The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a clarifying moment for the global right. Those still wishing or believing they can retreat to a quiet apolitical life have received a harsh lesson as they have witnessed thousands, if not millions, of their supposed countrymen justify the murder of an innocent husband and father with views similar to their own.

Under normal circumstances, in a functioning “liberal democracy,” Kirk would be universally mourned as a martyr for the most sacred of liberal ideas, the freedom of speech. Instead, Democrats, their media apparatus, and their left-wing base have spent the last several weeks rationalizing his murder, distorting and defaming his legacy, lying about the basic facts of the crime, and dancing on his still-open grave.

Kirk’s murder makes it clear that the moral and factual consensus civilization requires has broken down. Within hours of the crime, prominent voices on the left, including elected lawmakers, began spreading a conspiracy theory painting Tyler Robinson as a right-winger. A sizable portion of the country, millions, easily, sincerely believes this self-serving lie, for which there is not a shred of evidence, because it has the effect of whitewashing a crime that obviously was instigated by the irresponsible and hateful rhetoric coming from their side.

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel, a cheap mouthpiece for tiresome progressive boomer slop, was briefly suspended by ABC for spreading this vicious libel, flippantly asserting that Robinson was part of the “MAGA gang.” Kimmel’s ever so brief contact with accountability made some conservatives queasy, owing to the perception, however incidental, of government pressure. But Kimmel has triumphantly returned to the airwaves—granted, with limited reach—but he now has cover for his otherwise failing program as a “martyr” for the left. Naturally, he is unapologetic.

The left’s overnight embrace of “free speech” was nothing more than an expedient, a tactic, a mere fig leaf picked up to fight the battle of the current hour. It is one they will drop as soon as they sense the tide turning. Note that their libertarian cri de coeur is never uttered by them in reference to Kirk, the man who was brutally murdered for speaking. Instead, they have treated a tedious left-wing propagandist getting slapped on the wrist like the Boston Massacre.

Jimmy Kimmel is not a liberal in the way that the founders were liberal. In fact there are no principles on which they would possibly agree. Kimmel has  gloated over firings and censorship toward conservative figures like President Trump and Tucker Carlson. Kimmel is an unhinged woke-leftist  fanatic who has no interest in behaving like a civilized human being. And his supporters are very much like him. They are the opposite of everything that the polite and tolerant but pious Christian Kirk stood for..

Of course, no one should be forced to extol Charlie Kirk’s virtues—though no one is calling for that. Insufficient enthusiasm for Kirk and his politics is not the issue. The current problem is that a large swathe of America, perhaps less than half but more than a fringe, appear to be bloodthirsty left-wing zealots. We cannot make this reality less true by choosing to look away from it.

Overreach is always a possibility, but this concern is far from pressing now. The more immediate pitfall to guard against is becoming  bullied or falling victim to false appeals to conciliation. We cannot allow the left to regroup under the banner of principles they do not hold and will do everything to suppress.. There is a time to be high-minded, but this is not that time, and it is hard to see when it will be again in the near future. Magnanimity in this case requires total victory.

Here is a good litmus test: conservatives should keep leftists crying about “free speech” for as long as possible. Let them continue to LARP like it’s the 1960s at Berkeley. As long as they are, it means they are losing control.

For the first time in more than a generation, we are beginning to be reminded of what political balance looks like. If it helps conservatives with overscrupulous consciences get through it, they should understand that “cancel culture” from the right is not vindictive. The recent spate of firings are in response to the most barbarous kind of behavior. They are an attempt to establish ground rules for civil society, to hit the “reset” button and purge an illiberal toxin from our political system.

We can pray that Erika Kirk’s mercy toward her husband’s killer moves him to repentance, while at the same time recognizing the truth in Trump’s realistic response to Kirk’s widow: “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them… I’m sorry, Erika.”

At the same time, we can admit that hatred is corrosive. But hatred is not the same thing as righteous anger. The leftist hate-cult vehemently refuses to accept the basic liberal premise, which is that you should not kill people over political or theological differences, and then pretend it’s the other side’s fault. If the left is not held accountable for this murder, its violence will continue to escalate.