Last week, about the time I was welcoming a latecomer to our regular Wednesday afternoon meeting, the news came down that Charlie Kirk, who had been shot earlier that day, had died.

While no one in the group was a big fan of the man, we were still saddened that he had died, leaving his wife with two young children.

I knew, though, that some would celebrate his death (which should be beneath any decent person), and that it wouldn't be long till someone blamed someone (anybody but the perpetrator) who had absolutely nothing to do with it.

It wasn't long before one of the resident trolls posted under my column last week, "Might rhetoric like this from Brenda Looper have had anything to do with the killing of conservative icon Charlie Kirk?"

Gosh, I had no idea that imploring people to not "act ugly," pointing out that life isn't all puppies and rainbows if you're not a straight white Christian man, and noting that we have to get back to doing the right thing just because it's the right thing, was fiery rhetoric. All that effort was wasted, I guess, on rewrites to be more measured and thoughtful.

Then again, the tactic now is to blame someone else, and who better to blame than someone who points out that rhetoric that pits us against each other is a huge part of........

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