COMMENTARY:
In 2002 I made the mistake of going online and watching the first few seconds of a video showing the decapitation of Daniel Pearl. It poisoned a little part of my soul, and I’ve never made that mistake again.
The person who posted that video had no concern for my soul. He or she (probably he) wanted to stir my deepest, darkest emotions.
Given the choice of appealing to our better angels or our darkest demons, politicians over the years have too often found the demons to be more useful. The phrase “waving the bloody shirt” dates back to the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. The story has it that James B Weaver, a congressman from Iowa who ran for president twice, rallied troops by displaying the bloody shirt of a Texas preacher who had been whipped for trying to preach to the slaves.
In the past, politicians had to rely on storytelling and iconic objects like the bloody shirt to instill hatred and fear in voters and drive them to the polls. Now, all of us can bear witness to our most horrific events.
I wasn’t able to find an estimate as to how many people have watched video of the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, but it’s safe to say that anybody with Internet access had the opportunity to see it from numerous different angles.
There were videos posted on Facebook, X, Tik-Tok, Instagram and You Tube, according to The Associated Press. A video on X was taken from the front and shows his body recoiling and blood gushing from the wound. Another video was on a loop showing the moment of impact in slow motion. All pleas from Kirk’s friends and family for a shred of respect or decency went unheeded.
I’m trusting the AP and other news outlets for the above descriptions, as this is one issue I won’t be researching myself. But, I suspect many of those who did watch those videos were not impacted the same way I would have been. It was only a few days earlier that the Internet was filled with videos of Iryna Zarutska being stabbed to death from behind while commuting on the North Carolina transit system.
It’s hard to know how many of those who posted videos of Kirk’s final moments were waiving a bloody shirt, and how many were merely attempting to feed what seems to be an insatiable appetite online for violent, disturbing images glorifying the worst of humanity.
Either way, they’re spreading poison.
Research shows that repeated exposure to graphic, horrific media increases stress and anxiety, bringing on feelings of helplessness. Over time we build our defenses and simply become numb to it all.
Listen to your body. When watching something gives you a sick feeling in your gut, just stop. You don’t need to see the video to know what happened in Utah was deeply wrong and must be condemned without exception.
Correction: My column two weeks ago about the District Court case management order should have said 700 cases have been dismissed since the start of the order. The vast majority of those were before Fernando Macias took office.
Walt Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com
Walt Rubel's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.