Prologue/Foreshadow
Things to prepare for, based on what we have recently witnessed
Don’t speak ill of the dead.
I’m not saying anything about his corpse, but he was a shitty person when he was alive.
The assassination of Charlie Kirk foreshadows another, upcoming event: The death, by whatever cause, of Donald Trump. The past several days have been prologue; the popular MAGA response will likely follow a similar pattern.
First, there will be an immediate sanctification of the deceased by supporters. With Kirk, this took the form of “He has a wife and children,” framing all forthcoming commentary. The priority is to confer immunity upon the deceased and all that he was known for while he was alive. Kirk was repeatedly referred to as “young,” despite being a full-fledged adult with a wife and kids, much closer to middle aged than 18. This was to soften his stances and make them appear innocent misanthropy; teen rebellion, at worst.
Soon after, and then concurrently, comes the hagiography: In Kirk’s case, he became Saint Charles the Vocal, defender of the first amendment. There’s a saying that the first amendment does not exist for speech that everyone agrees with—it exists for the speech most everyone disagrees with. A guy best-known for hateful and marginalizing politics became the epitome of protected speech, and at the same time his rhetoric was rendered neutral.
Then comes the social media counterattack. Factual recounting of his political positions—ones he repeated multiple times, on multiple formats—are painted as disrespectful of him and America. For a few days he and his politics embody that which is pure and good—they may not be scrutinized.
Fourth comes calls for retaliatory violence. Just as accusations were made before there was proof of the Kirk shooter’s identity, no one need be responsible when Trump dies in order for blame to be laid. As others have noted: First, the shooter was trans, then the bullet was trans, now the roommate is trans. They will insist the demons they imagine are to blame, regardless of material facts. The Governor of Utah, who already played Us/Them in the press conference announcing the shooter had turned himself in seems convinced that although he does not know the motive, he is sure the shooter had “leftist ideology”
“We can confirm that, again, according to family and people that we’re interviewing, he does come from a conservative family. But his ideology was very different than his family, and so that’s part of it,” Cox said.
Cox, a Republican, did not elaborate on Robinson’s suspected motive, but said the suspect had spent time in “dark places” online.
Apparently there was not enough violence over the weekend, so he decided to throw out a fresh chum line. The suspect is “not cooperating” but Cox knows his motive, by the websites (that in his mind are “dark”) he may have visited.
Fifth comes a legacy. Kirk’s will be one of authoritarian crackdown and restrictions on speech. The U.S. military has been commanded by the Secretary of Defense to speak no evil about Charlie Kirk. Immigrants are also now subject to deportation should they portray Saint Charlie in an unflattering light. MAGA has floated the idea of a Kirk statue in DC.
Despite never having served in the military and not being a state official, Kirk’s corpse was transported from Utah to DC in Air Force II (JD Vance will also be taking over Kirk’s podcast this week), and was given a military escort.
The State Department didn’t waste a moment in letting everyone know how blatantly it was going to weaponize Kirk’s death. Less than 24 hours after the shooting, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X that “foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country” and directed consular officials to “undertake appropriate action.”
Trump used Kirk’s assassination as a rallying cry against his political opponents—and MAGA set out to punish people for saying anything about Kirk that hurt their feelings.
The fact that Matthew Dowd lost his job for pointing out Charlie Kirk’s hate speech, while Brian Kilmeade openly suggests we should euthanize the homeless and there is zero outrage, shows exactly what is terribly wrong with today’s political mainstream media.
MSNBC fired Dowd for showing—by using Kirk’s words—that Kirk was divisive and hateful, meanwhile FOX not only kept Kilmeade on the air after he said we should start euthanizing the homeless; the next day he got to interview the President.
Today, death can be the chance to make even more money than while living, and cultural producers (musicians, especially, but also authors, actors, and popular cultural figures) are well-positioned to take advantage of this. The grifters have already set up auxiliary shops, such as this one on GoFundMe:
I may not have known Charlie personally, but from seeing his beliefs and hearing his wisdom for years, it felt wrong not to use my voice that God has given me to at least try and help make this world a better place.
This GoFundMe came to mind for a few reasons. First, to show care and spread love back to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA, who unexpectedly and tragically lost their father, husband, son and friend. You are not alone. Second, to carry on his voice and continue spreading love, awareness, and faith to everyone who needs to hear it.
Or this one, that popped into my social media feed today. A “replica” of the one Charlie Kirk was wearing when…you know.
My query to the seller went unanswered.
MAGA is a collection of grifters and marks.
I will leave Charlie Kirk to deliver his own eulogy. The list below is missing the time he said that empathy was a liberal disease. That was his unique brand of Christianity: One without empathy.
Great piece.