This blog is supposed to be about escapism, so I try to refrain from heavy topics like politics as much as possible, but this is one of those times when there are important things that need to be said.

The recent murder of far right ideologue Charlie Kirk seems to have given the right in America the excuse to begin the authoritarian crackdown on free speech they have clearly always longed for. Anyone who dares to speak ill of Kirk or even criticize fascism as an ideology is being censored.

People are working overtime to whitewash Kirk’s legacy, to claim that he was some kind of “moderate.” Even here in Canada, we’re falling prey to the madness. Our own parliament recently gave a standing ovation to honour Kirk’s life, which is such an egregious affront to Canadian values it makes me feel physically sick.

To be clear, I don’t condone political violence, and I hope that Kirk’s murderer is punished to the fullest extent of the law — just as I hope the same for all the right wing terrorists who have attacked members of the left over the last few years in America without generating anywhere near the same level of public outcry.

But we need to be honest: Charlie Kirk was no moderate. He was nakedly racist, transphobic, anti-science, anti-semetic authoritarian comic book villain of a figure who hated fundamental concepts of goodness like empathy. (I do wonder how much longer those links will still work at this rate.) He made it his life’s work to make America a crueler and more oppressive place, and it seems he succeeded with flying colours.

Let it be a matter of public record that I refuse to swallow the Big Lie. I will not ignore the legacy of hate and division Charlie Kirk left behind. His death was not a good thing, but I will not stay silent and ignore the incredible harm he did in life.