When outrage becomes America’s only language
In a culture where everyone’s offended and no one listens, even tragedy becomes another team sport.
By J.A. Aleman
The word “triggered” has become a part of American culture, and yet when someone pulls an actual trigger and ends a life in broad daylight before a crowd, the aftermath should bring people toward togetherness, not tear them apart.
Charli Kirk was murdered on Sept. 10, allegedly by Tyler Robinson, and opposing reactions were seen online and in various media outlets. Some were excited because they disagreed or hated what Kirk had to say, and some were horrified because they agreed and loved what he had to say.
It seems that no matter the situation, there are always two teams that are loud and want to tell the rest of the population who are not on either team what they ought to feel and think.
We saw people on the right give opinions about why the shooting happened in the first place, and the consensus was that there was a left-wing trans ideology that motivated Robinson to act. Those on the left argued the man responsible was a right-wing guy that came from a conservative family.
Family members of Robinson told investigators he had more of an interest in politics over recent years and according to a CNN report he didn’t like President Donald Trump or Kirk. But in high school he was conservative and even supported Trump during 2020.
Investigators found bullet casings with anti-fascist messages but also memes from video games and we can’t forget, Robinson had a partner who shared with investigators text messages with alleged confessions. The investigation is still ongoing, however.
The question is why the shift?
We can look at all the evidence for ourselves that is being reported, but ultimately only God and Robinson know why he committed this crime.
Whatever conclusion people come to themselves is perfectly alright to say if that is what people truly believe, but that does not mean it’s the truth. When the investigation is over, the world will know all the details, but even that is not something that brings closure all the time.
What’s worse, is each side labeling any speech as rhetoric, and this is not helpful because such an important word has become meaningless in our time, and anything anyone says is seen as stoking the flame of division.
Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended on Sept. 17 because his monologue commenting on what happened to Kirk was seen as “inflammatory and insensitive” by ABC.
On Sept. 23, Kimmel made his return and wanted to clarify his previous statement before being suspended.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. Nor was it my intentions to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”
Kimmel went on to thank people who showed support and cried out for his return because the suspension was seen as unfair and added, “weirdly, maybe most of all, I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe but support my right to share those beliefs.”
These comments about free speech are very important because that is something all sides feel is vital to the social framework of our country. Where the disagreement comes in is when a person feels they are being marginalized or somehow oppressed by words others are saying.
While I agree words should never be used for such things, that is not the only point we should be seeing when it comes to being able to speak our minds in the public arena.
Talk show host Bill Maher, on his talk show spoke about Kirk’s shooting, and said, “I wish this was about politics. It’s actually so much worse. It’s about nihilism. About not believing anything. About living in an online world that’s one big inside joke about how stupid and useless is the America that conventional people on both parties are still living in.”
Having social platforms and online personas has given people the ability to abuse their legal right to share and because there is so much information, whether accurate or not, the world can seem bleak and hopeless looking through our screens.
“This show is not important,” said Kimmel, referring to his own show. “What’s important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
Truth must win out, and it will because there are those like myself who don’t play teams when it comes to saying or doing what’s right with any given situation we report on.
