My first reaction was I wasn’t even aware of who this person was. Then come to find out Charlie Kirk was a conservative activist and influencer that apparently helped Trump retake the presidency last year.
As all my readers know, I’m not a conservative. But that being said, I also abhors political violence in any guise. It smacks of anarchy and doesn’t promote civil governance, discourse, or debate. It sends a message to everyone around the world that this country is still backward living in the wild west, and we aren’t civilized or intelligent enough to lead this planet.
I have no problem debating the issues that matter most to me and expect whoever opposes me will do so civilly and not threaten violence or insult. Unfortunately, this country has never been famous for civil discourse or debate. Too many times, violence rules the day regardless of time.
I grew up learning as a child about John Kennedy’s assassination, and to this day, no one knows for certain why Lee Harvey Oswald shot him. Jack Ruby silenced that query when he shot Oswald.
At least the assassination of Robert Kennedy was more clear-cut, mostly because Sirhan Sirhan lived to be tried and convicted, telling the world he hated Kennedy because he supported Israel and Sirhan was Palestinian.
There were others too that be it madness or some other issue, such as David Chapman killing John Lennon because he believed he was John Lennon.
Now, it seems school shootings have grabbed the headlines, and until today, political assassinations took a back seat. I have hoped and prayed this kind of mass violence would end in the near future. But unfortunately, that is a pipe dream.
Jerry Schellhammer 