A Man. Charlie was just a man

I hope I don't take heat for this. I hope this is the last time I have to say anything about this subject. Charlie Kirk was just a man. 

Yes, it was a terrible thing that Kirk was assassinated before a crowd of 3,000 followers. No one deserves to be gunned down as he was. No one deserves to be gunned down. Not ever.

Yesterday, the memorial in Arizona held in his honor, he seemed to have been elevated to messiah. 90,000 people in attendance? 90,000?

And why? He preached hate couched in love. But if this is his brand of love, I don't want to love anymore.

I would venture a guess that most of those in attendance had never heard of a Charlie Kirk before he was shot, and not until the conservative element saw an opportunity to use his passing as a means to wage war on their perceived enemies.

 This is no secret. Kirk will be turned into a martyr to a cause that is best exemplified by 1950s America--an America best buried but not forgotten. How else will we learn from the lessons of our past? The question is, will we?

Charlie preached that gun violence is a necessary evil if it means we continue protecting the Constitution's 2nd amendment. Charlie preached that gays are deserving of being put to death. He preached that retirement is not necessary. Charlie preached that women should be beholden, subservient to their man. He preached a whole lot more. His views were (and are) incendiary.

So I ask, is this the kind of person we want shaping public policy?

I repeat, Charlie Kirk was just a man. ONE man. 

Does our country go insane when a classroom of school children is gunned down? Shoppers at a mall? Worshippers at a Jewish synagogue? Theatergoers? A woman hiding from a crazed ex-husband? A gay bar?

You see, we don't--we don't go crazy over these senseless deaths, and we sure as hell should.

Charlie, Charlie, where have you gone?

I wanted to wait 24 hours before addressing the Charlie Kirk assassination.

First, thoughts and prayers. Yes, that is me being cynical.

Second, I am appalled and saddened by this act of violence. Violence is never the answer to political discourse. Violence is not the answer to anything. Not ever.

Third: I see the conservatives bemoaning a death of one of their own, BUT where was their anguish and outrage when Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark (and their family dog) were gunned down in their home on June 14? President Trump could hardly be bothered to comment on that tragedy.

Trump has ordered flags flown at half mast. Did he do the same for Representative Hortman? Trump announced today he is going to posthumously award Kirk the Congressional Medal of Freedom.

No comment.

Fourth, i despise just about everything Kirk stood for. He was a divisive as many others of his political party, particularly Mr. Agent Orange.

Do I feel sorry for Kirk? A bit, yes. I feel sorry for any victim of gun violence. Who I really feel sorry for are those left behind—Kirk’s wife and his two young children. I feel sympathy for the hundred in his audience who witnessed this act firsthand.

Fifth, we are a torn, wounded, suspicious society. No one trusts the perceived other side. Funny, I thought we were Americans, not bitter enemies.

The gun violence plaguing our nation will not go away, nor will it cease with just thoughts and prayers.