If Trump were honest (obviously, he's not) he would blame himself for the political violence we're encountering. If Trump were any kind of leader any American should want, he would think about how to lead by setting a good example instead of continuing to subject America to Trump's Bad President reality TV show.
Only a week before Kirk's political murder, Trump and Hegseth publicly admitted--they publicly boasted--that they murdered 11 people on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. Those killings were at least as blatantly political as Kirk's killing. And Trump boasted that he would kill again if given the chance. To this day Trump and Hegseth still haven't informed us of the identity or citizenship of any person on that boat or of any fact tending to establish any reason any person was on that boat.
As a fairly famous SCOTUS decision, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), quoting the wise and great Justice Brandeis (joined by the wise and great Justice Holmes) dissenting in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928)) put it:
"Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."
I have to agree with the comment that “you reap what you sow," and I'd like to see someone explain how Charlie Kirk got anything other than what he advocated.
Charlie Kirk got exactly what he said America deserves. There's no reason to think Kirk's killing was more tragic than Kirk thought of other deaths due to gun violence. Kirk's own words are most relevant to whether Kirk's killing was tragic or just a sort of poetic justice:
"I think it’s worth it to have [ ] gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
To use Kirk's own words, Kirk was one of the "gun deaths every single year" that Kirk actually advocated "to protect our other God-given rights," and that's exactly what he got. Kirk, himself, supported what happened to him. As Kirk said, "I think it’s worth it." "That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
"That’s all I have to say—no great thoughts, no words of wisdom, nothing but a quote I remember from an Jungle Jim movie from the 1950s, where after the notionally-Soviet bad guys, killed by a radioactive meteor (or something like that) they were trying to smuggle out of whichever backlot jungle Columbia Pictures shot in, are found by our heroes, an old scientist blandly observes, 'Poetic Justice, I’d Say….'"
The mental gymnastics of Kirk and so many others is astounding:
Kirk:
“I think it’s worth it to have gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
The Bible:
Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, etc. …
Fascism is not just a political ideology, it is a mental disorder.
It should be added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard tool for identifying and labeling mental illness. Not in a way to justify their behavior, but as a way to recognize what strategies can be effective. Logic doesn’t work for them and their followers.
Fascism is great at lighting up the emotional centers of the brain. To fight it, we need to do the same.
The gaslighting continues when politicians, pundits, "social media influencers", and journalists ask what they consider a central question about "How could a person like this be radicalized?" My attention level drops several notches just hearing that question. This is not a civil nor considerate timeline.
Michael, for people who want to exploit events for their own purposes, waiting for the facts is the problem. Before they learn the truth, they're just making stuff up. After they learn the truth, they'd be lying.
Your statement rings true Jack, though I'd suggest that to most people wanting to exploit events for their own (poltical) purposes lying is no problem to them.
Michael, I think you're right about their psychology. Even so, the ones who think they're being clever may be hiding behind a legal standard. SCOTUS precedent (starting with New York Times Co. v. Sullivan) emphasized that our Constitution precludes using courts to hold a person liable for a mere falsehood about another person (at least if that person is a public official or a public figure). A plaintiff would have to prove "actual malice," i.e., that the speaker actually knew or he should have known his statement was false.
Not that that stops them! I read some insane piece claiming Tyler Robinson is actually a Trans Activist, and killed Charlie Kirk for his Transphobia.... 🤦♂️
That is such a blatant attempt to shift blame onto the Left by the Republican Party and Trump Right that it's...wholly predictable, actually.
Under “That’s it for today”, you mention a Saturday edition tomorrow. 🤔
You are so right, the only free speech the MAGA want is for them to be able to lie. It is a breath of fresh air to be able to access your writings & those of others like you here & know I don’t have to question & check what I have read. Thank you.
Violence inciting maga lunatics said nothing about the murder of a MN legislator and her husband by a maga cultist. I wonder why... As dimwitted, weak dems continue to play defense, The right incites violence with every fascist breath they take, every arrest they make of innocent children, parents, and even American citizens for not having proper ID. The right pardons j/6 felons who attacked law enforcement that led to the death of 3 or ore while they pushed gallows demanding the hanging of Mike Pence. From Charlottesville and the murder of Heather Heyer, to the right's killer kid Rittenhouse, to Dylan Roof, to Sandy Hook, to maga killer who shoy and killed FBI agent and just missed trump. To the kidnap plot of Gretchen Whitmer and the showof arms at the MI Capitol. From Timothy McVeigh,to the Unibomber, to the crazy who sent pipe boms to Obama offices. I do not put myself in that company. They are all right wing murderers. The FBI determined that right wing militias were the biggest domestic terrorist concern. Fox and Freaks Brian Kilmeade had to finally apologize for promoting the execution of the homeless. He might be looking for a job with HHS... musk and marco are systematically killing hundreds of thousands of people after shuttering USAID, and the total deaths could reach 14 million. Hitler would blush at those number. And the right mercilessly mocked the near death of Paul Prlosi from a maga maniac. That was areal hoot on the maga circuit. This is not a both sides issue. One side promotes death and destruction and the other side tries to improve the lives of everyone with legislation not violence and bullets.he right is a cult of death merchants.
If Trump were honest (obviously, he's not) he would blame himself for the political violence we're encountering. If Trump were any kind of leader any American should want, he would think about how to lead by setting a good example instead of continuing to subject America to Trump's Bad President reality TV show.
