It’s taken me several days to find my voice.
Many days of crying—for a young man I never met, gunned down in the prime of his life. For a country unraveling in front of our eyes. For a world where hate now feels more real than hope.
Yes, I’ve been depressed. The social media frenzy surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk revealed a darkness in our culture—hate-on-hate, spiraling without end.
The level of cruelty and venom—before the blood was even dry—was excruciating.
This wasn’t just an attack on one man. It was an assault on free speech, religious liberty, and a movement—whether you agreed with it or not. This was a heinous act, played out in public.
The killer clearly suffered from serious mental illness, but he was also shaped and emboldened by the undercurrents of online radicalization. Think about that. And think about the impact social media and AI are having on our culture. We see things online that are proven to be false, yet smart people we know believe it.
And I write this not as a passive observer, but as someone who’s been in the arena.
I Was There—Before the Rage Machine Took Over
My mind flashes back to the 1980s and 1990s. I was a young staffer on Capitol Hill, working on presidential campaigns—Reagan-Bush ‘84, Bob Dole for President, and later serving in the U.S. Senate and two presidential administrations. I was one of the warriors, fueled by idealism, committed to making a difference.
We debated fiercely—bomb-throwing conservatives were some of my best friends. Passionate moderates like me verbally sparred with the best of them. In spite of clear divides and differences, I even dated two men much more conservative than I was. We disagreed quite a bit on a lot of things.
But here’s the thing. We still respected each other. We could debate abortion, guns, or tax policy over a beer or two, and laugh afterward. James Carville once called a friend of mine “a hiccup of a human being,” and we laughed—because even that kind of punchline was fueled by wit, not weaponry.
There was never a moment I feared one of my friends might be assassinated.
Today’s Threat Is Real
What once came as a letter in the mail—something you could track and report—is now embedded in the culture. Keyboard warriors casually toss out threats they would never say out loud. It’s hard to know what’s premeditated, intending to harm, and what’s a hot-head, blowing off some steam.
As Charlie Kirk’s murder unfolded in real-time on social media, most of us didn’t hear about it from the news—we heard it from our kids.
Let that sink in.
What Can We Do—As Parents, Citizens, Leaders?
We have to get off the sidelines.
We must be vigilant online, not just for our kids but for the entire ecosystem. If you see something that looks wrong—report it. Say something. Don’t excuse violent extremism behavior–and yes, it is on both sides of the aisle.
We have to elevate our standards. Not just of politics, but of discourse. We must teach that free speech isn’t a license to degrade. And most importantly – that no ideology is worth more than a human life.
We Need to Reignite Our Civic Soul
This moment has shaken me—but I also gained clarity. We are at a turning point. We can’t scroll past this and retreat. We must show the next generation that conviction and civility can coexist.
We need to be the leaders—on the left and right—with enough courage to say – “This is not who we are. This is not what we stand for.”
I didn’t know Charlie Kirk, but I know what it means to use your voice to try and make a difference. Silencing a voice with violence doesn’t just kill a person—it kills ideas. Those who worship cannot retreat for fear of retribution. This moment demands more than mourning, thoughts and prayers.
Let’s have a dialogue and meet in the middle, for the sake of our country. We are better than this. Our future depends on how we respond—and how we listen—today, tomorrow, and in the days to follow.
With faith as my compass and service as my duty, I believe our shared future depends on listening—and leading—with integrity, clarity & purpose.
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