This is NOT a national tragedy!

[edhopper]

Last edited Fri Sep 12, 2025, 04:48 PM - Edit history (1)

Every media outlet, including the so called liberal MSNBC, is treating Kirk's murder like the freaking Kennedy assassination.
It's one gun death among the thousands we see every year.
This country has lost it's fucking mind.

[leftstreet]

1. I'd sure like to know what's behind it n/t

[LeftInTX]

2. It's a RW influencer tragedy! And personal tragedy for his family.

[TNNurse]

21. Well, since his children are 1 and 3,

they will not remember him. I think that is best.

[MadameButterfly]

25. Yikes. They'll be tramatized by it over time

but I see your point.

[paleotn]

35. They'd be equally traumatized if he lived.

Can you imagine having that colossal prick as your father?

[MadameButterfly]

36. and they'd be reallly lousy human beings

[paleotn]

45. Exactly.

[3Hotdogs]

59. Not necessarily. Trump is a Grade A prick.

Look at Eri -----

Oh well.

[yellow dahlia]

77. I share that sentiment.

Let' hope the mother's next husband is less of a dangerous human being.

[TNNurse]

57. I was 10 when my father died.

He worked several jobs, he died in June, 1960. I remember episodes, but nothing in general.
I am sure they will eventually learn that he had some awful ideas, but maybe they escape the bigotry.

[Random Boomer]

93. Their mother is no less bigoted

Those children are part of a Far Right bubble. Their father's death will not change that environment.

[JenniferJuniper]

37. He said if his daughter was raped at 10

and made pregnant, he'd force her to carry to term.

He was a total POS.

[intrepidity]

79. I hope, when she is of age, she learns that.

She deserves to know, at the apprppriate time.

[Bayard]

3. Absolutely!

113 people in this country died from gunshots yesterday.

[spanone]

4. Our media is broken.

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. As is our country, in large part because of the media.

60 million Americans hold beliefs about everything from antidepressants to zoos, and every single one of their beliefs is incorrect.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

96. Most who voted for thr Felon in Chief

based their decision on masses of disinformation they willingly consumed and became belligerently ignorant about. They live in an alternate universe, yet cross over into ours to wreak havoc. Devastating!

[Eliot Rosewater]

102. Excellent way of putting it, and even though it's been shown to them

Over and over and over again that everything they believe is a lie and I mean absolutely everything, they don’t buy it and they are proud to support that piece of shit😡😡😡😡

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

112. That is what will forever blow my mind.

It's like they just prefer to believe the lies even though the truth is better for everyone except the lying bad guys!

[Oeditpus Rex]

49. How would you go about fixing it? (n.t.)

[spanone]

51. I have no clue. Journalism appears dead.

[Oeditpus Rex]

62. As separate statements, those coroborate each other. (n.t.)

[Silent Type]

5. I don't think political killings are good for nation, no matter how you cut it. Whether it's an incel, trumspter, Antifa

or whomever, this ain't good.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Political killings may not be good for the country,

But I am more than glad this particular a-hole is no longer spouting his crap.

[Silent Type]

17. That is definitely a good outcome, especially if it doesn't hurt us in elections.

[MadameButterfly]

26. It might. hurts us in elections

He'll be a martyr, one less RW voice for releasing the Epstein files.
There might also be some murders of liberals because of this.

[Gore1FL]

71. If it's a true that this was Right-on-Right violence, I am not sure how it hurts us at the ballot box. nt

[MadameButterfly]

76. if that message gets through to the MAGAs

[phxjurist]

18. I totally agree. Khrushchev said, and we are seeing it.

[dpibel]

20. What in the OP says it's good?

You appear to believe the OP is cutting something some way that indicates that political killings are good.

I sure can't see that in the OP.

[Silent Type]

24. OP says it ranks low on assassination meter, I disagree. I think trumpsters take it seriously and

unless important totally demented, they beat us twice. So yeah, it big friggin deal.

[MadameButterfly]

28. But treating Kirk like a Kennedy

and downplaying the kids....this is the RW thinking they are special

[leftstreet]

29. Not a POTUS or Senator etc

Yes, it's low on the meter. Regardless of how many "trumpsters" took him seriously, he was a podcaster. I'd bet good money most of his ardent followers don't even vote

Lowered flags, AF flight, I don't think so

[edhopper]

42. It does.

He was a small man. Not a leader or elected official. Should not be treated as a head of State.

