We are, quite rightly, highly critical of our politicians in America. But this is only useful if we also commend those who get it right. To that end, I want to praise Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, for his conduct in the two days since Charlie Kirk was murdered. From start to finish, Cox’s handling of this situation has been exemplary. His tone has been appropriate. His message has been correct. And, most important of all, he has hidden nothing from the public. Unlike some other public figures, Cox neither got ahead of the story and spread rumors that turned out to be untrue, nor dragged his feet and withheld crucial details that he didn’t trust us to receive. If we are to have governments, we need people to run those government, and Governor Cox has fulfilled his duty with aplomb.

In particular, Cox has drawn the correct distinctions. The murder of Kirk, Cox said:

is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times.

Nevertheless:

There is one person responsible for what happened here, and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable.

Likewise, he has insisted that “words are not violence, violence is violence,” and that agreeing to disagree is not surrendering one’s convictions. “Your generation,” he told younger viewers,

has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don’t matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.

Finally, Cox encouraged people to understand that the Internet is not real life, and that a society that becomes accustomed to casually watching snuff videos is a society that will decay. “This is not good for us,” Cox said:

It is not good to consume. Social media is a cancer on our society right now. I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.

Amen.