How did America get here, and where are we going?
Rory Ryan
By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press
What I heard on a recent Monday morning work drive, this one, in fact, was that some halfwit comedian, sliding downhill fast in his career, made some of the most despicable comments about political violence since some other comedian used to walk around with a severed head of President Trump in her so-called repertoire.
How did America get here, and where are we going?
“Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn’t say this publicly but, I feel better,” humorless Dave Chappelle told his equally halfwit audience over the weekend.
"I know I shouldn't say that, but it's just a feeling. I didn't ask to feel this way," before quipping, "I just be driving around like, 'Why am I in such a good mood? Oh!'"
According to all reputable reports, Charlie Kirk was assassinated, murdered in cold blood on Sept. 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, while speaking at an outdoor campus debate planned by Turning Point USA by a deranged lunatic named Tyler James Robinson. The evidence against the shooter is overwhelming.
For any American with rational thought, this was a horrible act and a sad day for political discourse in our nation. Left vs. Right at gunpoint. We had that once before in the Civil War.
Political assassinations and attempted assassinations are not new, but America's reaction to them is unprecedented, from misguided citizens to celebrities, singers and wannabe comedians. Respect for the fallen? No.
Charlie Kirk's widow, Erica Kirk, said, "To see leftist podcasters, comedians and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it's entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting," she wrote on social media. "A culture that laughs at assassination is one of profound moral decay."
Rob Schneider, a comedian and actor with some semblance of professionalism, wrote to Chappelle: "You are not the same human being you once were. You are no longer a champion of compassionate freedom of thought, a person who makes people question their prejudices and preconceived judgments. An entertainer who asks their audience to open their minds and hearts more. Dave, you are now a champion of senseless violence who embodies the base ugliness of our body politic.
"Nobody deserves to die for engaging in conversation. And no one should “feel better” after the violent murder of a husband, a father, a son and a friend. No human being deserves that."
To me, possibly the worst thing about Chappelle's hateful rhetoric was that it actually got some applause and favorable reaction. Disgusting.
Piers Morgan, who calls himself a "'urinated'-off liberal," blasted Chappelle: “Disgusting and especially egregious given that Chappelle himself survived an attack on stage in 2022,” Morgan tweeted.
Charlie Kirk actually came to Chappelle's defense at the time.
Morgan also slammed the crowd at Chappelle’s sold-out Madison Square Garden performance for “roaring with laughter at his shamefully inhumane remarks.”
In my lifetime, major U.S. political assassinations or attempted assassinations began with President John F. Kennedy in 1963. America's favorite late-evening's "The Tonight Show," hosted by Johnny Carson, did not joke about the assassination. In fact, on that show, no one joked about anything.
In 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. by James Earl Ray. It was a similarly somber time for Americans.
Also in 1968, U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Los Angeles, California, by Sirhan Sirhan. Not a laughing matter.
In 1972, Presidential candidate and Alabama Governor George Wallace was shot and seriously wounded during a campaign event in Laurel, Md., by Arthur Bremer. Not funny.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford survived an assassination attempt in Sacramento, Calif., by Squeaky Fromme. No SNL jokes. Ford also survived a second assassination attempt by Sara Jane Moore.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr.; Press Secretary James Brady and Secret Service/police officers were also injured. SNL, The Tonight Show, etc., did not make light of it.
More recently in 2024, President Donald Trump was wounded in the right ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., by Thomas Matthew Crooks; rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed.
Political violence in the U.S. is not new. Apparently, citizens' disrespectful reaction – and outright amusement – to it is.
How did we get here? Where are we going?
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.