[womanofthehills]

87. It ranks high because most everyone viewed it instead of just reading about it

Everyone was still coming down from watching a poor Ukrainian girl stabbed in the subway and dead Gaza children on our phones everyday. It’s just all to much. Too much killing and violence.

[edhopper]

41. Did I say it was good

I said it has been blown out of proportion by the media. He was a small figure, nd a destructive one.

[Silent Type]

44. Pretty much said it ranked low on totem pole. But it's not that big a deal. If I remember, WW2 started with

assassination of some low level Duke.

[MLWR]

48. That was WWI not WWII

and it was Archduke Ferdinand.

[Nasruddin]

72. Who was heir to the throne

of Austria-Hungary, of which the monarch was 83-something years old at the time.

So it was a big deal, and he was no low-level noble.

[lonely bird]

92. Nah, it wasn't

It was the spark that was used to justify the acceleration of forces that had long been at work. It is very likely that had the assassination not occurred some other relatively minor incident would have been grasped. Interestingly, increased nationalism was one of the forces seeking to be unleashed.

The world is still paying for the stupidity of WW1 and its aftermath.

[edhopper]

54. That was WWI

and a silly analogy.

[Torchlight]

97. Not quite accurate.

But it's not that big a deal...

[womanofthehills]

88. He was not a small figure

Turning Points USA is active in 3000 high schools and colleges with around 650,000 Republican youth
members.

A Turning Points debate on Israel between Josh Hammer & Dave Smith in July dominated social media talk for a week. Republican kids at Turning Points were clapping for Libertarian Dave Smith - the anti genocide debator. This upset lots of older pro Israel Republicans who got really angry with Kirk for holding a debate on Israel. This is why thousands on x believe a Republican killed Kirk - the division over Israel.

Gavin Newsome shared a story after Kirk’s death. Newsome said when he was meeting Kirk, his 13 yr old son wanted to ditch school and meet Kirk. He said, of course he made his son go to school. What does this mean? Do lots of kids know who Kirk is?????

[erronis]

56. It wasn't a "political killing" or a political assassination. It was an internecine battle between cults.

I don't give a F if the imbecile/incels/etc. want to go after each other. Just leave real people out of it.

[markpkessinger]

63. But it's looking like this wasn't even a political killing . . .

. . . at least not in the sense typically conveyed by that term. This guy was an alt-right type, who had some kind of beef with Charlie Kirk. I think we should push back HARD against this "political violence" narrative that has taken root!

[ClaudetteCC]

95. There once was a time where people generally agreed that all ideas should be tested with 'exposure to sunlight'

Killing people for their speech degrades trust and civilization.

[ananda]

7. Agree, although certainly the gun culture as a whole...

can be considered both a national tragedy and a disgrace.

[AStern]

8. Our media is gone

No other way to say it.

[pat_k]

9. The only national tragedy I see here is that ...

... the per capita number of gun deaths in America is more than 10 TIMES that of comparable high-income countries. And that number is primarily driven by a gun homicide rate that is 25 TIMES that of comparable high-income countries.

I grieve for the manner of death as a reflection of the intolerable level of gun violence in America.

I hate that the shooter created a martyr whose death will be used by reactionaries as a bludgeon to spread more hate and lies.

I do not grieve the loss of a man who called for some "amazing patriot" to bail out Paul Pelosi’s attacker. I do not grieve the loss of a man who was hellbent on doing everything in his power to ensure this nation did NOTHING to reduce gun deaths.

And while I fiercely oppose Christian Nationalism, I utterly reject the use of force or violence to control or silence ANYONE who is acting or speaking in accord with the spirit of our constitution (not the unrecognizable version of that constitution being constructed by the black-robed traitors on SCOTUS).

Perhaps every governor who gives a shit about the intolerable number of PREVENTABLE gun deaths in America should order flags to be flown at half-staff until this nation passes meaningful gun control and puts big money into interventions and community-based programs that are PROVEN to reduce gun violence.

Just a thought.

[calimary]

52. I like your "perhaps every governor..." argument.

Flags at half staff til we get meaningful gun control. AND pump money into programs proven to reduce gun violence.

