By J. Robert Smith
Maybe you spent time last week perusing X postings related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Aside from the many accolades, conservative influencers did fine jobs identifying left-wingers who not only celebrated Kirk’s assassination, but offered attaboys to Tyler Robinson, the triggerman. Some even called for more violence. If you didn’t have time earlier, scroll through the Libs of TikTok’s and the Vigilant Fox’s threads, for starters. You’ll get an eyeful. “Somebody had to do it” wasn’t an uncommon refrain. Who, this side of hell, delights in an act of murder?
What was striking was that many of the posts featured females. Was that the result of sampling biases? Not likely. It was self-promotion. Call it malignant feminist self-empowerment. Not that there aren’t Charlie Kirk haters among “progressive” males — his killer is an XY, after all, who lived with a trans — but left-of-center females dominated the posted videos. Why so?
There’s no point rehashing Kirk’s qualities or listing his achievements. Others who knew him have provided rich, poignant testimony to his stellar character and unshakable dedication to his faith and freedom. His very public record is testament enough.
If you sift through the haters’ postings, you’ll think they inhabit an alternative universe. Abundant public record be damned. For them, Kirk was an ogre, some mythical beast. He checked off every box that inflames the leftist mind. Homophobe, transphobe, this-phobe, that-phobe. They fictionalized Kirk. Damn reality, too!
Are the celebratory outpourings over an innocent man’s murder indictive of a sickness in our society? Yes, they are.
That sickness starts with an obsession — the obsession with self. “If it feels good, do it” was a 60s mantra that has sparked a decades-long deep dive into hedonism, regardless the blarney about “self-actualization.” The Me Generation ethos metastasized, spreading throughout the society.
What does preoccupation with self do to a person’s mind and emotions? How does it impact relating to others? How does it warp perceptions? What happens when academics have, for decades, peddled the notion that there’s no external or objective truth? Should we be stunned that people — mostly females — popped up on TikTok and Blue Sky giggling, praising, toasting, and jigging in reaction to a coldblooded murder? Shades of the Manson girls, huh? Perhaps females have been more greatly damaged by over a half century of being battered with me, me, me? Or are they just inclined to be more visible?