Since Wednesday afternoon, 9/10, I've been going through the same cycles of shock, denial, anger, and grief that many millions of others around the world have been going through since hearing the news of Charlie's demise, then witnessing the visuals a short time later.
I get up in the morning, and when I reach full consciousness, my spirit sighs, "Oh, no..." I have thoughts like, "This is such a horrible week. Can't we roll things back to Monday and start over, this time with something happening that delays the shooter - a car breakdown, a debilitating accident, the gun chamber jamming, or his weapon stolen? This is so out of context with what the world needs. You are taking him far too soon."
Charlie's podcast has been airing for several years now on Liberty & Justice 1640 from 9-11 PM weekdays. Over time, I've come to appreciate his sophisticated but clear, direct thought process. Even though I never met him, he felt like an old friend. He was wise and a very, very good man in every way.
I know this is a giant leap for most of my former colleagues in the overwhelmingly leftist/Marxist folk music world. Those of you in that cult of weirdness, absurdity, and non-reality cannot bring yourselves to appreciate Charlie's integrity, intellect, compassion, faith, humor, and ability to inspire millions of young people to consider a different direction for their lives. I pray some day your eyes will be opened and you come to appreciate this giant among influencers who lived one of cleanest, most purposeful lives imaginable. He accomplished more in his brief 31 years than most people do in 100.
In a very unlikely place - MSNBC - I found an interview with a journalist who had interviewed Charlie two weeks before his death. Here is my summary of what he gleaned from it:
Charlie Kirk's business model was not primarily political. It's number one objective was convincing as many young people as possible to abandon their university conditioning and live a conservative lifestyle: find a good mate, get married, have children, and stay married. And, especially for men, have business or career aspirations, work hard, build value in the world, and be as honest and as fair in your business affairs as possible.
Yes, he hated wokeness, LGBT, and perpetual sex work, but he hated them because they waste time and resources. It is the Christian conservative life that satisfies long term. He also realized that politics is downstream from culture and when we get the culture fixed, politics corrects itself rather quickly.
My tributes to Charlie will start Saturday, 9/13 at 10 pm and Sunday 9/14 at 9 PM and continue through the entire overnight both days. I will be replaying Charlie's two appearances on the Whatever Podcast (Feb. and June 2024) in their entirety. His conversations and debates with two porn stars is featured on the earlier one, I believe. I will also be featuring hosts Brian Atlas and Andrew Wilson parsing through developments as they came in during two long segments that will air through the Saturday into Sunday overnight.
Rest in peace, Charlie. I hope to meet you on the other side.
