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Comment by boredhedgehog | Hacker News Reader

I wonder what Kirk would have thought about these firings.

I had never heard of the man before, but now his quotes and fragments of quotes are being weaponized on all fronts, making it hard to see what he actually believed.

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You don't need to wonder too hard. He created the "Professor Watchlist". You can imagine what thats for. He also said Medhi Hasan should be deported.

He was not pro-free speech. It is not hard to see what he actually believed. Maybe it is right now with all of the news happening.

Folks are added to the "Professor Watchlist" for everything ranging from being critical of Trump/MAGA to discussing institutional racism through the United States' history. Folks who wind up on the list routinely get harassed in person, online, and via direct calls/emails with racist and misogynist slurs as well as rape and death threats by Turning Point's followers.

> He created the "Professor Watchlist". You can imagine what thats for.

According to its About page, it's for documentation only; "TPUSA will continue to fight for free speech and the right of professors to say whatever they believe".

> He also said Medhi Hasan should be deported.

Apparently, Kirk said Hasan's visa should be revoked, as he was unaware of Hasan's citizenship. But Kirk also said in his rant to "get him off TV", which indicates that his instinctual reaction does include silencing people he disagrees with.

> According to its About page, it's for documentation only; "TPUSA will continue to fight for free speech and the right of professors to say whatever they believe".

Well that clears things up...

> According to its About page, it's for documentation only;

Sure, and all those trolls online are "just asking questions."

You don’t have to rely on second-hand reporting, there’s no lack of material from the man himself to form an opinion from, like for example: https://www.youtube.com/@RealCharlieKirk/videos

Kirk spent years trying to get professors fired and his organization maintained a "watchlist" of professors, who would regularly receive death threats and have people try to get them fired.

FIRE, not exactly a liberal organization, called out TPUSA as a primary cause of increasing threats to speakers and professors on campus in recent years.

The worst I could find said about TPUSA on thefire.org with a DDG search was an incident in which a professor had teaching assignments cancelled and the university later faced pressure from Senators to fire her (they allowed her contract to expire).

The same search found me multiple stories about universities denying recognition to TPUSA chapters.

FIRE is quintessentially liberal. Freedom of speech is the most fundamental liberal value there is, and education is where the free exchange of ideas is most values. American left-wingers (as judged by American standards) not liking that doesn't change what liberalism is; it informs what they are. There is absolutely a bias in FIRE coverage towards conservative and Republican organizations and ideas being suppressed. I have every reason to believe that this is because that's actually representative of what happens on American college campuses.

I doubt Kirk believed in anything, but he was happy to say whatever would get him attention and keep his benefactors happy. He wasn't particularly ideologically consistent, though to be fair, Republicans of his time weren't either.

Here is a good quote relevant to the case:

"Death penalties should be public, should be quick, it should be televised."

   Charles James Kirk

How is an opinion on capital punishment relevant to social media campaigns to get someone fired?

good, maybe there would be fewer of them if they weren't hidden

You don't understand human nature or American culture if you believe that.

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