that Hill
I’m sure most of you have heard the phrase, the hill I’ll die on or not the hill I die on. I’ve been thinking about that for several weeks now.
The definition from Wiktionary is; ‘refers to an issue or position that someone is willing to defend with strong conviction, regardless of the potential costs or consequences. It implies a commitment to a particular belief or principle, often with little intention of compromise.’
Sometimes it’s just financial reach and frequency. The significance may not have origin or foundation. It might be thrown around casually in humor, on podcasts, in fact there is a podcast called, “Hills I’d Die On.
Not something that should be done casually even in jest these days, the hill I’ll die on. “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.” I do not know him, but I’m willing to say this is not the hill Charlie Kirk wanted to die on.
In 2023, gun suicides 27,300, gun homicides 17,927, unintentional 463, law enforcement 604.
Words have power and consequences.
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.”
“If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously.”
Joy Reid – Harvard -BA, pre-med track before shifting to Journalism
Michelle Obama – Princeton -BA, Harvard -Juris Doctor
Shelia Jackson – Yale -BA, U.VA -Juris Doctor
Ketanji Brown Jackson – Harvard Government, Harvard J-uris Doctor
Charlie Kirk – Harper College -one semester
I have been reading and cringingly listening to him for the last few days. I’ve taken the last few days to do this because, my head, my heart and my gut can only take a few minutes at a time. They say that one day ir one event shouldn’t define the person. What he has said and done in the last four years says to me, he is troubled or trouble and a full on racist. And has bastardized, religion and Christianity.
A provocateur. Per the Safari “search assist”, a person who intentionally incites others to take action, often to provoke strong reactions or create controversy. Engages in behavior designed to provoke strong reactions or dissent. May stir up dissent within a group to undermine efforts. They might infiltrate to incite violence.
He found a way to capitalize on an unfounded fear that was and would be perpetuated by a presidential candidate. He is/was provocateur, who in that niche finacially benefited rapidly. In 2016 he was making $27,000. By 2021 $407,00. Early on TP struggled. Becoming an ally to the president, contributions doubled, tripled, reaching $79.2 million.
Now I have no issue with successful people doing well and making money. Even making it quickly. But not on the backs of others or in the act of becoming successful there is harm and marginalization of any measure to other humans. His message represents the worst of us.
While he had his followers, there was a mountain of harm happening, direct from him and some of those followers. Every day people going about their lives, were targets. Death treats from his followers to those on a hit list and often their families. I would imagine that there were probably threats to him as well. Another hill I guess.
For a range of reasons, I feel for his children. If their mother’s grace at his memorial was true and genuine, will she or can she have influence on the vengeance the others there are fully committed to? I lack the confidence for that at any level. It will be and continue to be hate for his opponents wishing upon them the worst. Although we still have to figure out who those people are.
At a memorial service. When they show you who they are, believe them.