A Tragic Week
WisDems Chair Devin Remiker released the following:
“A family is mourning the horrific loss of a son, husband, and father because of the political violence that plagues our country; we extend our deepest sympathies to the Kirk family during this time. This sort of violence will continue until all of us, regardless of party, condemn these sorts of heinous actions — no matter where it comes from or who it is directed at. We must look for truth in these moments so that we can move forward together, and not be torn apart by the conspiracies and misinformation that often follow these tragic events.”
Perhaps one group of people that always get to skate out of this free and clear are the billionaires in Silicon Valley, who make money off the amplification of outrageous and inflammatory online rhetoric. Charlie Kirk was a very wealthy young man. He made his money promoting algorithms that jacked up people’s rage. What makes me very sad is the fact that guns and the people that use them to terrorize others left two very young children without a dad.
If guns equal freedom, then we are not a very free country. I hope the person who shot Charlie Kirk is brought to justice. Often, these people are cowards, like the continued parade of people who kill children, moviegoers, concert attendees, shopping mall customers or people worshipping in their churches, synagogues or temples.
Political violence is not new to this country. As a 10 year old, I watched Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on television. As a teenager, there was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. We had the shooting at Kent State and the Oklahoma City bombings. Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11.
In closing, I share a quote by the famous journalist Upton Sinclair, which Steve Schmidt included in his The Warning Substack. Sinclair wrote this to the Los Angeles police chief when force was used to crush dissent:
“I intend to do what one little man can do to awaken the public conscience, and in the meantime I am not frightened by your menaces. I am not a giant physically; I shrink from pain and filth and vermin and foul air, like any other man of refinement; also, I freely admit, when I see a line of a hundred policemen with drawn revolvers flung across a street to keep anyone from coming onto private property to hear my feeble voice, I am somewhat disturbed in my nerves. But I have a conscience and a religious faith, and I know that our liberties were not won without suffering, and may be lost again through our cowardice. I intend to do my duty to my country.”
We have an obligation as Democrats to most certainly call out those who want to harm others, and we also need to maintain hope and empathy. That is what sets us apart.
One last thing from Steve Schmidt. He said many of us might be feeling despair or a rising pessimism. Upton Sinclair had something to say about that as well: “Pessimism is mental disease. It means illness in the person who voices it, and in the society which produces that person.”
See you at the protests and next week’s meeting. I am not being Pollyanna, but I will not be made to feel afraid.