In thinking about responses to the latest atrocity—which seems to be a product of the endless hate-filled leftist zeitgeist infecting young Americans—we should not begin big. We don’t need legislative agendas, specific programs or measures, or anything resembling a comprehensive solution to the progressive left’s war on civilization.

Progressives are dedicated to one idea: Revolution. A destructive, violent upheaval. Consider Barack Obama’s dictum, “If they bring a knife, we bring a gun.” Knives and guns. He cannot think of society as anything more than the violent revolutionary clash of “oppressor” and “oppressed.”

Image created using AI, based upon Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech.

An urge to forceful destruction beats strongly in the heart of every Progressive, who wants to “fundamentally transform” everything that exists, simply because it exists. The fact that leftists delude themselves into thinking they’ll “build back better” amidst the poisoned rubble they make is neither a justification nor an excuse for their behavior.

We should start small by adjusting our mindset. Don’t answer their double standards with cowardly concessions or compromises. Realize that we don’t need their approval to know and fight what they truly are. Stop imagining that there’s some balance or way of life that can unite us without changing anyone—you can’t live with a panther in your house. That should be ground zero.

Beware of the lizards from both main parties who will predictably crawl out from under their various rocks and argue for “gun control” and “speech control.” Using terrible crimes as an excuse to take away everyone’s freedom is one of the things Mr. Kirk rightly fought against. We should honor that legacy.

Somebody might imagine that Mr. Kirk would disapprove because he favored dialogue with the left. I don’t think he favored that. I think he favored dialogue for the sake of saving people from the left.

By all means, tell people who and what the Left is, and tell them why one individual change based on a conservative idea—like school-choice legislation—is good for people. But we should stop accepting the idea that America can prosper in freedom as long as progressive leftists have any influence on the direction of our country. We should make that plain to them and everyone else.