Free speech has been on the minds of many in the two-plus weeks since the assassination of conservative Christian firebrand Charlie Kirk.

Fellow conservatives have framed Kirk’s murder as an act designed to chill free speech by those who shared his traditional values of God, family and country. The motives of the coward who took Kirk’s life aren’t yet fully known, but he clearly did not appreciate the message the Turning Point USA CEO delivered on college campuses across the United States.

Some Democrats have rushed to defend their own version of free speech in the days since a single shot rang out at Utah Valley University as Kirk spoke — for the final time — to a packed audience of students and others.

They’re upset because a lot of people who didn’t care for Kirk’s politics and values were not shy about announcing their glee about his death — and many quickly learned a harsh lesson about free speech.

You might have stumbled across social media posts or videos from folks who cackled about Kirk’s murder, saying he deserved it and got what he had coming. Some of those people were actually professionals — doctors, nurses, professors and teachers. The operative word in that sentence is “were” — because once their employers learned what they’d willingly put out there, some found themselves unemployed.

But … but … what about our free speech?

That was the lesson. We can say or post anything we want, but freedom of speech doesn’t mean we have freedom from the consequences that might befall us for what we say. Those people who celebrated the murder of a 31-year-old husband and father were so fired up to gloat about the assassination that they forgot that simple unwritten rule.

Thoughts and prayers to the simple-minded folks who thought it was a good idea to dance on a man’s grave even before he was in it.

Maya Angelou wrote: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

We now know who some people are. It is disturbing to know that so many Americans will co-sign violent acts against others simply for speaking about their faith and politics. A recent poll showed that as many as 30% of college students believe that violence is permissible in keeping certain speakers (read: conservatives) off campuses.We know there was at least one in Orem, Utah on Sept. 10. He scrawled messages on his ammunition, including “Catch this, fascist.”

Irony must have been lost on Kirk’s killer, because in shooting a man he considered a fascist, he became exactly what he purported to dislike. Murdering a man to try to silence his voice — and take away his free speech — might be one of the most fascistic acts ever perpetrated on American soil.

But back to free speech.

After radio silence on the subject since at least the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats have finally awakened from their constitutional hibernation. But where were they during the pandemic, when anyone who questioned anything about it — including its origins, the closings of schools, churches and many businesses and the efficacy of masks, social distancing and the vaccines themselves — were censored on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Everyone from actors to doctors to regular Joes found themselves canceled for saying the wrong things. Tucker Carlson was axed by Fox News. Gina Carano was fired from “The Mandalorian.”

In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and admitted that Facebook was under severe pressure to remove content the Biden administration did not like.

“Basically, these people from the Biden administration would call up our team and, like, scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg said. “It just got to the point where we were ike, ‘No, we’re not gonna, we’re not gonna take down things that are true. That’s ridiculous.”

But it seems that the Trump administration wants to throw its weight around, too. President Donald Trump openly celebrated the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show on CBS and suggested ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel — another late-night host often critical of his administration — could be next.

Kimmel was next, after stating that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA conservative. He was suspended last week. Politicians and pundits everywhere decried Disney, which owns ABC, for bowing to Trump.

In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, conservative politicians like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and pundit Clay Travis also stood up for Kimmel. They were right to do so. The government has bigger and more important work to do than deciding what is or isn’t proper late-night TV fare. Only Kimmel’s network should decide his fate and it did this week by bringing back his show. But it was a business decision, not an affirmation of freedom of speech.

The First Amendment is an amazing thing. There are many places in the world where the freedom it provides simply does not exist.

But with apologies to Kimmel, freedom of speech doesn’t guarantee anyone a late-night TV show. Colbert wasn’t fired because Trump didn’t like him. He was canceled because CBS decided the ratings didn’t support the money it took to keep him on the air.

And with apologies to those macabre souls who celebrate anyone’s death, the First Amendment doesn’t protect you from the consequences of your stupidity.

Ed Puskas is editor of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator. Reach him at 330-841-1786 or epuskas@tribtoday.com.