Charlie Kirk Is a Casualty of the Cultural Counterrevolution
Revolutions and counterrevolutions can get nasty and violent — even cultural revolutions and counterrevolutions. Charlie Kirk was a culture and political warrior — and a very successful one — in a conservative counterrevolution that seeks to undo the Left’s cultural revolution that began in America in the violent street riots and protests of the 1960s, and proceeded to infiltrate and ultimately to take over the country’s cultural institutions, schools, universities, post-graduate institutions, the media, and several religious institutions. This revolution also spread to politics and formed what counterrevolutionaries call the “Deep State.”
The Left’s cultural revolution targeted this country’s and Western civilization’s traditions, norms, customs, and beliefs. It banished God and religion from the public square. It attacked the “nuclear family” and the institution of marriage. It normalized what earlier generations viewed as deviant behavior. It promoted pornography, the ubiquity of coarse language, the sexualization of children, illegal drug use, and abortion on demand. And later, the Left’s cultural revolutionaries promoted and institutionalized woke policies and DEI programs in schools, government offices, corporate offices, sports, entertainment, and other parts of our society.
During the early years of this cultural revolution, most conservatives and GOP political leaders didn’t fight back. Instead, they surrendered and wondered why they “lost” the culture war. But some on the cultural and political Right refused to surrender. Indeed, looking back, the first stirring of the conservative counterrevolution emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s with the rise of the Moral Majority, led by such religious leaders as Jerry Falwell. Conservative religious leaders entered the political arena — many for the first time — because of what Father Richard John Neuhaus called the “naked public square” and the scourge of abortion on demand. The Moral Majority and its supporters helped Ronald Reagan become president and get reelected in a 49-state landslide.
Reagan rhetorically embraced the Moral Majority but did little to effectively challenge the Left’s takeover of America’s culture. The two Bush administrations did even less than Reagan did, which is why Pat Buchanan challenged them for control of the Republican Party. Buchanan’s speech at the GOP convention in 1992 is the first major political speech advocating a conservative cultural counterrevolution. Buchanan focused on cultural issues: abortion, public school prayer, the sanctity of traditional marriage, and illegal immigration. The election, he said, was about “who we are … what we believe, and what we stand for as Americans.” “It is a culture war,” Buchanan said, “… for the soul of America.” He finished with a flourish: “[W]e must take back our cities, and take back our culture, and take back our country.”
Pat Buchanan picked up where the Moral Majority left off, and Buchanan’s counterrevolutionary program informed the burgeoning populist Tea Party Movement, which rose to prominence in the first decade of the 21st century. And by that time, Rush Limbaugh was dominating the talk-radio airwaves, and alternative media began to hit its stride. Charlie Kirk entered the political and cultural arena in a big way when he co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012. From that time until his death, Kirk was a culture and political warrior in the conservative counterrevolution. Kirk’s weapons, like Buchanan’s, were ideas. And he took those ideas around the country in conservative gatherings, through social media, via alternative media, and most importantly at colleges and universities where he respectfully debated liberals and recruited young conservatives to the counterrevolution.
When Donald Trump came down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his presidential candidacy in 2015, the counterrevolution was growing thanks to people like Charlie Kirk. Trump skillfully made the movement his own and defeated all the establishment GOP candidates in the primaries, then shocked the country and the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the general election. But then, to borrow a Star Wars title, the empire struck back: the Russia Hoax, unfounded impeachments, and the slings and arrows of the mainstream media. While Trump dealt with that, Charlie Kirk and others continued to wage the culture counterrevolution. Kirk knew that the culture was just as important as, and would contribute to, winning elections.
Kirk’s work helped to push Trump over the finish line in 2024. His work — especially on college campuses — paid dividends as more and more young people joined the MAGA movement and voted for Trump.
The authorities have arrested a 22-year-old Utah resident for Kirk’s murder. Reports indicate that this was a political assassination — the bullet casings were engraved with anti-fascist messages. The Left has labeled Kirk and other close supporters of Trump as fascists and Nazis. Many on the Left are celebrating Kirk’s murder, including a Marine, a Secret Service employee, an Oregon city council member, and teachers.
Revolutions and counterrevolutions are usually fraught with danger and casualties. Charlie Kirk was a “happy warrior” who, in the face of numerous death threats, soldiered on in the counterrevolution. Donald Trump is effectively the “general” in this counterrevolutionary political and cultural struggle. Charlie Kirk was one of his most able “soldiers.” Someone will have to continue Kirk’s work and Trump’s work if the counterrevolution is to succeed. It took decades for the Left to infiltrate and dominate our cultural and political institutions. It will take decades to take them back. RIP.
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“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” - Victor Hugo -
“Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.” -James Madison -
“It does not take a majority to prevail…but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” - Sam Adams -
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” - Mark Twain -
“If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”- Plato 427 - 347 BC -
“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.” – Pericles – 495 - 429 BC -
“The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite.”--Tennessee Williams--
