Charlie Kirk’s Murder & the Authoritarian Crackdown on Free Speech

A little over 2 weeks ago, Charlie Kirk was murdered while speaking in front of thousands of people - and a video of the horrific act spread across the internet. The event has shaken the nation - and created an atmosphere of tension and fear. But instead of trying to ease that tension and fear, and try to unify the country - Trump, his administration and the Right Wing media have instead ratcheted up the tension and used this horrific act to blame their political enemies - pushing a narrative that the rhetoric of the lunatic left Democrats has radicalized a network of trans Antifa terrorists - and is the cause of this political violence… labelling not just people who were insensitive in the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination - but anyone who disagreed with the things he promoted throughout his career - as complicit in his murder.Of course, the Republican Party and Trump specifically would never engage in violent or extreme rhetoric or the demonization of their opponents… quick side note - on the same day that Kirk was shot there was another school shooting in Colorado committed by a White Supremacist… oh, also Democratic lawmakers were murdered back in June in Minnesota by an anti-abortion activist.And yet, with another shooting the other day at an ICE facility in Dallas - the Trump administration has become even further emboldened to use the full force of the Federal Government to silence their critics, go after their enemies - and further entrench their, yes, authoritarian, power. Using the FCC to force Jimmy Kimmel off the air, and attack our freedom of speech. They've labeled antifa a terrorist organization, they indicted James Comey, they are going after the funding of Democrats - and they are saying that anyone who criticizes ICE are promoting violence against law enforcement. Trump, JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, Cash Patel, and the Right Wing media apparatus that supports them are intentionally adding gasoline to the fire in order to justify their authoritarian purge of their political enemies. It's kinda fascist to be honest...Things are bleak folks. And the nation feels more divided than ever - which is, of course, their goal. But are we really as divided as it feels? And is there a way for us to come back together on the things we can all agree on? Well it starts by engaging in some truth telling. So that’s what my mom and I are going to try to do today - because she has lived through the era of extreme political violence of the 1960s - and being a former conservative in the McCarthy era - knows full well the authoritarian playbook for attacking free speech - so I think she can provide us with some valuable insight into this moment in our history.(  / talkingpoliticswithmom  )