Speech doesn’t exist in a vacuum, detached from emotion, identity, and consequence. That’s not how humans work.
Language shapes behavior. We internalize it, react to it, and often act on it. Dehumanizing speech doesn’t just float in the ether, it embeds itself in culture, policy, and relationships. It primes people to see others as threats, as less-than, as disposable. That’s not theoretical; it’s observable across history and psychology.
Violence rarely erupts spontaneously. It’s cultivated through repetition, normalization, and rhetoric that numbs empathy and inflames fear. Words don’t pull triggers, but they can load the gun.
To dismiss the power of language is to misunderstand the architecture of human behavior. We don’t just act, we narrate, justify, and rehearse our actions through speech. That’s why words matter. That’s why they can wound, and why they must warn.
And if this provokes a response, especially one that insists speech is harmless, it only proves the point. Words move people. That’s why they matter. That’s why they must be used with care.
I’m just so sad and sickened by what is happening in our country. It’s not just Charlie’s kids we grieve for, but all our children who are living in fear - of being killed in school, of coming home to find their parents taken away, of expressing their opinions, choosing the wrong religion, or following their heart to love someone of the same sex. For them we must speak up and demand our democracy lives on.
Julie, I think your thoughts about Kirk are too kind. But good for you.
I think Charlie Kirk got exactly what he said America deserves. For multiple reasons presented by Kirk, himself, I see no reason to think Kirk's killing was more tragic than Kirk thought of other deaths due to gun violence. Among Kirk's own words that are most relevant to whether he thought his killing should be viewed as tragic or just a sort of poetic justice are the following:
"I think it's worth it. I think it’s worth it to have [ ] 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." – Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
Kirk actually advocated "gun deaths every single year" to "protect our other God-given rights," and that's exactly what Kirk got. As Kirk said repeatedly, "I think it’s worth it." To Kirk, "That" was a "deal" that was "prudent." To Kirk, his death--for the very reason he died--was "rational."
With the foregoing words, Kirk presented a pretty compelling argument for how we should view his death. But Kirk did not stop there. He actually advocated political violence. Paired with his advocacy of deaths due to gun violence, was Kirk's own advocacy of gun violence, specifically, for political purposes. Kirk argued an extremist view of the Second Amendment that I have argued vociferously is dangerously anti-constitutional. According to Kirk and other people who espouse political violence, "The Second Amendment is there" precisely (and solely) "so that you can defend yourself against a tyrannical government." As far as I have been able to ascertain, Kirk's killer thought Kirk was a tool, if not an actual leader, of tyrannical government. So again, Kirk got what he said America deserved. But Kirk didn't stop even there.
Also in 2023, on The Charlie Kirk Show Kirk even advocated (at least) buying and actively bearing arms in public specifically because "You have a government that hates you. You have a traitor as the president. Buy weapons, I keep on saying that. Buy weapons. Buy ammo. If you go into a public place, bring a gun with you." https://www.newsweek.com/bluesky-chariie-kirk-assassination-warning-2128023
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it real weird with a story about meeting Kirk in 2001 and how they instantly became “soul mates.” (Kirk was eight years old in 2001.)"
These people are so stupid they can't even make a lie sound plausible.
Bloody chum in the water brings sharks. They will bite anything and that is not violence. It brings emotionally soothing food for the soul. There is a need for social services to address these emotionally challenged individuals. Instead some torture them repeatedly with heteronormativity. This is not politics. This is systemic abuse and societal failure that are both fixable. I am disgusted by those making a living by bellowing in this type of torture chamber. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/bloody-chum?r=3m1bs
Lisa, you made an interesting point about how Trump "defended Putin’s murderous regime" by denigrating America: “our country does plenty of killing also … you think our country’s so innocent?”
Now, I see Trump's multiple decisions to murder people on boats this month in a new light. Maybe Trump's "logic" is that he's helping Putin by highlighting how easy it is for Trump, himself, to murder people, essentially, on public TV.
That reminds me of Trump's boast that his supporters were so lacking in common sense that they would elect him even if he murdered someone on Fifth Avenue in downtown New York City. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-shooting-thousands-coronavirus-deaths_n_5eb5d569c5b6c3bd86ff1266. Trump just has to be laughing his head off at the rabid support of his supporters for his killings this month. Happy Constitution Day.
'That’s why numerous people have already pointed out that Kirk was basically Trump’s Horst Wessel — a young propagandist who met an untimely end and became a hero within the movement for it.'
Speech doesn’t exist in a vacuum, detached from emotion, identity, and consequence. That’s not how humans work.