Probably won’t happen but it’s STILL a good idea. And add publicity to explain why it’s necessary. The gun lovers get all kinds of attention. It’s LONG PAST time for some EQUAL time.

[pat_k]

60. I'm writing a message to WA Gov Bob Ferguson's office

And Newson has a account over on sez.us. I have no idea if anyone monitors replies (it would be easy given that the platform is so new there are few replies to check out), but I'll be posting the notion to his next post there.

[calimary]

66. I'd guess every outlet in the political online universe has somebody keeping an eye out.

Just a guess. I’ve been out of it, professionally, for just a few decades.

But I’d bet there’s SOMEBODY in every office who might be nerdy enough or detail-fixated to keep tabs on what’s expressed or discussed “out there”. Maybe a few somebodies. Or even whole departments for media management. That input is worth everything! ALWAYS good info to have. News execs would be foolish to ignore it. It’s audience research, and the more you pay attention to it, the better. If the audience is increasing, so much the better for you!

[rubbersole]

10. I'm waiting for tsf to have his casket interred on the WH lawn.

Next to the new ballroom.

[paleotn]

38. We'll do a Cromwell on him once we take that house back.

Only question is, where to put his spiked head.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell%27s_head

[rubbersole]

80. How 'bout the front gate...

[StarryNite]

11. They made it a huge deal because they thought it would be a good

excuse to further divide our country. Turned out, the shooter was one of them. So now it's, "hey look at the progress being made on the ballroom? Ain't it gonna be great? The most bigly and beautiful ballroom ever. Charlie who? Oh that stupid schmuck who lived by the sword and died by the sword."

[MadameButterfly]

30. They are looking for excuses to

occupy cities, declare martial law, punish Democrats....they were hoping the guy was a Democratic-Socialist.

[OldBaldy1701E]

89. Hell, they were desperate for him to be that! (n/t)

[Bengus81]

12. My mom and dad voted for John Kennedy. That asshat was no John Kennedy

[Mtnmama]

14. The media mentions the trauma of his brutal murder

Being posted online, so graphic for people to process. My God, what about the slaughter of schoolchildren, the witnessing of classmates being butchered before their eyes?! Why haven't we done anything to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction? Because right wing nuts that are bought by the nra value their jobs as congressmen over the lives of precious children. It's as simple as that. Oh, and also that they have a "god given right" to own guns, I guess the more the better. What kind of a God do they worship?!

[Dulcinea]

32. "Why haven't we done anything to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction?"

Because guns are more important than other people's kids to them.

[wishstar]

15. None of my family, neighbors or friends knew who he was before this week

Blaming his murder on Dems and lefties is way over the top as he wasn't on the radar of anyone I talk politics with and even my neighbors with sons in their 30's didn't know about him, because we are all Dems who do not pay much attention to rightwing propagandists, unless they reach the obnoxious notoriety of Rush Limbaugh and the two Steve's. Kirk didn't even come close to that level of fame or influence in American culture except in MAGA world.

I seem to be the only one in my circle who was very familiar with him as a big MAGA promoter. The idea we should honor him as a national hero and can't discuss his divisive rhetoric without repercussions is ridiculous.

[llmart]

64. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about politics in general.

I've been on DU for over two decades but I don't spend as much time as some on here do. I say all that because until yesterday I had never heard of Charlie Kirk. I'm quite sure you are correct that the majority of people don't know who he was.

[NJCher]

16. time to spend the evening with a book

gardening, or visiting with friends or family.

[edhopper]

19. I only saw it channel surfing

Would not stop to watch such garbage.

[AverageOldGuy]

22. I'm done with MSNBC and CNN

Enough is e-fucking-nough already!!!!!!

I'll give them a week to come to their senses then may return but don't count on it.

Is there anyway that anyone knows of to contact Lawrence or Rachel and tell them just how little respect I have for them now?

[MadameButterfly]

33. I'm clinging to MSNBC with all its faults

as long as we have it. Trying to keep the ratings up so the RW owners don't decide they can make more money on lockdowns or something.

