In Dark Times, Americans Need Leadership That Unites
Our response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination must be better.
Tragedy knows no party.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The assassination of Charlie Kirk has cast a dark shadow over the country, not only because the deed itself was abominable, but also because the reaction to it has been so disturbing. Instead of bringing out the best in America, as tragedies once did, it is bringing out the worst — in both parties.
It should go without saying that political violence — and gun violence — is always wrong. Yet on the left, there have been instances of dancing on Kirk’s grave. When human decency and basic civility fall victim to partisanship and ideology, and abhorrence of violence becomes tempered by political aims, monstrosities and tyrannies become possible.