The reaction to Kirk's murder is as over-the-top as he was. I certainly don't approve of the killing. It was a gross and immoral act. But . . .the never ending eulogies, suggestions he should have a monument installed in the Capitol Building, his body being flown on AF2 as if he were a head of state, the rage postings I've read declaring everything from civil war to violent payback is beyond the pale.
He was a young man who sold hate and bigotry for a living, a very nice living at that. He sold his soul for ideology, money and influence.
As tragic as it is for Kirk's children, this is the House That Hate Built. I'm sure he thought he could surf above the anger and rage and delusions, that his bullet-proof vest would save the day and despite what he was churning he was above and beyond the fray.
He was wrong and now he's dead.
If there's any lesson to be learned from this senseless murder, it's about how raw hatred has poisoned the bloodstream of too many citizens and the body politic as a whole. The reaction to Kirk's murder is a reflection of who and what a large swath of Americans have become:
Loose cannons, rage addicts, performance artists all hustling for a moment of notoriety.
And sitting from his elevated perch, Donald Trump spews dollops of poison only to quickly move on to his next obsession--his grand, grotesquely expensive Ballroom.
This is craziness on steroids. The country's being fitted for a straight-jacket as I write.
The only glimmer of light is that we've been this way before in the 1960s and 70s. I lived it as well as many DUers here. We were children, then young adults. There were endless assassinations, war and civil rights protests, threats of nuclear annihilation, a growing gulf between the young and the old, distrust of government everywhere, confusion and chaos on a daily basis.
We managed to get through it with an eye on positive change for ourselves, our communities, our fragile world.
We did it back in the day. Now we need to do it again: survive, rebuild, rethink.
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