With the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the far left seems to be morphing into a kind of political death cult. No longer satisfied with trying to win elections, the far left and its allies now routinely seem to wish instead for their political foes to die, and even to excuse political murder.

It was just two weeks ago that many on the left were wringing their hands in glee as they fantasized and wished for President Donald Trump’s death after he took a few days off from the stresses of his office. False reports of his death were met with millions of “thumbs up” responses on X.

Now, what appears to be a lone assassin with a rifle has taken the life of one of the most charismatic, and fundamentally decent, bright young stars of the American right: Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, which has been credited with a conservative resurgence among young (mostly male) college students.

Do we know who killed Kirk? Not yet. But we can’t imagine it will be a disgruntled conservative. Which is only proper, since the left has been portraying conservatives as terrorists with increasingly venomous speech since Trump’s first term.

Of course, leftist politicians and journalists weighed in with rote condemnations of the assassination, but their words ring hollow when they’ve been calling conservatives all sorts of vile names.

Sadly, it took a foreign news site, Britain’s Telegraph, to sum up what now seems clear:

“A toxic rhetorical environment – where right-wingers are smeared as sinister enemies of America, dangerous radicals who must be resisted by any and all means – must once again be condemned.

“If men like Charlie Kirk can’t even speak to American students without fearing a gunman in the crowd, America is in a far more dangerous place than anyone has so far been willing to concede.”

The belief that conservatism is evil has grown like a cancer within the political left.

Fantasies of violent death for hated symbols of the right such as Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are now routine.

But as the far left’s own slogan would have it, “words are violence.” So how to characterize the following?

Illinois billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker had the chutzpah to blame Trump’s rhetoric and Jan. 6 for the bullet that took Kirk’s young life.

Meanwhile, journalist Matthew Dowd blamed Kirk himself: “[He is] constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech, aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which often then to hateful actions.”

To its credit, MSNBC fired Dowd for these comments. But not, apparently, MSNBC host Katy Tur, who called the affable Kirk a “divisive figure, polarizing, lightning rod. Whatever term you want to use.”

What is it with the left?

In April, the Network Contagion Research Institute conducted a national poll of attitudes toward politicized murder. What it found was both shocking and profoundly disturbing.

“What was formerly taboo culturally has become acceptable,” Joel Finkelstein, the lead author of the report said. “We are seeing a clear shift – glorification, increased attempts and changing norms – all converging into what we define as ‘assassination culture.’”

The numbers that emerged from the survey of more than 1,200 people were alarming, to say the least. Among all respondents, just under 32% said they could find justification for killing Musk. But the share of those described as “left of center” was even higher: 49%.

And the numbers rise when Trump is mentioned, from 39% overall to 55% of those on the left who could justify killing Trump.

No, as we said, we don’t know who killed Charlie Kirk yet. If he turns out to be a leftist fanatic, it will be interesting to see if he is lionized and turned into a hero (as happened last year to Luigi Mangione, the alleged cold-blooded killer of United Healthcare CEO Bryan Thompson on a New York street), or described as some kind of “victim” of conservative ideology.

For four years we’ve been told that the terrorist threat comes from right-wing radicals. That includes parents seeking non-woke traditional education for their kids, Catholic lovers of the Latin mass, law-abiding licensed gun owners, and those expressing unpopular, non-woke beliefs.

Yet, most recent assassination attempts, targeted killings and violent attacks have been against political, religious and cultural conservatives. Not by them.

Even so, last year, after the attempt on Trump’s life at a Pennsylvania rally, leftists downplayed the threat to Trump. Some still insist it was a nothingburger, despite the assassin missing blowing Trump’s head off by mere millimeters. Some also downplay the second attempt on Trump’s life, this time at a golf course less than two months after the first attempt.

It isn’t just Trump and Musk. Churches, pro-life groups, Republican Party headquarters, women’s athletic rights advocate Riley Gaines, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (shot by a Bernie Bro at a congressional baseball game), have all been targeted with physical attacks.

Like them, Charlie Kirk was a tolerant man who respected and listened to the arguments of those on the left who debated and disagreed with him. And for that he was murdered.

It increasingly feels as if it’s open season on conservatives. Leftists now routinely refer to anyone right of center as “Hitler” or “Nazis” or, in former President Joe Biden’s words, “semi-fascists.”

Desensitizing your followers to the true meaning of words is a good way to get them to do nasty things. Like attack or even kill conservatives. The far left is taking America to a very ugly place. Is that the idea?

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board