In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination , a new cottage industry of rage has arisen. And while anger and horror at this act of violence are understandable, they're also taking Americans to some dark places, where retribution must be had against anyone who said negative things about Kirk after his death and politicians posture about punishing people who (crassly, but nonviolently) celebrated Kirk's death. A lot of this seems to hinge on the idea that hateful "rhetoric" is responsible for Kirk's killing; one particularly prevalent strain of this specifically indicts online speech and social media.

It's social media that led to Kirk's assassination, the refrain goes, and it's social media that's driving all sorts of political violence.

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