overthinking with nick.

by Nick DiCicco

In case you need another reminder.

Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

A story that has captured national news for nearly two weeks and seems reluctant to let go despite other significant events happening in our country and the world.

I have already broadly written my opinions regarding the assassination and the country’s response on my school’s news website, The Whit, which you can read here.

Despite most of my thoughts already being written, there is still more I have to say, especially after the memorial service held for Kirk yesterday.

One thing that the death of Charlie Kirk has shown me is that no one has any values anymore, at least not values they cling to or are consistent about. No one has a spine.

When Charlie first died, people across social media platforms called out how it was a threat to freedom of speech, and how Kirk was killed to be silenced. Ideas which at their surface could be defensible especially someone who acatully values freedom of speech.

The problem is, these people don’t actually value freedom of speech. Days after the shooting, JD Vance called for Americans to turn in fellow citizens to their employers for making jokes about Kirk, and the FCC pressured ABC into taking Kimmel off the air for his comments regarding Kirk. Many of the same people remained silent, or cheered on this insane behavior by the administration.

At Kirk’s funeral, his wife spoke and publicly forgave her husband’s killer in order to live like Christ did, forgiving those who hate Him. She told the crowd of nearly 90,000 people that we cannot return hate with hate. They cheered.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, also gave a speech. Throughout his speech, he said how he hates his opponents and doesn’t wish the best for them. At the memorial, where 90,000 watched live and millions watched online, the President decided that instead of calling for unity, he’d rather say he hates his political opponents.

Stephen Miller gave a speech, which called for violence, spewed hatred, and mimicked speeches given by Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi propagandist. These similarities include the “us vs. them” mentality, viewing Kirk as a martyr, the belief that western values are being diminished and that the administration is the savior, pointing out the history of certain values, and calling for people to rise up.

Many of the same people who cheered for the speech of forgiveness also cheered for the speeches filled with hate, and calls for violence. People did not stand on their values.

People on the left have also abandoned their values when it comes to Charlie Kirk. Many outspoken protestors of gun violence seem to have no problem with Kirk’s death, even though he is directly a victim of gun violence.

And while this problem isn’t exclusive to the right, it’s scary to see a crowd of 90,000 people, many of whom are Christians, seemingly abandon their values in the name of President Trump and his administration’s ultranationalism.

Every time the administration says or does something unhinged, or an act of political violence occurs, I always hope that it will be the moment Americans wake up. But they never do. We have been on the cusp of authoritarianism and fascism, but it seems no one ever has the guts to say we have crossed that line.

If you truly believe something, believe it and be vocal about it. I’d rather everyone be consistent and hold true to their values, no matter how harmful they may be, then walk around flip flopping what they believe and follow.

I am sick of trying to pretend that both sides are the same or even speaking in this partisan manner. No matter what, until the president turns down the temperature and calls for unity, then no one should be talking about “the left.”

I just watched thousands of “Christians” inconsistently support Jesus and hateful speeches by Trump and his administration. It can’t be that way.

I know this feels wrong and hopeless, and it may feel that way sometimes, but there is always hope. There are still ways to turn this around. First and foremost, stay true to your values. Don’t let yourself be brain-broken by the lies and fear-mongering.

Second, I know midterms aren’t for a while, but we need to vote accordingly. If things seem bad, they might actually be bad. We can’t keep talking about fascism and authoritarianism without drawing the line in the sand. There is no reason why a man who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election should ever have been elected president. People are believing the lies in the media and from the administration, and we need to reveal the truth.

You do no one a service by not holding true to the values you have. Either follow them or don’t. There is no in between. It is more respectable to be honest than to defend a lie.