No, this is NOT a "watershed moment!"

[markpkessinger]

Posted this just now on social media:

No, this isn't a "watershed moment" for the country. Nor is it, and nor should it be, ann "inflection point" for the left. I'm sorry, but I resolutely refuse to engage in this ongoing hagiography oc Charlie Kirk. His murder was tragic in the same sense that anyone's death as a result of gun violence is tragic. But neither his life nor his death were any more important than that of any of the 60 people who died in the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, or the 49 victims, most of whom were gay, who died in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, or the 27 victims of the Sandy Hook shooting (20 of whom were children). (Actually, I might even argue that the lives and deaths of those 20 children at Sandy Hook were MORE important than that of Charlie Kirk!). Nor was he any more important than ANY of the thousands of people lost to gun violence in this country. Yet none of their deaths merited a lowering of flags to half-staff. Their bodies weren't flown home on Air Force 2. And these deaths, Kirk argued, were "worth it" in order to preserve the Second Amendment.

Much has been said about Kirk being a great advocate of the First Amendment, and how he sought to engage in "civil" dialogue with those with whom he disagreed with. Sorry, no, that just doesn't wash. Kirk was, of course, unfailingly polite and courteous in his back-and-forth with his opponents. But the ideology he was promoting -- how ever civilly and politely he presented it -- was hateful to its core! When a person argues that extending the same civil rights he gets to take for granted to a group that had historically been denied them was a "mistake," that is the very essence of hate. Or when he argues that "God's perfect law" states that gay people, who have long been disproportionately the targets of violence, should be stoned to death (and then tries to pretend he wasn't calling for violence against gay people because he didn't explicitly call for capital punishment of gay people _today_), again, that is inherently hateful.

Kirk, like many bigots before him, was savvy enough to understand that he needed to mask his hateful ideology behind a veneer of politesse in order to be taken seriously by the mainstream. But a polite bigot is still a bigot, and a hateful ideology is no less a hateful ideology when presented politely.or "civilly."

And you want to know what else is hateful? The assignations of collective blame against an entire group of citizens for the actions of one individual, who, I might add, wasn't even a member of the group being blamed. Elected Republicans continue to spew this, blaming the "radical left" for the actions of a shooter who wasn't even part of the left, despite the fact that virtually every Democratic leader came out immediately with a full-throated denunciation of Kirk's murder. Nobody on the left has anything to apologize for with regard to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Kirk promoted an ideology of hate, and was ultimately consumed by the very hatred he himself had helped to foster!

[ITAL]

1. Not sure

If you meant that none of the thousands of people who died of gun deaths caused flags to be flown at half staff was inclusive of the mass shootings you mentioned, but Sandy Hook, Pulse Night Club, and the Las Vegas shootings were marked by flags being flown at half staff.

I agree with you that Kirk's shooting doesn't warrant the honor, but I wasn't sure if you were saying that none of those other incidents got that mark of respect...but they all did.

[progressoid]

5. True.

If I'm not mistaken, even Ron DeSantis has ordered flags in FL lowered every year to mark the date of the Pulse shooting.

[markodochartaigh]

2. Well,

Archduke Ferdinand wasn't exactly the most powerful ruler in Europe. Just because something shouldn't be a watershed moment doesn't mean that it won't be. Conflicts often arise not because rational thinkers would conclude that the issue of the moment warrants conflict, but because passions have been stirred up.

[leftstreet]

3. The live filming of it is certainly a factor

Shocking, blood-spurting, instant death...the stuff of video games and movies

If no one had filmed it - we just heard he'd been shot somewhere- I think it would be different

[Keepthesoulalive]

4. You are right

But this admin is about a tv reality show and they want eye balls and brain suspension. Most Americans don’t care about anything other than the next reality show hit.

[myohmy2]

6. what...

...is the " watershed moment" are so many considering his death a " watershed moment"...

...to me his death is secondary to the reaction and is a barometer of the condition of our country...

...and it ain't good...

[Deminpenn]

7. The only "watershed" thing is that conservatives

have seen how hateful rhetoric can come back to bite them and it scares them.

[Deminpenn]

9. I recognize the irony

Last edited Sun Sep 14, 2025, 04:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Conservatives seem to be a fearful lot overall.