Trump was the candidate who boasted that his supporters would continue to support him even if he murdered someone on 5th Avenue. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters/
Only a week before Kirk's political murder, Trump and Hegseth publicly admitted--they publicly boasted--that they murdered 11 people on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. Those killings were at least as blatantly political as Kirk's killing. And Trump boasted that he would kill again if given the chance. To this day Trump and Hegseth still haven't informed us of the identity or citizenship of any person on that boat or of any fact tending to establish any reason any person was on that boat.
As a fairly famous SCOTUS decision, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), quoting the wise and great Justice Brandeis (joined by the wise and great Justice Holmes) dissenting in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928)) put it:
"Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."
I have to agree with the comment that “you reap what you sow," and I'd like to see someone explain how Charlie Kirk got anything other than what he advocated.
Charlie Kirk got exactly what he said America deserves. There's no reason to think Kirk's killing was more tragic than Kirk thought of other deaths due to gun violence. Kirk's own words are most relevant to whether Kirk's killing was tragic or just a sort of poetic justice:
"I think it’s worth it to have [ ] gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
– Event organized by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of Kirk’s conservative group Turning Point USA, on 5 April 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/charlie-kirk-quotes-beliefs
To use Kirk's own words, Kirk was one of the "gun deaths every single year" that Kirk actually advocated "to protect our other God-given rights," and that's exactly what he got. Kirk, himself, supported what happened to him. As Kirk said, "I think it’s worth it." "That is a prudent deal. It is rational."
As I said in my own piece on Charlie Kirk? (https://open.substack.com/pub/drdarkeny/p/i-guess-ive-got-to-talk-about-charlie )
"That’s all I have to say—no great thoughts, no words of wisdom, nothing but a quote I remember from an Jungle Jim movie from the 1950s, where after the notionally-Soviet bad guys, killed by a radioactive meteor (or something like that) they were trying to smuggle out of whichever backlot jungle Columbia Pictures shot in, are found by our heroes, an old scientist blandly observes, 'Poetic Justice, I’d Say….'"
The mental gymnastics of Kirk and so many others is astounding:
Kirk:
“I think it’s worth it to have gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
The Bible:
Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, etc. …
Fascism is not just a political ideology, it is a mental disorder.
It should be added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the standard tool for identifying and labeling mental illness. Not in a way to justify their behavior, but as a way to recognize what strategies can be effective. Logic doesn’t work for them and their followers.
Fascism is great at lighting up the emotional centers of the brain. To fight it, we need to do the same.
The gaslighting continues when politicians, pundits, "social media influencers", and journalists ask what they consider a central question about "How could a person like this be radicalized?" My attention level drops several notches just hearing that question. This is not a civil nor considerate timeline.
What the hell is wrong with shutting up or saying "we just don't know' immediately after assassinations until the facts come out??
Michael, for people who want to exploit events for their own purposes, waiting for the facts is the problem. Before they learn the truth, they're just making stuff up. After they learn the truth, they'd be lying.
Your statement rings true Jack, though I'd suggest that to most people wanting to exploit events for their own (poltical) purposes lying is no problem to them.
Michael, I think you're right about their psychology. Even so, the ones who think they're being clever may be hiding behind a legal standard. SCOTUS precedent (starting with New York Times Co. v. Sullivan) emphasized that our Constitution precludes using courts to hold a person liable for a mere falsehood about another person (at least if that person is a public official or a public figure). A plaintiff would have to prove "actual malice," i.e., that the speaker actually knew or he should have known his statement was false.
Not that that stops them! I read some insane piece claiming Tyler Robinson is actually a Trans Activist, and killed Charlie Kirk for his Transphobia.... 🤦♂️
That is such a blatant attempt to shift blame onto the Left by the Republican Party and Trump Right that it's...wholly predictable, actually.
Under “That’s it for today”, you mention a Saturday edition tomorrow. 🤔
You are so right, the only free speech the MAGA want is for them to be able to lie. It is a breath of fresh air to be able to access your writings & those of others like you here & know I don’t have to question & check what I have read. Thank you.
Violence inciting maga lunatics said nothing about the murder of a MN legislator and her husband by a maga cultist. I wonder why... As dimwitted, weak dems continue to play defense, The right incites violence with every fascist breath they take, every arrest they make of innocent children, parents, and even American citizens for not having proper ID. The right pardons j/6 felons who attacked law enforcement that led to the death of 3 or ore while they pushed gallows demanding the hanging of Mike Pence. From Charlottesville and the murder of Heather Heyer, to the right's killer kid Rittenhouse, to Dylan Roof, to Sandy Hook, to maga killer who shoy and killed FBI agent and just missed trump. To the kidnap plot of Gretchen Whitmer and the showof arms at the MI Capitol. From Timothy McVeigh,to the Unibomber, to the crazy who sent pipe boms to Obama offices. I do not put myself in that company. They are all right wing murderers. The FBI determined that right wing militias were the biggest domestic terrorist concern. Fox and Freaks Brian Kilmeade had to finally apologize for promoting the execution of the homeless. He might be looking for a job with HHS... musk and marco are systematically killing hundreds of thousands of people after shuttering USAID, and the total deaths could reach 14 million. Hitler would blush at those number. And the right mercilessly mocked the near death of Paul Prlosi from a maga maniac. That was areal hoot on the maga circuit. This is not a both sides issue. One side promotes death and destruction and the other side tries to improve the lives of everyone with legislation not violence and bullets.he right is a cult of death merchants.