Doin’ Discourse With Ezra and Charlie

Seemingly obligatory disclaimer: Of course I don’t approve of murdering Charlie Kirk.

But we can be against assassinating a hateful bigot without whitewashing him.

All of the things said by suit guy in this cartoon, are things Kirk actually said in life, paraphrased to fit in the four-panel format. But in the weeks since Kirk’s death, too many centrist liberals – including Ezra Klein, who infamously praised Kirk in The New York Times for “practicing politics in exactly the right way” – have ignored his actual messages. As Ta-Nehisi Coates points out, it’s telling that Klein didn’t quote Kirk’s own words anywhere in the op-ed.

Klein wrote that “Kirk and I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side on the continued possibility of American politics.” But Nicholas Grossman pointed out that this really wasn’t the case.

Were they? Charlie Kirk repeatedly lied about the 2020 election, bussed people to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021, and defended Trump pardoning convicted seditionists by lying that normal court proceedings were somehow denial of due process. Kirk recently celebrated Trump’s illegal military deployments against U.S. cities as “shock and awe” that is “taking our country back from these cockroaches.” Those stances oppose the continued possibility of American politics, at least as a rule of law democracy.

In the middle of drawing this cartoon, I did something to my shoulder – I have no idea what – and my shoulder quite unreasonably responded by refusing to move much for a few days. It basically went on strike but refused to tell me what its demands are. It’s still hurting today, actually, but the pain is now very minor, and I was finally able to finish up drawing this strip.

I tried to write this strip so it would make sense even for people who have no idea who either Charlie Kirk or Ezra Klein are – after all, centrist liberals emphasizing civility over substance is a decades old problem, not a passing news story.

Having decided it didn’t matter that the characters were Ezra Klein and Charlie Kirk made drawing caricatures of them a lot more fun for me, because I could just draw them without worrying about if I was achieving good likenesses. (I have prosopagnosia – popularly known as “face blindness” – and I wonder if that accounts for my difficulty being sure if I’ve drawn a decent likeness of someone or not).

I think of Klein as a clean-shaven guy, but in recent photos he’s got a thick beard, and including the beard was both interesting for me to draw and helped differentiate the two characters visually.

RECIEPTS

Since I know from experience that I will probably be accused of lying about what Kirk said, here are some receipts.

Panel one: Kirk used anti-trans slurs on his podcast. And he called for “a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor.”

Panel two: Kirk said “Mexico could close their border in an afternoon, but we’re allowing Mexico and the cartels to overrun the country because, of course, the American Democrat party wants that to happen. The American Democrat Party hates this country. They wanna see it collapse. They love it when America becomes less white.”

Panel three: This panel combines two Kirk statements. First, “Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more. ” And second, “…The Haitians that are in Huntsville that are raping your women and hunting you down at night — it’s only gonna get worse if — unless Donald Trump wins.”

Panel four: Kirk called for deporting Mehdi Hasan. “Who is that neurotic lunatic? Who is that guy? Send him back to the country he came from. Holy cow. Get him off TV. Revoke his visa. ”

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels, all featuring the same three characters. Charlie, a white man in a suit and tie. Ezra, a white man in more casual clothing. And Reader, a Latina wearing shorts and a black tank.

PANEL 1

Charlie and Ezra are walking together. Nearby, Reader sits at the base of a tree, reading a book, and overhears.

CHARLIE: We need Nuremberg-style trials for tranny-affirming clinic doctors.

EZRA: As a liberal centrist, I can’t agree with that. But what matters is that we’re talking.

PANEL 2

The woman looks annoyed.

CHARLIE: Democrats want Mexicans to overrun us because they hate America and wanna see it become less white and collapse!

EZRA: That’s not true. But again, we’re talking! Thank you for practicing politics the right way!

PANEL 3

The woman stands up, yelling angrily at the two men.

CHARLIE: You know what happens in the cities? Blacks prowl around attacking white people for fun! Haitians rape your women and hunt you!

EZRA: Again, I can’t agree. But I–

READER: Fuck that racist bullcrap!

PANEL 4

Ezra and Charlie walk on, not speaking to the woman, who watches them leave with an annoyed expression.

EZRA: Tsk! So uncivil! That’s the kind of intolerance that’s ruining America.

CHARLIE: They should deport her!

CHICKEN FAT WATCH

“Chicken fat” is forgotten cartoonist lingo for unimportant but hopefully amusing stuff in the art.

PANEL 1: A notice taped to the tree says “DON’T don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t forget about me baby,” a reference to a song by Simple Minds made famous in The Breakfast Club.

PANEL 4: A heart carved into the tree trunk says “N.L. + S.T.” Another heart says “J.T. + J.B.,” but has been crossed out. A third heart says “A.H. + J.B.” All of these hearts refer to one of my favorite musicals, Sweeney Todd.
Beaker from The Muppets is sticking his head out a hole in the ground.
A rat is walking on the street next to the sidewalk, looking distressed as it reads something on its phone. It’s wearing a shirt with a hearts pattern.
A piece of litter on the ground says “REPENT. Panel 4 is upon us!”

Doin’ Discourse With Ezra and Charlie | Patreon