Posted on 06/23/2026 4:30:02 AM PDT by Red Badger
Most viral political content consists of outrage, dunking, tribal cheerleading, and the endless recycling of talking points designed to reassure people that their side is good and the other side is evil.
Which is why this video from a TikTok user called Shabooki Sunshine struck me as so remarkable:
[Warning: Brief strong language at the beginning]
This has to be one of the bravest videos I have watched on the internet today.
When Charlie Kirk died it hit so many us of really hard. Not only was it a profound loss but the reality was that the left really wants conservatives dead because of political views. They are ok with… pic.twitter.com/t0sRWVvYcl— Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84) June 21, 2026
The speaker begins by describing a conversation he had with a coworker after hearing the shocking news that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated. Convinced that he already knew everything he needed to know about Kirk, he immediately expressed immense satisfaction at the news.
I was at work when I first found out. A fellow employee had wandered up to me - cell phone in hand - and asked, 'Did you hear that Charlie Kirk just got assassinated?'
And I, without even a moment's hesitation, responded, 'Good! F*** that Nazi white supremacist piece of sh**!'
His coworker did more than just express revulsion at the man's lack of compassion. He asked him if he'd ever actually listened to what Charlie believed.
The man eventually realized that much of what he believed about Kirk had been assembled from clips, headlines, social media posts, and the interpretations of people who already disliked him. He had never seriously engaged the source material for himself. Like too many of us, he had inherited a conclusion without ever examining the evidence.
It was an ordinary and boring morning on the day I found out that I am a monster.
In that moment where my curiosity got the best of me, I decided to click on some random YouTube thumbnail of Charlie Kirk, with his goofy and gummy smile in an attempt to reaffirm my preconceived biases.
And it was an unusually stressful afternoon on that very same day when I spoke to my father for the very first time in years, despite the fact that he had always loved and supported me unconditionally.
And it was a never-ending, sleepless night coming to terms with the fact that literally every single thing I thought I hated about the Right - the bigotry, stupidity, violence, vitriol, and narrow-mindedness - was actually just an outward projection of hatred toward my own self.
That realization should make every one of us uncomfortable, because Charlie Kirk's assassination is hardly unique. Our political culture increasingly rewards certainty while discouraging curiosity.
We are encouraged to identify villains quickly, assign labels efficiently, and sort people into neat moral categories. Investigation is unnecessary because the verdict has already been reached.
This man bucked the trend. What began as criticism of political opponents slowly became self-recognition.
The comment section noted his bravery:
Scripture consistently warns us about the tendency towards snap judgments. The book of Proverbs cautions that "the one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17).
Similarly, James urges believers to be "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19). Both passages assume something that our political culture often forgets: There are almost always facts we do not yet know, arguments we have not yet heard, and perspectives we have not yet considered.
Wisdom requires the humility to recognize that possibility. Whether one ultimately agrees with Charlie Kirk is almost beside the point. The admirable thing is that this young man was willing to follow evidence further than his tribe wanted him to go. He was willing to ask whether he had been wrong. He was willing to examine his assumptions. Most importantly, he was willing to admit publicly what he found.
In an age dominated by algorithms, outrage, and ideological tribalism, that may be one of the bravest things a person can do.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
That’s a keeper. Thanks.
The guy was a Trend Follower and jackass to begin with.
A LARPing NPC that has nothing inside.
And we are now supposed to see this as brave?
Chris Rock did a piece back in the day about Ghetto Dad’s finally take responsibility for their kids. They were seen as brave too.
His reply? It’s not being brave, it’s what you’re SUPPOSED to do!
This case is the same. Guy finally takes his head out of his ass and looks around.
Most kids begin to do this when they are about 12.
It’s part of growing up.
Blame a huge part of this, all across America, on the Parents.
Take the win.
It is extremely difficult to reject long held conceptions about how the universe works.
This is true for both left and right.
Self examination is difficult. We should recognize such.
The crowd that brought us No Labels is the same crowd that labels everyone they disagree with.
The crowd that brought us No KINGS! is the same crowd that wants everyone they disagree with jailed, banished or executed....
I watched this a couple of days ago.
He seems genuinely sincere. Leftism is a disease, sometimes the cure is a reality shock.
It takes some fortitude to admit you were wrong and change your entire worldview.
To do so in a public viral manner is indeed a form of bravery. He broke the trend. He probably lost many friends over this too.
You have no right to criticize him
I wonder how many of the raging leftists are capable of seeing and confronting what he saw? Was he really estranged from his dad over rubbish he was spoon fed? Noticeable emotion edges into his delivery when discussing his dad.
I see snap judgements in dealing with family that can cause relatives to stop talking to each other for years.
Politicians and the Press take advantage of this- they count on the vast majority of people taking what they say as fact, and a lot of people do just that. My dad and my Uncle Mike were perfect examples. WW 2 vets, both of them. Uncle Mike was wounded on Guadalcanal. Both were conservatives, yet all they ever herd and saw was ABC, NBC, CBS, or CNN and our liberal local newspaper.
They should not have had to ferret out the truth-they should’ve been able to trust the news of the day as factual.
And they were lied to. Repeatedly. Day after day, year after year. And to this day, it’s STILL HAPPENING.
It’s what you get when the media goes to sleep...actually worse than no media at all
Reminds me of my late dad.
WW2 Navy vet, devout Orthodox Christian churchgoer, gun owner, flew the flag every holiday, work ethic second to none, had no use for “welfare bums”, “weirdos” or “sissies”, went out of his way to buy American products whenever he could.
However, voted straight Democrat his entire life (passed in 2014). Never got out of the mindset “Democrats are for the working man, Republicans are for the rich.” no matter how far away that party was straying from the JFK/Truman days.
The only sources of news and information he ever consumed were our local liberal rag, the 6:00/11:00 local TV news, the NBC Nightly News, and top of the hour radio news updates in the car.
Lived his life as a total conservative but voted completely liberal to his dying day.
With this video, this man likely lost every friend and, possibly, his job.
Few are willing to do that.
My father, exactly!
“”...was actually just an outward projection of hatred toward my own self.””
***
And quite possibly (or probably)... that right there is the explanation for most of the hatred coming from indoctrinated (weak-minded) so-called liberals these days. They hate themselves firstly.
Bkmk
“”Lived his life as a total conservative but voted completely liberal to his dying day.””
***
With all due respect to your late dad... the Democrat Party has morphed into what it is now over a generation or more. My grandfather was a Deacon in the Baptist church and a very good man, but he voted Democrat. Back then, they weren’t ‘as’ bad as they are now, and there was not as much exposure and truth vs. Democrat propaganda as we have now with the internet. Your dad was like a Reagan (the party left him), only sticking to the party out of loyalty vs. enlightenment.
Lol!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.