The glorification of assassination in America must end — before it’s too late
Since I was a child, I realized that I was not wired like most people. Growing up in abject poverty, being evicted from 34 homes by age 17 and living in various cars, projects and cockroach-infested motels will do that to you. That said, I honestly view those years and that forced rewiring of my mind as a blessing.
That experience opened my eyes at that young age to two invaluable truths. The first is that life is brutally tough and continually cruel for the vast majority of people in our nation and world. The second truth, which is now being completely overwhelmed by growing irrational hatred, is that we really are all in this together.
Since the horrific assassination of fellow human being, husband, father and son Charlie Kirk, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about those years and the poor and disenfranchised people I knew back then doing everything in their power to feed their children, pay the rent, keep the electricity on and find one fleeting moment of peace for themselves. In contrast, as I read one shocking, surreal and expletive-filled post after the other celebrating the killing of Kirk, there seemed to be at least one commonality: most appeared to come from those who are financially comfortable and “educated.”
To this day, I know a great many poor and disenfranchised Americans, and none of them are consumed by ideological or partisan hatred for others. None have the luxury of descending down those dark rabbit holes of hate, as every fiber of their being is dedicated to finding a way to pay the bills while avoiding the growing crime and dysfunction that is their regular existence.
All know how tough and cruel life can be. None would wish for the killing of a fellow human being — or celebrate their death — because of ideological or partisan differences. Ever.
And yet, from a seemingly better socioeconomic existence there are countless Americans now doing just that. Since when did slaughtering a young man in broad daylight before his wife and children for espousing different views become acceptable to so many in our nation? How did we become a country where so many can take joy from or rationalize such an obscenity?
This should not be a partisan issue. If a liberal or far-left voice is silenced via assassination from someone on the right, not only should that assassin be condemned in the strongest possible terms and punished to the full extent of the law, but anyone sick or twisted enough to celebrate such a heinous act should be called out as well.
Some are now claiming the left is the “party of murder.” I do not believe that — I know many Democrats who are some of the most decent and caring human beings I have ever met. Those I have spoken with are disgusted by the murder of Kirk and the posts celebrating his death.
Those “celebrations” are a crime not only against those Democrats, but also against the humanity of the left — a humanity that has lifted millions over the decades. These Democrats must speak out now against the voices rejoicing in the assassination of a fellow human being.
No nation, no political party, and no society should tolerate such reprehensible hatred and cruelty. To do so is to have no nation, no party and no society, for the toxicity of such hate will eventually destroy all it touches.
I am so grateful that I grew up among poor and supposedly uneducated Americans, because they taught me that life-affirming and respecting lesson as a child. We need such wisdom now more than ever.
Our nation is teetering on a razor’s edge. Hate and the celebration of the ugliness it spawns placed it there. Only calm, rational and unifying voices can save us now.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.