours - and a few of those “one guy debates 20 others” clips (I dunno what those are called but they’re usually fun to watch). it wasn’t always clean or cordial, or fair, but it was discourse. that’s good.
now, to be clear, Charlie said some shit. That’s not cool.
also to be clear, his being murdered is beyond awful. for everyone. (note: I legit don’t understand the distinction between assassination and murder. I disagree with the maybe the elevation to flags lowered, but whatever term it needs to be is fine by me)
political violence is bad. regular violence is bad! the temperature is too hot. the convo I joined in this forum a few weeks back is in the same exact bad state. last one was liberal, this one is conservative, neither label actually matters, as folks are being hurt or killed because of opinions or words or lifestyles.
For me it’s sort of the twilight zone. Trump has freed people that violently went after law enforcement in his name. And his base seems to be ok with it. And he seems to be set to use Kirk to go after his political foes. What would have been acceptable not that long ago is now the norm. I honestly hadn’t watched anything with Kirk in it till he was assassinated and now I get the impression of how huge the white wash is. At one point he was saying Biden should be locked up for treason or even be executed! Charlie Kirk should still be alive today but the treason and execution stuff is garbage that he helped normalize.
Thanks for a break in the crazy!
