By Brownstone Institute at Brownstone dot org.

Charlie Kirk had a gift for embracing his critics, for refuting their arguments, for harnessing their hatred. He loved debate and he loved ideas. He believed in discussion and openness, and urged this country to open it up so that everyone had a place, not just those who agreed with codified claims of mainstream media.

Kirk ran a nationwide debating society, building it from its founding to a huge national presence. His talent for debate, more than any other force in the country, was responsible for President Trump winning the Gen Z vote in November.

He also stood against the nation's most powerful forces, their efforts to loot the country, and the squalor they inflicted. He promoted order, justice, liberty, and Christianity against the pervasive forces of lawlessness and nihilism. He was also a strong supporter of the work of Brownstone Institute, even if our precise focus was not his. It's because he lived through the Covid years and knew the dangers and evils of totalitarianism.

From universities to legacy media to Antifa to Black Lives Matter to Big Pharma, Kirk fought the most influential cartels in our midst. They noticed.

The Southern Poverty Law Center put Kirk's grassroots organization, Turning Point USA, on its "Hate Map" along with chapters of the Klu Klux Klan. The New York Times derided him as a "right-wing influencer" in their news coverage of the assassination.

After he was shot, an MSNBC commentator seemingly applauded the assassination attempt, stating "[Kirk] has been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.

And I think that's the environment we're in, that the people just can't… [say] these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place."

They excused the violence because Kirk was effective. For years, a corporate class has funneled millions of dollars into operations and organizations designed to unravel our social fabric; Black Lives Matter, ANTIFA, the Covid response, the trans movement, and other projects of globalist cabals sowed chaos and reaped profits. Not only did Kirk oppose those forces, but he convinced millions of young men to join his cause. That success was the most potent threat to his opponents' aims.

Amid the torrent of name-calling and threats of violence, Kirk was unwaveringly brave. He was well aware of the risks he encountered, and he warned about the rising tide of "assassination culture" just five months ago. It is a cruel irony that physical violence struck him down in the process of intellectual debate, for he dedicated his career to the peaceful conflict of ideas.

We can't help but notice a pattern of the culture that Kirk opposed. The 2017 Congressional baseball shooting, the attempt to kill Justice Kavanaugh, the Trump assassination attempts, widespread ANTIFA mobs, BLM attacks. Kamala Harris raised money for the groups that burned Minneapolis to the ground in 2020. Illinois Governor and presidential hopeful J.B.

Pritzker announced that "Republicans cannot know a moment of peace." Just yesterday, Senator Chris Murphy remarked, "you have to be willing to do whatever is necessary in order to save the country."

Billionaire Reid Hoffman has given tens of millions of dollars to radical left-wing causes and told backers that he wished Trump was "an actual martyr."

This is not about partisanship or even ideology. It is about human life and whether society can survive this onslaught of violence whether private, public, or somewhere in between. We must expose those who fund the unraveling of our society and see that they are stopped by legal means.

In the aftermath of the tragedy of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Dan Bongino, Kash Patel, and their allies can dedicate their resources to taking down the machine th...