"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser."
So goes the anonymous quote, often attributed to Socrates. Then, when slander is exhausted, the most extreme and bitter losers reach for the gun.
Eight years ago today, I stepped away from public service to join WWL. I never would’ve thought that on my 8th anniversary, our society would be dealing with the fallout from a heinous assassination of someone globally famous for championing intellectual debate.
I didn’t agree with everything Charlie Kirk ever said. But in many ways, that’s the most important element at play, because, although I didn’t agree with him on every single issue, I respected his yearning, his emotional intelligence, his reason, his sound moral compass, and his faith.
Whenever I watched his debates, I’d learn things, often from both sides. I appreciated his devotion to creating spaces that encouraged young students to articulate their thoughts, to engage each other, and—most importantly—to have civil disagreements.
“Prove me wrong” became a motto for Kirk. It represented his pugnacious but inquisitive branding, his belief that the more we talk, the more we embrace the essence of democracy.
These are principles I've lived and stood by for a long time, as sheriff and now, as a radio host.
I used to ask my officers, “Do you read...and more than just the sports page?" I’d push them to challenge themselves with information rather than use it as a tool of comfort.
As a law enforcement officer, I found this to be particularly important. But it's important in any station of life because, by reading, learning, and expanding one’s horizons, you learn to distance yourself from the impulses that tell you to use strength or force as a means of last resort. Through understanding, collectively and individually, we come to rise above our baseness.
Like Thomas Paine once said, "An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot." It’s the coward who, no longer being able to debate, uses arms to destroy their opponent.
In many ways, I took this job at WWL because I saw it as a challenge, an opportunity to be a positive force in the community I love so dearly, and to challenge myself to learn daily. And I've found that the most effective path to learning is by engaging people who think differently from you—plain and simple.
In the wake of yesterday's gruesome attack, there's hardly anything to be said that hasn't been said already. My heart is heavy, but it's only strengthened my resolve to stand by what I believe in.
Yesterday, the shooter sought to kill the movement Kirk had built. But the idocracy is that a movement cannot lie in the heart and mind of one individual. It doesn't end with Kirk. And for those of us who believe similarly to him, we must make sure that it doesn't.
To start, we must call out hatred, and we must not turn a blind eye toward those trying to violently dismantle our democracy.
We must accept the fact that our nation is infected by an extreme, bloodthirsty cancel culture and a hatred for emotional intelligence and intellectualism. As we've been seeing, and so glaringly saw yesterday, this infection is revealing itself in the worst possible ways. There’s no cancellation more extreme than by gunning someone down from a rooftop, 200 yards out, as they attempt to hold a civil debate on the grounds of a university.
It's deplorable. It's sickening. It's spinelessness. But we will not overcome this mindset by meeting violence with violence.
As a result of yesterday, today, my resolve grows stronger. I will speak louder than ever, express my opinions with more thought and greater dedication, and will not be deterred.
I hope everybody in this business takes the same approach, because if we don’t, the ideology of those involved in carrying out and celebrating the assassination of Kirk—and the attempted assassination of others, Republican or Democrat—wins.
...
Someone once asked Charlie Kirk what he wanted to be remembered for. His response was simple but profound. “Courage for my faith,” he said.
And if I had a chance to say one thing to Charlie, I’d say, “You succeeded.”
Our thoughts and our prayers are with the Kirk family. And they will be for a long, long time.
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