Should We mourn MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk?
Listen to this articleShould I care about Charlie Kirk being shot and killed? It’s a controversial question to ask about the now deceased, extremely offensive right wing gadfly who once spoke about women of color stealing “the slots” of white people. “Three weeks ago, if we would’ve said that Joy Reid, and Michelle Obama, and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would’ve been called the racist,” Kirk said on his talk show. “But now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us ‘I’m only here because of affirmative action.’ Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.” He added, “You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
Kirk has made most of these horribly racist and violent anti-progressive comments in the comfort of his own studio or in front of like-minded audiences. There was the time he debated California Governor Gavin Newsom on the governor’s podcast.
In light of his murder, one of the most offensive and astonishing points Kirk has made is his cavalier attitude about gun violence, especially mass shootings. At a Turning Point USA event shortly after the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee that left three children and three adults dead, Kirk infamously said, “You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death, That is nonsense. It’s drivel. But I am — I think it’s worth it.
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe.”
So let’s put ourselves into Charlie Kirk’s “universe.” He was shot by an, as of yet, unknown murderer and as tragic has his death may be, especially to his friends and family, it was worth it because, hey, we still have the Second Amendment, right? That settles it. What’s the famous quote by dead — and racist slave-holding — President Thomas Jefferson, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” There we go, the tree of liberty was refreshed once again.
It’s also worthwhile pointing out something else he said that clearly contradicts this sentence of his: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.ˆ (italics mine)
Kirk also said the United States is a Christian nation that should be ruled only by Christians that adhere to the Christian Nationalist world view. He rejects Jefferson’s statement that there is a “wall of separation between church and state.” So he doesn’t completely support these so-called “God given rights.”
Having written all that, I still believe it is wrong to kill the people we disagree with, or anyone for that matter. There is sanctioned killing in the names of some states and the federal government — it’s called execution. Law enforcement is free to kill just about anyone and the military is ordered to kill our international enemies, in great numbers.
Those debatable topics aside, killing is wrong, including the murders of people with whom we disagree. But there is also a selfish reason for my views: If Charlie Kirk can be shot dead while exercising his freedom of speech, then it can happen to anyone I do agree with — or even me. That is why I care about Charlie Kirk being murdered at Utah Valley University. On Wednesday, September 10, 2025.
I’m not going to grieve for Charlie Kirk, not one bit, nor will I laugh and sing praises to the murderer for Kirk’s death. But I am reminded of this quote from American author and humorist Mark Twain, “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”
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Even more sad is that there was another mass shooting at a high school in Evergreen, Colorado Wednesday. Two teenagers were injured and one remains in critical condition. The student shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
We also remember the tragedy that happened 24 years ago: The terrorist attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C. and the thwarted terrorist act that ended in a Pennsylvania field. We will never forget.
Tim Forkes started as a writer on a small alternative newspaper in Milwaukee called the Crazy Shepherd. Writing about entertainment, he had the opportunity to speak with many people in show business, from the very famous to the people struggling to find an audience. In 1992 Tim moved to San Diego, CA and pursued other interests, but remained a freelance writer. Upon arrival in Southern California he was struck by how the elected government officials and business were so intertwined, far more so than he had witnessed in Wisconsin. His interest in entertainment began to wane and the business of politics took its place. He had always been interested in politics, his mother had been a Democratic Party official in Milwaukee, WI, so he sat down to dinner with many of Wisconsin’s greatest political names of the 20th Century: William Proxmire and Clem Zablocki chief among them. As a Marine Corps veteran, Tim has a great interest in veteran affairs, primarily as they relate to the men and women serving and their families. As far as Tim is concerned, the military-industrial complex has enough support. How the men and women who serve are treated is reprehensible, while in the military and especially once they become veterans. Tim would like to help change that.