Night and Day: How the Left and Right Deal With Tragedy Speaks Volumes

Violent riots, described as “mostly peaceful” by much of big corporate media, led to dozens of deaths, hundreds of injuries, the torching of businesses, even entire neighborhoods, and were accompanied by the most unhinged behavior of all, namely, widespread demands to defund the police. The rest of the country was forced to take a knee and confess that the entire systemically racist society was responsible for Floyd’s fate. Cowardly bandwagon-jumpers pledging fealty to the burgeoning cultural Marxism sweeping the land, presented as “anti-racism,” were fueled by Black Lives Matter, an organization founded by self-avowed “trained Marxists” that turned out to be as corrupt as the day is long.

Now fast forward five years and consider what happened — or more precisely did not happen —  following the horrific assassination of a conservative Christian adored by most on the right. There was outrage, but no violence. There were vigils, but no protests. No riots. No targeting of Kirk’s long list of enemies. No calls for sweeping, reckless reforms to our criminal justice system. No demands that citizens bow down to those professing to hate the country and all it stands for. And when the widow of the murder victim spoke before tens of thousands of people who loved her husband and millions watching around the world, she made a mind-blowing declaration about the alleged assassin: “I forgive him.”

Hating Charlie Kirk

Can you imagine leftists assuming the posture of Erika Kirk if one of their most beloved figures was murdered in cold blood, a year after a president they loved was targeted twice by assassins and came within a millimeter of losing his life? It is safe to assume that, if Joe Biden had been targeted even once by a deranged sniper, and it was followed by the successful assassination of a major figure on the left, we would have lived 2020 all over again.

But beyond that, consider the contrasting profiles of George Floyd and Charlie Kirk. Floyd was essentially a career criminal and drug addict who had been stopped or arrested by police no less than 20 times in his life and was convicted of crimes on eight occasions. And yet, those eulogizing him acted as if he were a hero, a righteous and upstanding symbol for the left’s grievance culture. Well-adjusted people saw that this event presented the country with a ripe opportunity for a serious and constructive dialogue about the relationship between the people and the police and beyond. Instead, the haters rioted, targeted the police, and blamed all of white America.

In the sharpest possible contrast, despite those who hated him for his ideology and even more so for the incredible success of his movement, Charlie Kirk lived a truly heroic life marked by unquestioned devotion to faith, family, and freedom. He leaned in to dialogue with those who openly professed hatred for him and the MAGA-world writ large. He refused to condemn his enemies, choosing instead to try to persuade them with reason and intellect. He was fully committed to the proposition that conversing with your opponents, treating them as fellow Americans rather than enemies, is the only thing that can prevent exactly the kind of violence that ended his life.

Like negative space in a painting purposely left blank, the conservative response to the murder of Charlie Kirk must be viewed not strictly by what is present but by what is absent: rebellion and chaos. Tens of thousands at a stadium in Arizona and millions of others across the world were inspired and uplifted by proclamations of faith and fortitude in a public memorial service for the ages.

Maybe, for at least a moment, leftists might stop to consider what might have happened in the wake of the George Floyd affair had they behaved like conservatives following the murder of Charlie Kirk by seizing the opportunity to influence people for the better. Instead of darkness, conservatives chose light; instead of violence and hate, those on the right chose compassion and forgiveness. Such dramatically divergent reactions speak volumes.