Robert F. Kennedy and Charlie Kirk could not have been more different. One was a liberal lion from Massachusetts who championed civil rights and fought poverty; the other was a conservative firebrand from Illinois who built a movement around limited government and traditional values. Kennedy came from political royalty; Kirk rose from suburban obscurity. Kennedy quoted Greek poetry; Kirk quoted the Constitution. They would have disagreed about almost everything.

But on Wednesday, they joined the same tragic American tradition: political leaders killed by bullets. Both men died doing what democracy demands — standing before crowds, speaking their convictions, willing to risk their personal safety for causes they believed in.

The two men defy comparison, but their deaths illuminate something identical: Both lived and died in eras when America’s political divisions became so toxic that disagreement repeatedly turned to violence.

The question haunting us now is the same one that faced America after 1968: Will we let fear of the other side destroy the country we’re all trying to save?

Today’s divisions feel unprecedented, but the nation has been here before — and survived far worse.

While Kirk’s assassination feels like a........

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