I have come to bury Charlie Kirk, not to praise him.

In the days since the murder of Charlie Kirk, I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading about this guy. I knew the name, but not much about him other than he was an ally of President Felon. To understand the divergent outcry, I started digging deeper into his statements, his declarations, and his positions on a whole lotta topics. What I came away with was a strange portrait of a guy who was intent on playing to whatever audience was in the house. 

He professed to be observant of Shabbat in the "Jewish way," but I have no idea what that even means. I've been doing it every week for about 73 years and I'm not sure what that means. Last January, he told an even audience he observed a "tech free sabbath" because as pastor friend told him it would reduce anxiety.

Every Friday night, I keep a Jewish Sabbath; I turn off my phone, Friday night to Saturday night. The world cannot reach me, and I get nothing from the world. It will bless you infinitely."

Of course, he also made it very clear that "Jewish" biblical commandments did not apply to Christians. Okay. I get that. Still, his periodic philojudaic statements do not necessarily reflect an acceptance for Jews to live their own lives. As a Christian Nationalist, Kirk believe that the United States should be inwardly AND outwardly Christian, reflecting and observing Christian biblical interpretations. 

As reported in the NY TImes:

Mr. Kirk also accused Jewish philanthropists of fomenting anti-whiteness by supporting liberal antiracism causes like the Black Lives Matter movement.

“The philosophical foundation of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country,” he said on his show in 2023.

Not long after, he accused Jews of controlling “not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it."

One can love Israel because it's necessary for the rapture to occur without loving Jews. As a Christian Nationalist, it's pretty evident that there is a dichotomy between the two and Charlie Kirk was clearly in the evangelical rapture camp. What he needs from us is not Shabbat halacha or even Torah for that matter. He needs us to be in Israel so the second coming can happen. That's it, folks. We are expendable after that. He no more loves Jews than he loves Black pilots....and he's made his opinion of Black pilots pretty clear. 

I may not have agreed with Charlie Kirk on a whole raft of issues, but exercising his right to free speech in the public forum is not something with which I can take issue. His dialogue with the attendees at his rally was, apparently, open and an excellent exchange of ideas. But even if he had been shouting, which he was not, he did not deserve to be gunned down. He had every right to be heard, and the kid that shot him must face prosecution and punishment accordingly. Justice must be served.

But that justice cannot and must not be usurped by pathological partisanship. Within hours after the shooting, President Felon declared he would punish Kirk's critics. An article in the Washington Post reported:

President Donald Trump, following the death of GOP activist and close friend Charlie Kirk, vowed to unleash the weight of his administration onto those he said contributed to an environment of “radical left political violence.”

 

How that might translate into policy has remained unclear, as the president and his aides have spent part of the last two days grieving while strategizing their next steps.

 

Trump invoked Kirk’s memory to urge supporters to refrain from retaliatory violence. But he also indicated a desire to not just punish the killer, but also to tackle what the president and his staff described as a movement bent on the destruction of the American way of life. 

 

“The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy,” Trump said Friday morning on Fox News.

According to NBC News, other high ranking government officials are being dragged into the net of retribution:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told his staff to identify any members of the military who have mocked or condoned the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk so that they can be punished, two defense officials told NBC News. 

Several service members have been relieved from their jobs because of such posts, the officials said, adding that Hegseth’s directive also pertains to others associated with the Defense Department. It’s unclear exactly how many people have been disciplined.

Hegseth and other senior Pentagon leaders posted messages on X this week calling on the public to report any posts that could be interpreted as negative about Kirk or unsympathetic about his murder.

I think this is worth noting.

The White House ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff for Charlie Kirk, something was was not done when Melissa Hortman, Minnesota Speaker of the House, was assassinated with her husband and their dog at the front door of their home. According to FOX News, he was too busy that playing golf with GOP leaders in preparation for his budget bill. And he posted on his Truth Social page:

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UPDATE: THE PRESIDENT DENIES BEING FAMILIAR WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF MELISSA HORTMAN:

Trump at first says he is ‘not familiar’ with Minnesota Democrat’s assassination

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The differences in President Felon's response to the murders is terrifying. It demonstrates not simply an unwillingness to recognize all lawmakers as contributors to our government on many levels, instead, he reaffirms the creeping obsession he has with obtaining authoritarian control. Ever the opportunist, President Felon and his staff are using the death of Kirk as a opening to undermine the first amendment. This is yet another attempt to remove a plank from the platform of American democracy. Individuals across the country are being fired for comments made about the death of someone not even elected to office, someone whose opinions differ in fundamental ways from Kirk's. Why are his opinions to be held up as sacrosanct?

No, no one should be celebrating. But nowhere in our Constitution is there a clause for the existence of thought police. Just like nowhere in the Constitution is the president given the power to deploy armed forces at will. 

And no, I do not believe for a single moment that Charlie Kirk should be given the hero treatment by our government. Feckless President Felon and J.D. Bedbug can like him all they want. But he was not an elected official. Not even Martin Luther King had a state funeral because Lester Maddox refused to allow it: 

A state funeral or lying in state was refused to King by then-governor of Georgia Lester Maddox, who had considered King an "enemy of the country" and had stationed 64 riot-helmeted state troopers at the steps of the state capitol in Atlanta to protect state property.               Wikipedia

Flown home to Arizona on Air Force Two with the Vice President Bedbug, the memorial service is scheduled to be held at State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals. President Felon and his associates plan to be in attendance. 

Just bury the guy with  all the pomp and circumstance his church allows. Since he was a religious figure, bury him that way. He doesn't need civil beatification to meet his God. And we don't need to spend any more tax money on it, either. 

Somehow, still, this all feels like a desecration of our Constitution. Not that I care, but it still feels weird. Like our government has been taken over by aliens. 

Maybe that's the part we're not yet seeing clearly.

Meanwhile, back at the gold-flocked White House, The administration has ordered the removal of exhibits, including photographs from National Park sites. This removal, according to officials 

is in line with President Donald Trump’s March executive order directing the Interior Department to eliminate information that reflects a “corrosive ideology” that disparages historic Americans. National Park Service officials are broadly interpreting that directive to apply to information on racism, sexism, slavery, gay rights or persecution of Indigenous people. 

Following Trump’s order, Interior Department officials issued policies ordering agency employees to report any information, including signage and gift shop items, that might be out of compliance. Trump officials also launched an effort asking park visitors to report offending material, but they mostly received criticisms of the administration and praise for the parks.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
Removing the documentation 

does not make the truth go away.

It simply reminds the world

of your cowardice.

Slated to be removed:
“The Scourged Back”
escaped slave Peter Gordon, Louisiana, 1863.
National Gallery of Art