[lastlib]

23. AFAIAC, charlie kirk is already buried.

he is as dead as charlie manson, and was only a little bit nicer in his life. The only difference is that he didn't directly kill people, or order them killed, although what he advocated for definitely resulted in thousands of deaths. Is his death a tragedy for his family? Only in the sense that he was the breadwinner, and they cared about him. To me, his wife and daughters are better off not being subject to a man who viewed them as property, and third-class citizens.

May he now rot in the ground.

[Emile]

27. Way over the top coverage for just one killing.

[Conjuay]

67. Well he was a big fish in the right wing sewer.

Out side of that, nothing worth eulogizing.

[Justice Brandeis]

31. I assure you I have gone about my life very normally these last few days

it's a tragedy for Kirk and his family and it was an atrocious crime, warranting a life sentence in prison, but it is not a national tragedy.

[MadameButterfly]

34. Um. Any relation?

[crimycarny]

39. I just saw a clip where Charlie Kirk said we need to bring back public executions, and they should be televised..

.."so kids could watch them". Well, he got his wish.

All of these rage baiters, like Charlie Kirk, spewing controversial and hate-filled rhetoric to make themselves rich, are reaping what they sow. I also have to wonder if they actually believe what they are saying, or if they are being the modern version of "shock jock" to make money.

I'm not celebrating the fact that Charlie Kirk was executed, but he doesn't get a pass either.

One last thing, YouTube Channel 5 (Andrew Callaghan) posted an interview with the person who was asking the question when Charlie Kirk was shot. There are various angles shown throughout the event, and you can see that Charlie Kirk is literally surrounded by security. These guys are constantly scanning the crowd (and are carrying guns.) They couldn't stop Charlie from being killed by a shooter, but somehow, armed teachers are supposed to?

[CousinIT]

40. YEP. Where was all this mourning and martyring when the two Dems and their dog ...

... were murdered by a MAGAt in their own homes in MN?

BULLSHIT. It's all BULLSHIT.

[dalton99a]

43. Well, the world lost an irreplaceable giant

[Sneederbunk]

46. CK is the victim of a MAGA civil war.

[BigDemVoter]

47. And there is certainly more coverage of this bullshit than there EVER is with mass school shootings.

[Diraven]

50. Since the right wing controls most media now

And Kirk was one of them, they are going to make sure to turn this into whatever makes them feel the most important.

[Montauk6]

53. While it's true that in both cases there was zero chance of survival from the type of wounds...

Missing in this case are
A second gunman
A babushka lady
A guy with the umbrella
3 hobos
Curtain rods
Box of half-eaten fried chicken

Let's just hope that when there's any transfer of Tyler, we won't see a local strip joint owner go nuts.

[kimbutgar]

55. I can't even watch msnbc anymore

Since the election I haven’t watched it and the few times I turn in the tv and my husband has watched it I change the channel. They do the both sides are both wrong and it is not both sides. Firing Joy Reid and Matthew Dowd for an honest statement make the channel dead to me. I get better news and thoughtful opinions from FSTV and the nighttime tv comedy .

And Charlie Kirk was an evil a hole!

[BlueSpot]

83. I turned it off after the election too

I get behind on the news sometimes - like this one but I don't really care. It's not like I can do anything about it if I'd heard it sooner.

I did turn it on again after this event but everything I saw suggested that my original instinct was correct.

[twodogsbarking]

58. Ah grasshopper, it is a tragedy that they call it a tragedy.

[mcar]

61. It's nauseating. nt

[EnergizedLib]

65. The tragedy

Is how Charlie Kirk lived the one life he had.

[dlk]

68. How is Kirk's death any different than the daily deaths, in America, from gun violence?

The media's shallow double standard is a loss for us all.

[Hassler]

69. I tuned into the Bears-Pack game

Only to learn a moment of silence was offered for Kirk the racist jerk.

[SunSeeker]

70. It's the sudden canonization of Kirk that I find nauseating. That he died tragically does not change that.

The guy was still a hateful bigot. Every gun death is a tragedy. The national tragedy this episode encapsulates is that we have so many gun deaths and are doing nothing about guns.

[NoMoreRepugs]

73. 40000 gun deaths a year and this was the BIG ONE? Give me a fucking break.

