I agree with very few of Charlie Kirk's points of view, except one. His apparent commitment to open debate. Ezra Klein is on the money:
The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in politics without fear of violence. To lose that is to risk losing everything. Charlie Kirk — and his family — just lost everything. As a country, we came a step closer to losing everything, too. ...
You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way. He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him. He was one of the era’s most effective practitioners of persuasion. When the left thought its hold on the hearts and minds of college students was nearly absolute, Kirk showed up again and again to break it....
That was not all Kirk’s doing, but he was central in laying the groundwork for it. I did not know Kirk and I am not the right person to eulogize him. But I envied what he built. A taste for disagreement is a virtue in a democracy. Liberalism could use more of his moxie and fearlessness. In the inaugural episode of his podcast, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California hosted Kirk, admitting that his son was a huge fan. What a testament to Kirk’s project.
And what a hell of a time to be American.
5 comments:
I wasn’t a massive fan either, but suspect many of his “points of view” in the link are quoted out of context. In any case I had more in common with him than with his haters.
Mark
The "points of view" link PC provided includes B.S. There are things there that Charlie Kirk did not say. Why wasn't this checked prior to posting on Not PC? Too much of slacking? Couldn't be bothered? Was it because of "Charlie Kirk is as not as pure ideologically as I are" thinking? Was it envy? After all Charlie Kirk accomplished a lot in his short time. He reached more young people than Objectivism has over recent times. It was easy to discover that the Old Man Leftie's tweet linked to was not accurate. Delusional stuff in there. Was it laziness to use it or something worse even, like ODD syndrome perhaps?
Did you see that Steven King posted the nonsense about Charlie Kirk and now Steven is apologising. He got called out. People checked the facts. Now it's big time apologies, more than once, over and over for what he'd thoughtlessly repeated.
As you state, there is more to have in common with Charlie Kirk, a brave man, than with his haters. But look out! His murder demonstrates how endangered free speech is becoming.
Meanwhile Ezra Klein's comment is altogether superior. Good to read it.
HJ
@HJ, I haven't followed the poor fellow's career in detail, but it chimed with what I'd heard him reported as saying., and with the few checks I did make.
FWIW, "Grok" seemed to do a reasonable job of checking; its summary tallied with what I'd quickly found, and it appears at the link I posted:
'After reviewing diverse sources like PolitiFact, Media Matters, and news outlets, most quotes are accurate or closely paraphrased from Kirk's statements (e.g., black pilots, Taylor Swift, MLK, Civil Rights Act, gun deaths, women's roles, George Floyd, vaccines as "apartheid," Great Replacement, hydroxychloroquine promotion, birth control opposition, mask protests, British colonialism, Pelosi attacker bail, black politicians "stealing spots," Muslims destabilizing West, Mamdani win criticism tied to 9/11).
''A few lack confirmation: "gay stoning," "terminate religious freedom," "no retirement," "no leftists in red states," "Palestine like KKK" may be exaggerated or misattributed.
'Charlie Kirk has described the Civil Rights Act's original intent as abolishing Jim Crow laws to ensure equal access for minorities, which he views positively. However, he contends it has been misused to establish a "permanent DEI-type bureaucracy," enable reverse discrimination, and infringe on rights like the First Amendment, calling its passage a "huge mistake" in application. Sources: Wired, NPR, Facebook posts.
'I've reviewed fact-checks from PolitiFact, http://FactCheck.org, and Kirk's YouTube videos. Most attributed quotes (e.g., on MLK, Civil Rights Act, DEI, vaccines) are accurate or paraphrased from his statements. A few, like "no retirement," lack evidence.'
Kudos to King, BTW.
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