17 September—Based on his extensive record of public pronouncements, it’s pretty safe to call St. Charlie Kirk an apostle of hate. But it’s probably just as safe to call him a proponent of and martyr to free speech. Last year he said: “Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There’s ugly speech. There’s gross speech. There’s evil speech. And all of it is protected by the First Amendment.” Presumably he actually believed what he said. In all events, St. Charlie was absolutely right and certainly was protected by the First Amendment.

Conservatives in general tend to be somewhat more dedicated and active proponents of so-called free speech than liberals. They give more lip service to it, anyway. That’s certainly not because most conservatives are altruistic, but rather it’s from self-interest, because most opportunities for communication—including media and university campuses—tend to be controlled by liberals. And while all liberals are quick to talk about the necessity of freedom of speech in a democracy (when in the case of the United States they mean a republic on implied democratic principles, of course), many if not most sanctimonious liberals are just as quick to ban or restrict speech that doesn’t coincide with their sacred beliefs or agendas. QED.

It’s not that conservatives practice what they preach, mind you. Take hate speech (please), which the self-consciously liberal ACLU used to defend unconditionally on principle and St. Charlie Kirk defended and practiced most of his life on who knows what. Just yesterday Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s demonstrably unqualified ditz-flunky of an attorney general, announced on a podcast, “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech. We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

Then the ditz-flunky AG told Fox News that employers have “an obligation to get rid of” people who say nasty things about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Upon advice or instruction from more intelligent and/or pragmatic Trump flunkies, Bondi tried to walk that back: “My intention was to speak about threats of violence that individuals incite against others. Under President Trump, the Department of Justice will be unabashed in our efforts to root out credible, violent threats. [The weaponized DOJ] will investigate organizations that pursue [what we can trump up to be] illegal activities, engage in political violence, violate our civil rights, and commit tax or nonprofit fraud.”

Like for instance, as Bondi suggested, prosecuting Office Depot workers in Michigan for unlawful discrimination because they refused to print posters for a St. Charlie Kirk memorial. Or, as Trump vigilantes are demanding, firing, arresting, and deporting people for anti-St. Charlie Kirk remarks or even criticism of his right-wing views. What does that remind you of?

Moreover, it’s accepted as gospel in Donald Trump’s loathsome corridors of power that the Philistine-in-chief’s definition of hate speech is anything that criticizes him: “[My ditzy AG] will probably go after people like you,” he told an ABC interviewer, “because you treat me unfairly. It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart.”

Aw gee . . .