[RainCaster]

74. The first time that Republicans have responded to a school shooting

Thoughts and prayers

[bullwinkle428]

75. I'm genuinely pissed off at all the businesses, etc., flying the flag

at half-staff around here. Why is this an orders of magnitude greater tragedy than any school shooting? I think Sandy Hook may have elicited a similar display, but can't recall any more recently. Certainly not the Pulse nightclub shooting, which took the lives of 49 souls.

[Jedi Guy]

78. I don't know if I'd agree with that assessment. I can see the argument that it's a national tragedy in a couple ways.

First, Kirk's murder has the potential to trigger a backlash of violence. The usual suspects on the right are already ginning up their followers with inciting language, including Trump himself. If Robinson indeed turns out to have left-wing political views and killed Kirk because of his ideology, there could be retaliatory violence against prominent figures on our side of the aisle. I feel like a wave of retaliatory killings would fit the bill for a national tragedy.

Second, in a more philosophical sense, it's a national tragedy because this is America and people shouldn't be murdered in cold blood because of their political ideology. Those days are apparently over, and we are all the poorer for it because this one murder will have a chilling effect on free speech, one of the most vital pillars of our democracy.

[Martin68]

82. Nope, not a national tragedy. Just another gun nut killing, and the person killed supported gun nuts.

[soldierant]

84. It may well turn out to be a national tragedy

if it leads to what the Mango Mussolini wants it to lead to.

[C Moon]

85. Yes. I just pleaded my spouse to turn off KCAL 9.

Going on 10 minutes of maga heads spewing lies.
Showing people waving flags and banners at honking cars (in no doubt a conservative city). On top of that, the guy was a heartless jerk.

[Aussie105]

86. It is a national tragedy.

It is a tragedy that a supposed first world country can allow someone like Kirk to have a public forum, and that someone else takes offense enough to see a public murder as any sort of solution.

Kirk's demise itself though, nope, not a national tragedy.

Gun related deaths of innocent children, yep there is a national tragedy that 'tots & pears' won't solve.

Media has a lot to answer for. In both shootings.
They are calling it wrong in both cases.

[Lokee11]

91. No Not In The Least - and let me just point out one minor detail -

Although I do not necessarily support what happened to Charlie Kirk - It should be duly noted that -

CHARLIE KIRK SUPPORTED WHAT HAPPENED TO CHARLIE KIRK





✊FDT!

[no_hypocrisy]

94. Agreed. I remember much less outcry when Squeaky Fromme shot at Gerald Ford.

[BobTheSubgenius]

98. Kirk's death is absolutely simply one among thousands.

The thousands that he viewed as watering the tree of liberty. Kind of ironic, really.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

99. I think...

...that anytime someone is killed because of their political beliefs and/or speech, it's a national tragedy.

Will it affect our lives as much as if it were a President or Vice President or some other prominent political figure? Of course not.

But killing someone because of what they believe or what they say goes against what this country should be, and while I don't mourn the man, I mourn the act.

[edhopper]

103. Do you know think it warrants

The now over 4 days of 24 hour coverage.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

113. No

But all sorts of stuff gets extended coverage that I think is unnecessary.

[Scrivener7]

100. Melissa Hortman.

[MrWowWow]

101. It's Just the Unremarkable Death Of Yet Another Hatemonger

Nothing tragic except its tardiness.
.

.

[milestogo]

104. I never heard of him before this week.

And now that I have heard of him, I don't think I missed anything.

[returnee]

105. This is part of the national tragedy...

…of persistent gun violence. Add that to the general decline of our political life due the radical right which includes the rise of the oligarchy over the last 60 years, and you have pretty well described a national tragedy.

[edhopper]

107. Except

The story is not gun violence. It's the political assassination of a great man we all need to mourn.

[returnee]

111. That's the story...

…being told by a supine media alright. Sad.

[Turbineguy]

106. My neighbor, three doors down, has his American flag at half mast.

Well, now we know. I thought he was just being patriotic before.

[edhopper]

108. It is a litmus test.

[Turbineguy]

109. There are 188 houses in our subdivision.

When we moved in (1989) there were 4 Democratic households. In the 2016 election it had grown to 60% Democratic. I don't know what the ratio is now.

This place is the very definition of suburbia. We used to have tour busses full of Asian tourists come and look at us.

[Blue Owl]

110. I'm glad to say I didn't waste one second watching any M$M coverage of any of it

TURN IT OFF!