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Just One Thing: Five Days After

Charlie Kirk was assassinated five days ago. I've been on (an already planned) short vacation since then which gave me a little time to think without the pressure of preparing a show and the emotional challenges of talking about death and murder for days in a row, not least given the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the shooting at Evergreen High School (which happened on the same afternoon as Kirk was shot.)

Just a few quick thoughts and I'll try to elaborate more on the air and think through it with you. And I'll stipulate that I have mostly avoided social media in recent days. Maybe spent a total of 20 minutes online since Friday. But what I have seen informs my thoughts somewhat.

• Regardless of what you think of someone's political views, the answer cannot and must not be violence.
• I agreed with Charlie Kirk probably 60% of the time (though I can't say I heard him a lot). The thing is: it doesn't matter. Even if I only agreed with him, or you only agreed with him, 6% of the time, we all must offer no hint of sympathy for political killers. These attacks are attacks on our nation, not just on a person.
• When it comes to political violence in the US, it's true that there have been right-wing killers along with left-wing and simply nihilist killers. But overall, it's simply a fact that a lot more political violence comes from the left. I suspect that part of the reason is the idiotic and dangerous contention that we've heard for years now from the left that "words are violence." No, they're not. And feeling offended, even deeply offended, is NOT the same thing as being physically threatened or assaulted.
• I'm skeptical that the left will temper their behavior and rhetoric toward MAGA. This is not an attempt to insult the left, but rather what I truly expect.
• Conservatives are already galvanizing to a remarkable degree: "This is existential": MAGA's siege mentality deepens after Kirk killing
• I think everything about the Kirk and Iryna killings, both bleeding to death from wounds to their necks, is terrible for Democrats.
• Among folks on the left, there are those who truly abhor the violence but, especially regarding Kirk, don't know how to say so, so they appear not to care. And there are those who don't mind that Kirk is dead, and plenty of those people are willing to say so. Here's one example, and I'm told that this is from a public school teacher in Colorado: (9) Charlie Kirk is dead. And no,... - Montana Department Of Propaganda | Facebook

Meanwhile, folks on the right are getting very aggressive about trying to get people fired, in the right's resurgent version of cancel culture: Matthew Dowd’s firing begins flood of people facing consequences for their comments on Kirk’s death

MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks | US news | The Guardian

• Plenty of folks talk about the killing of Charlie Kirk as a potential "hinge" or inflection point or even a Turning Point, if you will. I'm skeptical. And to the extent that some folks are looking at a potentially positive change in society such as people "lowering the temperature" of political rhetoric, I suspect they (and most of us) will be disappointed.

This isn't surprising: Utah governor says alleged Kirk shooter not cooperating with authorities - ABC News

This is a long post but I believe it's essentially on target and worth reading and sharing with your rational Democratic friends (and, yes, there are rational Democrats but they've kept silent for too long.)

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Today's Guest

Bill O'Reilly is arguably the most successful cable news host of all time and is the biggest-selling non-fiction author of all time. He hosts The No-Spin News at http://billoreilly.com and is the author of an interesting (and, unfortunately, timely) new book, Confronting Evil: Assessing the Worst of the Worst

Bill O'Reilly | No Spin News

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Charlie Kirk links/articles/videos

White House mourns death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

Four ominous trends tearing America apart

Erika Kirk gave a heartfelt and heartbreaking statement a couple of nights ago. It was interesting in a lot of ways, including her intense desire to continue Charlie's work and the strength of her religiosity.

Fight for Charlie

This is interesting, and politically VERY smart for Vance:

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A massive turnout at a vigil for Charlie Kirk in DC yesterday:

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This is extremely important:

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How exactly does this help anything?

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Utah Gov Spencer Cox has been great

A Politician Rises to the Charlie Kirk Occasion - WSJ

Governor Spencer Cox Gets It Exactly Right | National Review

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Kim Strassel: The Charlie Kirk Example - WSJ

Peggy Noonan: Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Feels Like a Hinge Point - WSJ

If you want to understand a little how the left thinks (and it's cringeworthy but worth understanding): (1) Millions of Gen Z’ers Don't "Feel Bad" About Charlie Kirk's Murder. Here’s Why.

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Other Stuff

As Spencer Cox said, social media is a cancer on our society: 'Radicalized' Colorado school shooter Desmond Holly dies after shooting 2 students in Evergreen

Time to log off social media

Evergreen High School to remain closed for the week | FOX31

Evergreen High shooting suspect's social media includes posts about Columbine shooting - Axios Denver

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Just because someone is unaffiliated doesn't mean he or she is actually a swing voter. Here in Colorado, a significant majority of unaffiliated voters lean toward the Dems: Colorado unaffiliated voters account for majority of registrations

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New college grads are having a hard time entering the job market: Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market - The Atlantic

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Barrel Man would have been very disappointed yesterday: Denver Broncos superfan "Barrel Man" celebrated in History Colorado exhibit | 9news.com

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This is funny on (yet another) day when I could use a chuckle::

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Are they misleading or just annoying? (Actually, you could ask that about drug ads AND about RFK Jr and friends) HHS Tries to Stifle Corporate Speech - WSJ

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Ugh: Fountain City Councilmember Detra Duncan charged with public assistance fraud

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This is a tough call...you want more information sooner rather than later but is quarterly reporting too frequent to capture real trends, too frequent to be worth the expense

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He's clearly (implying that he's) talking about TikTok. I remain skeptical that China will agree to a deal in which TikTok -- including its algorithm -- is sold to an American buyer:

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Trump has an opinion about pro football:

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