Something profoundly important may, one hopes, have happened to America’s understanding of itself when a sniper murdered Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10. This is despite our becoming sadly familiar with political violence, not least because of two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump last year.

Back then, Trump got up quickly from the ground after being hit, pumped his fist, and called on supporters to “fight.” So the attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, shocking though it was, did not have time to produce that sickening feeling of irremediable damage that comes with absolute loss. He and his movement grew stronger after the attack.

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But after Kirk was felled, a different feeling of hollow dread settled heavily onto the national consciousness. This was partly due to the circumstances and their transformation. 

Kirk sat at the focus of an amphitheater of open space and surrounding buildings at Utah Valley University. Thousands of people came to see him, listen, and debate. The sun shone, and there was a festive atmosphere under the midday western sky as he threw MAGA hats into the crowd. In other words, and as others have noted, he was engaging in politics as a happy warrior, which is how decent people know it should be. He listened respectfully, tried to change minds, and encouraged people to think.

But the theater of democracy became, in an instant, a theater of execution. The stage on which Kirk sat under a tent was transformed into a scaffold, and the occasion became one of unmitigated horror. Instead of an irregular patter of several gunshots, to which we have become accustomed, there was the sharp snap of a single shot that instantly silenced Kirk’s flow of words as he slumped back and to his left. It took some time before Trump announced Kirk’s death, but that grim outcome was expected and hung like a sick foreboding over the nation, for the video left no doubt about the massive trauma that had been inflicted on the 31-year-old conservative activist.

Then came politicians’ reactions. These were deeply telling and prompted me to believe something profound may have taken place in our political psyche. Most pols seemed to realize that the evil of what we’d all just seen allowed no room for “buts” or “ifs,” nor any statements other than those combining horror, shock, condemnation, and sadness. Responses from Democrats, who have tried to leverage previous shootings to score points against rivals on gun policy, were instead mostly restrained, dignified, and to the point.

Yes, internet freaks celebrated, but elected officials who need the respect, not the contempt, of the public mostly confined themselves to saying the violence was terrible and that they pray for Kirk, his wife, and their two daughters. 

ON FLAG BURNING, THE RIGHT IS WORKING FOR THE LEFT 

Kirk’s organization, which he’d built into a huge conservative movement reaching 100 million people, mostly young, is called Turning Point USA. His death may have forced politicians who purport to be leaders to a turning point. It is fragile and may break down. But perhaps it will be a turning point toward traditional values and civilized restraint.

It is terrible that people are now murdered for seeking the truth and expressing their valid opinions. But if horrific events in Utah brought us to a turning point away from rhetoric dehumanizing opponents, away from calling conservatives fascists, and away from urging violence against them, Kirk will not have lived or died in vain.