A Liberal Pundit Praises How Kirk Operated

Ezra Klein did not know Charlie Kirk personally or agree with much of his politics. But in a New York Times op-ed, Klein offers strong praise for the 31-year-old, along with a warning about where America seems to be headed:

• "You can dislike much of what Kirk believed and the following statement is still true: Kirk was practicing politics in exactly the right way. He was showing up to campuses and talking with anyone who would talk to him. He was one of the era's most effective practitioners of persuasion. When the left thought its hold on the hearts and minds of college students was nearly absolute, Kirk showed up again and again to break it."

Klein also points to what he sees as two types of wrongheaded reactions: those on the left who cite the context of Kirk's political views when talking about his murder (MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd learned that lesson the hard way), and those on the right who want to turn his death into "an all-out war, a Reichstag fire for our time." Read the full column, in which Klein warns that the US risks "losing everything" if the political violence continues to escalate.