Charlie Kirk Assassinated
Charlie Kirk got assassinated yesterday in broad daylight in front of hundreds of people, and in fact in front of the whole world. It was an appalling act of violence that sent a message, in no uncertain terms, to the American public, that our experiment in “freedom of speech” was over, or at least under mortal threat.
I don’t know much about Charlie Kirk, mostly because I avoid political rhetoric, from either side, like the veritable plague. But cutting down a defenseless American like a rabid dog for simply speaking his mind is a sick sign of the times. A sign we’ve turned the corner on a dark and dangerous corridor.
The finger pointing is coming from every direction, each side blaming the other for the gruesome death. The liberals are saying that Charlie brought it on himself with his firebrand speech. The conservatives are blaming the liberals for being reactionary to his views on abortion, gun control, foreign wars, etc.
There’s less being said that the killing looked to be coordinated by a foreign power, an entity with the motive to destabilize the American way of life and cohesion. Divide and conquer is of course the first rule of warfare. The effectiveness and sophistication of the killing is a dead giveaway. This was no rando with a grievance. More like a multi-layered operation with numerous operatives on the ground, and countless others in the woodwork pulling the strings. If they dole out the “lone gunman” theory then rest assured—it wasn’t.
The money question then would be who? Or what? That, as is the nature of the beast, is nebulous, and certainly beyond my pay grade to know. This is of course why we have a trillion dollar defense and intelligence network. That is why they’re getting paid the big money. At this point, we have to put our trust in them to get the answers. The answers may not be the end of it though. This has all the tell-tale signs of war. It is a gloomy prospect, but that is the price we have to pay for living in this country.
William S. Burroughs once intimated that violence and evil were ingrained in the land itself, specifically, he stated: "America is not a young land: it is old and dirty and evil before the settlers, before the Indians. The evil is there waiting.” WTF is he talking about? Well, he’s saying this place is haunted. And of course it is. In fact, anywhere on earth that has been occupied by humans carries with it a long sordid history of evil. The question is, how do we face it? Do we succumb to the darkness, and lash out with more of the same? Or do we stand together, regardless of race and ideology, and face this menace together? That's what we need to do if we want to survive.
At this juncture, we should heed Nietzsche's warning: "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." This is followed by, "And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." The aphorism suggests that when engaging in negative influences, whether physical or ideological, there is a danger of transforming into that which one is fighting.
Evil ultimately wins when it has absorbed you into its ways of murder, hate and a disconnect from the heart center. We can't turn a blind eye to evil but, in our struggle, do not lose sight of innate goodness nor the decency of our humanity.
Today is September 11 and I’m writing this from a kava bar in lower Manhattan. Less than a mile away, they are holding the 9/11 Memorial service, at the location of the former Twin Towers. It is a somber occasion. It is a reminder of the ongoing struggle. The fight, of course, for truth and freedom. Sometimes the enemy is hard to discern. It is a shapeshifter. It wears many masks. It can be a master of disguise and sleight of hand. To begin, we have to stop fighting each other.
Across the bar, I notice Rex Green sipping on a kava drink. Rex is an OG from the Baltimore art scene. He's rubbed shoulders with John Waters and some of the Factory people. I amble over and settle in the stool next to him. He looks like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I ask, "What's on your mind, Rex?"
"Well, it's this Charlie Kirk thing," he says.
"What does it mean?" I ask him. "Where are we at as a country?"
"The situation with Kirk reminds me of Archduke Franz Ferdinand," he tells me.
"Ah yes," I say. "The assassination that pushed us into World War One."
"That's right. A 19-year old kid in Sarajevo set in motion the chain of events that would lead to war and really, the structure of the modern world as we know it today."
"I see where you're going with this," I said. "Like Ferdinand, Charlie Kirk will be the catalyst that spins us towards war."
"I don't think so," said Sally. Sally was the bartender on duty and listening closely to our conversation. "The killing of Franz Ferdinand was a massive psyop run by Kaiser Wilhelm who was the King of Prussia, or what is present day Germany. He backed a Serbian assassination team named the Black Hand. Charlie Kirk couldn't instigate a war. I don't think a third of Americans know who he even is."
"You seem to know a hell of a lot on the subject of World War One," I said. "Are you a writer or something?"
"No," she said. "I was in Bosnia on vacation a few summers ago and one day I saw a documentary on the subject."
"Well, you've got a memory like a sponge," I said. "Let's hope you're right."
Andrew K. Arnett is a writer/researcher and author of the book The Crowley Conspiracy available on Amazon.