Whether a Tragedy for One Family or Thousands, Political Terrorism Is the Opposite of Democracy

On this, the 24th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on America by Al Qaida, and in the immediate wake of the assassination of pro-fascism activist Charlie Kirk – for as yet unknown reasons – we need to all take a beat and remember that political terrorism is the antithesis of democracy.

Violence and the threat of violence is never healthy, nor should it be acceptable, in a democratic society. The fear of force or death is not a valid means of persuasion; it is only a means of coersion. Coersion should never be considered an acceptible method of settling political differences in a democracy. We know where that leads: escalation, retaliation, regression, further violence, and, ultimately, the end of democracy.

There are a lot of people on both sides getting very stirred up and angry by Kirk’s murder, and I certainly understand why. But I ask of you – regardless of which side of the political spectrum you align with – to see Kirk’s murder as the offense against peace, rational discussion, and our democratic republic that it surely is.

We don’t yet know why Kirk was murdered, it could be politically motivated by either the left or the right, or it could be neither; but it truly shouldn’t matter ultimately what the motive was. Everyone who supports the continuation of American democracy should be saddened and offended by this deplorable and dispicable murder.

I won’t claim to be a fan of Kirk, and I won’t pretend that I liked or cared for him – in fact, I despised him and his work… thoroughly. But I do recognize that Kirk was practicing democratic values in his work – even if I deem that his ends were illiberal and ultimately anti-democratic. More important than the effects of this one man’s public work and personnae, Kirk was a human being and citizen, who had a right to life and to engage in political speech and association. That is why I would have deflected that bullet if given the opportunity. If we want to fight for our democracy, we all ought also to deplore the personal tragedy his death represents to his family, his community, those whom his advocacy touched, and – yes – our democratic system of governance.

Before pointing the finger at the other side of our political divide and calling for retribution or retaliation, always remember that violence has – throughout our nation’s history – been a tool of anti-democratic coercion that BOTH sides have used and abused at one time or another.

I won’t pretend there isn’t a bias in that abuse – the authoritarian and establishmentarian right has ALWAYS picked up that tool more quickly and more often in our society, and certainly more often been able to clothe that violence in the colors of the State. Which is all the more reason for those on the left side of the divide to avoid glorifying or legitimizing the use of violence for political ends – the right is WAY more apt and willing to resort to violence, so we had best do everything in our power to condemn and depricate its use.

I can’t tell you that I know for certain that we will be able to avoid mass violence in this tumultuous and divisive passage of our civic life – we already are experiencing a quantum leap in the use of stochastic violence, and we have a President who openly courts and even praises, condones, and PARDONS such violence. I can tell you that should we begin to see violence as justified, beneficial, or necessary, we are all lost. And by that I mean not just as a democratic polity, but the cause of the Democratic Party, liberality, and leftists, in particular. People in the midst of fear and hatred and violence do not make choices that advance or progress societies – just the opposite.

So, on this anneversary of one of the most dispicable terrorist attacks on our democratic society in our entire history, keep in your heart a hatred and condemnation for ALL political violence and domestic terrorism as the antithesis of democracy – even if an utterly toxic and pernicious twat is the victim this time around.