L&T Publisher Earl Watt
The dream of America cannot be won on foreign shores. We are required to face all foes, both foreign and domestic.
Abraham Lincoln said it would be impossible for a foreign invader to ever invade or overtake America. He said, “Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.”
Charlie Kirk was not afraid of challenging the enemy from within. But he didn’t do it with hate speech. He disagreed but was not disagreeable. He challenged abortion. He challenged socialism. He challenged lawfare.
And he died for it.
So many American heroes gave their lives because they stood up from within.
Those who supported the British could not be a part of the experiment of self government. They loaded up on ships and left.
But not before patriots fought for freedom for the colonies and formed the United States of America. Those patriots did not just fight the British. They fought the loyalists, the traitors, the turncoats. They fought those who turned their back on liberty. That enemy was form within
When it became apparent that the scourge of slavery was going to come to an end, heroes put on the uniform and marched to their deaths.
They fought an enemy within.
When discrimination continued and liberty was denied to other citizens, volunteers headed to the South to register black voters, to overcome segregation.
They fought the enemy within.
Lincoln’s message is more true today than it ever has been.
Free speech is the cornerstone of liberty. On this page we run some fiery editorials, form both sides of the aisle.
Some of you hate it. Some of you don’t like what I write. Some of you don’t like what others who come from a very different perspective write.
That is the mountain some of us are willing to die on. We believe in open dialogue, of listening to one another even when we have very different views on how to move America forward.
It’s not the side that is important. It’s the ability to share, to debate, and even at times to infuriate one another by sharing ideas.
What was one of the last phrases Charlie Kirk ever said?
“If you disagree with me, move to the front of the line.”
That’s the cornerstone of freedom, to be willing to listen to the opposition, to discuss the merits of the alternative views.
Charlie Kirk was a soldier on the front line of this cornerstone belief. He carried the banner into the lion’s den — liberal college campuses.
Much like those on a military battle field, Kirk was battling for the heart and soul of the next generation. But instead of using bullets, Kirk used words, he used reason and logic. He didn’t convince everyone to become a conservative. But he showed us how to engage and respect those who disagree with us.
Yesterday, Kirk was shot dead on a college campus for being willing to engage.
But the flag he carried must be lifted up and carried forward. The conversations must continue.
Too often we’ve seen people bring bullhorns to college campuses to silence voices from being heard. We’ve seen Riley Gaines chased into a room where she had to hide behind a locked door because some didn’t want to hear what she had to say.
One side of this national conversation is trying to silence the other.
Conservative voices need to be louder. We need to pick up the banner and keep up the fight for family values, protecting women in sports, speaking for the unborn and defending the Constitution.
Tolerance and capitulation aren’t the same thing. We can listen to one another without having to agree. But we have to allow all voices to come to the public square.
It’s not enough to bring this killer to justice. We have to kick the door open to those seeking to control the conversation. We will not be silenced.
Charlie’s voice must now resonate through all of us.
