Let's talk about Charlie Kirk. And let me start right at the top by saying this.
I don't condone what happened and I absolutely condemn it. The shooting at the Utah College
campus yesterday during one of Kirk's events was heinous. It's not the way to deal with people you
disagree with. And all it's really going to do is hand the MAGA crowd and the white Christian
nationalist crowd more fuel. They're already running with it. Trump wasted no time. He's
already on TV from the Oval Office saying this is because of hateful rhetoric from the
left. And you know what? That's a tired script. People get called fascists and Nazis because
they act like fascists and Nazis. But that doesn't mean you go shoot them. Now, let's be real for
a second. Did I like Charlie Kirk? No. I thought he was a despicable human being. He spread hate.
He spread division. And he built Turning Point USA into this machine for indoctrination of vehicle
to push a Christian nationalist vision of America. His worldview was stuck in the dark ages. No women's
rights, no equality, no separation of church and state. In his world, women stayed home barefoot
and pregnant. And the man was the unquestioned head of the household. And yet, even with all that,
I'm not happy he's dead. And here's why. Because now, he's going to be turned into a
martyr. He leaves behind a wife and two young kids. And that's tragic. Nobody wins there. Those kids
don't deserve to grow up without a father. And it's complicated because on one hand, maybe without him,
they don't get raised under his hateful ideology. On the other hand, as they grow up, they could just as
easily end up more radicalized, believing their dad was some kind of hero who died for his beliefs.
That's the cruel twist of it. Now, I've got to address something that's been bugging me.
Over and over, I see people online saying, there's no place for political violence in America.
And I agree. There isn't. But here's the thing. This wasn't political violence. Not by definition.
For it to be that, it would have to be aimed at an elected official or a politician.
Charlie Kirk wasn't one. He was a very loud, very influential talking head. A political influencer,
sure, but not an actual politician. So this wasn't an assassination. This wasn't political violence.
This was murder. Cold-blooded murder. Now, here's where I'm going to go a little tinfoil hat for a
moment. Reports say Kirk was shot in the neck from about 200 yards away to football fields. That's not
some random person in the crowd pulling out a pistol. That's a marksman shot. That suggests training.
Maybe military, maybe law enforcement, maybe just someone with serious time at a range. But it raises
questions. Could it have been a professional hit? Honestly, it feels like it. Could it have just been
someone who really hated him and happened to be skilled? That's possible, too. We don't know yet.
As of this morning, September the 11th, the day we already remember for other tragedies,
nobody's been caught. And here's where the conspiracy brain starts spinning. I don't put much
past this administration. Now, I'm not saying Trump himself or J.D. Vance ordered anything.
That's a step too far. But is it really that crazy to think someone might see the usefulness
of Charlie Kirk as a martyr? To have him die in such a dramatic, symbolic way? To hand the right
wing a rallying cry? I'm not saying I believe it fully, but I'd be lying if I said it hadn't crossed
my mind. What's undeniable is that the shot was precise. This wasn't sloppy. Whoever pulled that
trigger knew what they were doing. And that alone makes this whole thing feel different. If someone
in the crowd had lashed out, that'd be one thing. But someone taking a sniper style shot from 200 yards,
that's something else. That's deliberate. That's calculated. And that's chilling. And before anybody
says, well, why wasn't he wearing a bulletproof vest? Let me stop you. Vests only protect your
chest. They don't cover your neck or your head at 200 yards aiming for the neck. A vest doesn't mean
a damn thing. So here's where I land on this. I feel for his wife. I feel for his kids. I hate that they've
lost a father and a husband. But at the same time, I'm not shocked this happened. Not with how vocal,
how hateful, how unrelenting Charlie Kirk was against women, against LGBTQ people, against anyone who
didn't fit his mold. You spend your life spewing poison. Eventually, someone's going to snap. It's
not right. It's not justified, but it's not surprising. And that's the sad part. Not just that Charlie Kirk is
dead. But that America in 2025 is in a place where this feels inevitable, where the rhetoric from people
like him has been normalized by politicians, where hate has become a political brand, and where violence
starts to feel like the next logical step. That's what really breaks my heart. Not just the loss of life,
but the reminder of where we are as a country right now.