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The assassination of Charlie Kirk left the people of Middle America angry, confused, and searching for answers. Speculation overwhelmed the national narrative. Progressive media outlets scrambled to turn the tragedy into a conservative-inspired epidemic. But flyover folk could see through the bitter smoke and thick fog of the 24-hour news cycle and, instead, gathered inward with friends and family to rise from the ashes and vow to do the work that Charlie embraced with unequaled passion.
It was a stunningly beautiful day in Orem, Utah, and Charlie Kirk was in the midst of doing what he loved: conversing with America’s younger set and inviting an open dialogue. Much like that September morning in 2001, or in November 1963 at Dealey Plaza, it was as if the day were too perfect to last. Kirk was mid-remark when a bullet struck his neck and subsequently ended his young life. Conservatives felt a raw pain not endured for decades as some progressives celebrated with unabashed cruelty and glee.
But not Bill Maher, who talked about Kirk on his show Real Time: “[H]e was shot under a banner that said, ‘Prove Me Wrong’, because he was a debater, and too many people think the way to do that, to prove you wrong, is to just eliminate you from talking altogether. So, the people who mocked his death or justified it, I think you’re gross. I have no use for you.”
But instead of Charlie’s mourners calling for revenge, they made it clear on social media that those spouting hate and advocating for violence weren’t going to get away with it. Instead, Kirk’s turning point was now their turning point. As the leftist media tried in vain to blame Donald Trump for the assassin’s deadly actions, even asking for a civil dialogue to begin with the administration, one person commented: “When the left now asks for decorum and dialogue, remind them, Charlie was decorum and dialogue … and you shot it.”
Decorum and dialogue will become a legacy that most heartlanders embrace anyway. Lynn Scearce of St. Louis had that decorum: “I’ve been seeing folks saying they don’t like Charlie Kirk based only on what they’ve ‘read.’ But if you actually watched him, you’d see he consistently welcomed opposing voices and debated with respect. In my 62 years, I’ve never seen anyone defend free speech the way he did.”
Some folks had trouble wrapping their heads around the why of it all – and many pointed a finger at unchecked talking heads on progressive networks. Dave Metcalf in Arizona was angry, but he offered a solution: “The time for tolerance is over. The time for allowing the legacy media to get away with promoting the Left’s hate, lies and incendiary rhetoric, should be over as well. The media is a huge component in the Left’s attacks on civil discourse. The FCC has power that it is not using. Time for that to change.”
Bestselling author and national radio host Michael Savage warned that the assassination of Charlie Kirk is a grim marker of our society. “We’re in the civil war. It’s not coming – it’s here. And it’s one-sided,” said Savage in an interview with Breitbart. “The left is killing the right. The left is silencing the right. People are terrified to even speak their views in public, afraid of being attacked. It’s a one-way civil war.”
In Lexington, KY, Angela Stanfield added to that statement: “We’ve been in a war. We just didn’t fight back. Yet.”
If a civil war is already here, many are now ready to fight back. Kirk was a step too far in most minds. John T. Gream in Olney, IL, is an all-hands-on-deck kind of guy: “It’s here now. I’ve been ready for it for months now. So go ahead and slap the red cap off my head.”
“I’ve read numerous Bible verses people have posted in the past few days,” said Robert Trowbridge in Monroe, MI. “I read them as I’m sharpening my sword.”
In Utah, Mike McGee didn’t flinch:
“It’s despicable! Equally despicable is the feigned objections of the rank-and-file democrats and other lefties when they say we don’t support this kind of rhetoric or behavior, yet they still keep their party membership and donate money and time to the party and it’s causes. You can’t have it both ways, either you repudiate and disassociate yourself from radical leftist philosophies by leaving the party or you are a full on supporter of the party, including all the associated atrocities.”
From the Back Forty folks understand that no one can be replaced. Instead, they have picked up the tagline “We are all Charlie.” The Rev. Franklin Graham spoke about the loss of Kirk and stated, “I think the devil has overplayed his hand.” The statement caused all kinds of confusion among progressives who clearly had no clue about the power of knowledge in faith. Bobby Day in Mississippi set them straight with a reference even an atheist could comprehend: “Like the cross. What Satan thought was his greatest victory was his greatest defeat.” Charlie’s widow, Erika, made a statement from his office, her hand on his empty chair. Glenn Skirvin of Killeen, TX, had this to say: “I watched Erika Kirk speak, barely forty-eight hours after Charlie’s assassination. I have to say it was one of the most powerful, moving, and courageous speeches I have EVER heard. She was simply amazing. A strength that only God can bestow in her darkest hours. Just wow.”
Kelsie Deschenes in Kalamazoo, MI, could feel Erika’s love and great pain: “That chair and how she touches it.”
And another Mississippian, Novel Rogers, touched on the main point: “The eulogy his wife gave was both heartbreaking and exhilarating. There’s something beyond this tragedy. #WeAreAllCharlie.”
And that was the entire point that Erika Kirk made through the gut-wrenching grief of losing her husband. “They should all know this. If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea,” she said. “You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea.”
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Editor’s Note: From the Back Forty is Liberty Nation’s longest-running and most popular weekly column.