Language shapes behavior. We internalize it, react to it, and often act on it. Dehumanizing speech doesn’t just float in the ether, it embeds itself in culture, policy, and relationships. It primes people to see others as threats, as less-than, as disposable. That’s not theoretical; it’s observable across history and psychology.
Violence rarely erupts spontaneously. It’s cultivated through repetition, normalization, and rhetoric that numbs empathy and inflames fear. Words don’t pull triggers, but they can load the gun.
To dismiss the power of language is to misunderstand the architecture of human behavior. We don’t just act, we narrate, justify, and rehearse our actions through speech. That’s why words matter. That’s why they can wound, and why they must warn.
And if this provokes a response, especially one that insists speech is harmless, it only proves the point. Words move people. That’s why they matter. That’s why they must be used with care.
This is also what I research and write about…
Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics
I’m just so sad and sickened by what is happening in our country. It’s not just Charlie’s kids we grieve for, but all our children who are living in fear - of being killed in school, of coming home to find their parents taken away, of expressing their opinions, choosing the wrong religion, or following their heart to love someone of the same sex. For them we must speak up and demand our democracy lives on.
Julie, I think your thoughts about Kirk are too kind. But good for you.
I think Charlie Kirk got exactly what he said America deserves. For multiple reasons presented by Kirk, himself, I see no reason to think Kirk's killing was more tragic than Kirk thought of other deaths due to gun violence. Among Kirk's own words that are most relevant to whether he thought his killing should be viewed as tragic or just a sort of poetic justice are the following:
"I think it's worth it. I think it’s worth it to have [ ] 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." – Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
Kirk actually advocated "gun deaths every single year" to "protect our other God-given rights," and that's exactly what Kirk got. As Kirk said repeatedly, "I think it’s worth it." To Kirk, "That" was a "deal" that was "prudent." To Kirk, his death--for the very reason he died--was "rational."
With the foregoing words, Kirk presented a pretty compelling argument for how we should view his death. But Kirk did not stop there. He actually advocated political violence. Paired with his advocacy of deaths due to gun violence, was Kirk's own advocacy of gun violence, specifically, for political purposes. Kirk argued an extremist view of the Second Amendment that I have argued vociferously is dangerously anti-constitutional. According to Kirk and other people who espouse political violence, "The Second Amendment is there" precisely (and solely) "so that you can defend yourself against a tyrannical government." As far as I have been able to ascertain, Kirk's killer thought Kirk was a tool, if not an actual leader, of tyrannical government. So again, Kirk got what he said America deserved. But Kirk didn't stop even there.
Also in 2023, on The Charlie Kirk Show Kirk even advocated (at least) buying and actively bearing arms in public specifically because "You have a government that hates you. You have a traitor as the president. Buy weapons, I keep on saying that. Buy weapons. Buy ammo. If you go into a public place, bring a gun with you." https://www.newsweek.com/bluesky-chariie-kirk-assassination-warning-2128023
Did we grieve for the children of a racist and bigot when he was alive?
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it real weird with a story about meeting Kirk in 2001 and how they instantly became “soul mates.” (Kirk was eight years old in 2001.)"
These people are so stupid they can't even make a lie sound plausible.
Bloody chum in the water brings sharks. They will bite anything and that is not violence. It brings emotionally soothing food for the soul. There is a need for social services to address these emotionally challenged individuals. Instead some torture them repeatedly with heteronormativity. This is not politics. This is systemic abuse and societal failure that are both fixable. I am disgusted by those making a living by bellowing in this type of torture chamber. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/bloody-chum?r=3m1bs
Mrs. Kirk would get immediate support from the far right as a surrogate mouthpiece for the culture war.
Precedent: America once before became enamored of a young, robust “patriot” determined to make the world white—Welkommen, Herr Chancellor Hitler.
Lisa, you made an interesting point about how Trump "defended Putin’s murderous regime" by denigrating America: “our country does plenty of killing also … you think our country’s so innocent?”
Now, I see Trump's multiple decisions to murder people on boats this month in a new light. Maybe Trump's "logic" is that he's helping Putin by highlighting how easy it is for Trump, himself, to murder people, essentially, on public TV.
That reminds me of Trump's boast that his supporters were so lacking in common sense that they would elect him even if he murdered someone on Fifth Avenue in downtown New York City. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-shooting-thousands-coronavirus-deaths_n_5eb5d569c5b6c3bd86ff1266. Trump just has to be laughing his head off at the rabid support of his supporters for his killings this month. Happy Constitution Day.
'That’s why numerous people have already pointed out that Kirk was basically Trump’s Horst Wessel — a young propagandist who met an untimely end and became a hero within the movement for it.'
Thank you Lisa!
https://youtu.be/SC0bLrsu7nE?si=cINfKLp2-G2OLFa4