Charlie Kirk and the Empathy Trap

What is the upside to empathy these days, politically speaking? What are liberals or Democrats gaining by reaching a hand across the aisle to join in grief? The warm, fuzzy feeling of having done the right thing will hopefully be enough, because that’s all there is.

Obviously, I am not advocating outright delight in someone’s demise. The tone I’m envisioning is callous, perhaps, but short of cruel. Something like, “I’m sorry his family is suffering. I wish his message would die with him.” Something like, “No one deserves to die an untimely death, even Charlie Kirk, a supporter of policies that have killed people far more innocent than him.”

Stay away from the invocation that political violence is an aberration. Instead, point out that Trump, cheerled by Kirk, has normalized it. I read a lot of versions of this, which gets at that point elegantly: “This is a horrible crime. Maybe Donald Trump should consider sending the National Guard to Utah.”