at schools, republicans refusing to pass sensible gun control legislation, and a president who believes in unitary executive theory, not accountable to anyone, has to be a direct threat to our democracy, even more so.

Mass shootings, weak laws, and unchecked power all show just how fragile our democracy is.

This is the problem. If any faction decides killing is wrong, except for those pronounced as
“Purveyors of Hate” then where does it end? We have our suspects who we think are and we cheer when they are executed.
Do we accept their executions of people they proclaim as the same?

as heck am not going to legitimize it by playing it is "all in the eyes of the beholder".

If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, its a duck.

and as far as implying that I am justifying his killing, I NEVER SAID OR IMPLIED SUCH A THING.

Our dialog on this is finished, I will not engage with you further.

are purveyors of hate.

Next question.

Trump was on the way to losing the election when that "assassination" attempt conveniently goosed his approval ratings.
The Epstein story was hurting Trump's numbers, and a gunman once again conveniently shows up to rouse his base.
Every time Trump's numbers start to go down, get ready for a gunman to show up.

White Supremacist Violence Is On the Rise.

https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/white-supremacist-violence-rise-expanding-fbis

There are mass shootings every week in America.

The little kids in Sandy Hook were assassinated, and it has only gotten easier to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

The outrage being expressed is real, the epidemic of gun violence, the attacks on elected officials (I get it, Kirk was not an elected official), the ease with which someone can kill someone else, these are urgent, frightening problems. I don’t have a simple solution. But none of that changes the fact that taking a life, or hand-waving it away when it happens to someone you despise, is wrong.

Call it assassination, call it murder, call it gun violence, the label matters less than the principle: killing someone for their beliefs or influence is a step toward normalizing fear and retaliation, and it corrodes our society. We can debate how much of an impact one death has on democracy, or compare tragedies, those points are valid. But the core truth remains: violence against people we disagree with undermines the very democracy we’re trying to protect.

We can and should be worried, but we also have to be consistent in our condemnation. Empathy for victims, regardless of politics, is not weakness, it’s what keeps society from turning revenge and hatred into policy.

I feel like this is buying into the RW narrative that "the left" is collectively responsible for murdering CK. We're not. We. Did. Not. Do. It.

People can feel however they want to about a despicable human being being killed. We all know that the killing is wrong, and most of us know that it will have a negative effect on our society (they're already calling for our mass arrests/executions). None of us has to feel bad about this particular individual though. I refuse to play into the RW narrative.

To be clear, I was not suggesting anyone here is advocating violence; though upon a second read I can see how that may have been inferred, however that was not my intent. My point is that if we want a society less defined by fear and retaliation, we have to be consistent in condemning killing, no matter the victim. That said, I stand by this: Kirk’s voice of hate is gone, and the world is better for it.

in this case?

A gun murder. Like so many other murders in our country.

You know, those murders we vote against and they respond by calling us "libtards." Those murders.

I’m curious as to the difference between assassination and murder

What happened in Minnesota is a much bigger deal IMO. Doesn't mean this was not wrong and bad, but Charlie Kirk was not an elected official who had anything to do with our Democratic processes.

In the cesspool known as Xitter, it is full of accounts proclaiming the entirety of "the left" (by which they mean Democrats and liberals) as having collectively murdered CK, and threatening retribution for it against all of us who have political beliefs they disagree with.

I personally refuse to accept this narrative or the claim that I was somehow a participant in this killing.

I couldn't care less about CK, his family, or his friends. I do care about the climate of violence and division that's developing in this country, and the way the Magats are using this to push forward their violent agenda.

Kirk was not a politician. It was murder, not assassination.

Assassination of elected officials, candidates or other public servants is an attack on democracy.

Assassination of outspoken public figures is simply murder, or in extreme cases, terrorism.

Assassination is about motive. MLK wasn’t an elected official either. For some reason we don’t use the term much in the US. Killing a doctor that does abortions could be assassination, depending on motive, FWIW.

Chuckie Kirk was a piece of malignant shit.

I will show his family as much empathy as he would have shown my mixed race family: a whole bag of dicks.

Voter suppression, fraud, and schemes to overturn free and fair elections are direct attacks on democracy. J6 was the single greatest direct assault on our Democracy. Assassination of an elected official is also direct, because it overturned the choice of voters.

The killing of Charlie Kirk was a direct attack on free speech, which is a component of democracy. This may sound like nit picking or semantics, but I think the term "direct" is a bit of a stretch.

My view is likely colored by the fact that Kirk's influential rhetoric in support of Donald Trump and what he represents contributes to the very real ongoing direct assault on American democracy.

Of course, we should all remember the principle of "disagree with what you say, but defend to the death your right to say it."

So, maybe I need to reassess my objection to your subject title. Charlie Kirk certainly deserved to be rejected and publicly disgraced for his destructive poisonous rhetoric, but not to be killed for saying it.

I feel the same way about Donald Trump. Don't make him a martyr. Reject his poison, remove him from office, and see that justice is served. I want him to spend what remains of his life in prison, paying for his crimes.