CNN shared a new survey that crushes the narrative that Americans are not happy with the moves by President Donald Trump’s administration when it comes to policies on things like crime, the economy, and immigration.
In a video posted on X on Monday by our sister site Townhall.com, CNN’s data guy Harry Enten had to ask what the heck the Democrats are doing, and the answer is their obstructionist agenda is crushing them, resulting in a massive lead for the Republican party when it comes to MORE: Oh My: Dem Approval Just Hit New All-Time Low
Enten pointed out that Democrats are crowing that things are just going to go swimmingly for them and that the party is just going to “fly high in midterms.”
He then unveiled a survey that read, “Trust the Dems or GOP more on” the following: the economy, immigration, and crime.
“Who leads on the economy? Republicans by seven points,” Enten said. “Immigration? Republicans by thirteen points.”
“How about crime? A big issue for Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Look at that. Lead by twenty-two points,” he added. “So, the bottom line is this…At this particular point, it’s the Republicans who are running with the ball on the top issues, the economy, immigration, and crime.”
And when he compared how the GOP’s numbers look to the last time the Republicans took the House in 2022, Enten said it “gives away the game here.”
The survey showed a slight dip in the economy question, but the GOP actually went way up in immigration and nearly doubled when it comes to the favorability of them over crime.
“The Republican lead has actually gone up by ten points,” Enten said. “What are you DOING, Democrats? And on crime, the Republicans were up by 13, and now they are up by 22 points. The lead again expanding by nearly double-digits.”
When he broke down the numbers, Independents are giving Republicans the lead in all three categories.
Enten’s colleague asked if these were numbers for the overall period since Trump took office; he said no, this is just for the month of September 2025.
So, that means Americans like what they are seeing on the policies from the Trump White House on the economy. It means that all the crime crackdowns that President Trump has been doing in places like Washington, D.C., are what Americans want to see. Not to mention, all the arrests by ICE to rid our country of alleged illegal criminals is a winning move for the GOP.
As my RedState colleague Andrew Malcolm reported, Trump’s low approval numbers do not translate to a win for the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms.
Malcolm wrote:
A recent study by a nonpartisan data company of the 30 states that register by party found that since 2020, all 30 had a drop in registered Democrats while 22 had increases in Republicans, a jumbo swing of 4.5 million voters.
Another revealing stat: Currently, of the 435 voting House representatives, fully 419 are members of the party whose presidential candidate won that district. This makes fewer races genuinely competitive, which would hurt Democrat swing opportunities this time.
To put it simply, even if Trump’s approval numbers are underwater, Americans do not trust the Democrats to make things better and are willing to let the GOP continue to lead.
In a rather remarkable moment of intercessory faith, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a tribute to Charlie Kirk filled with purpose and faith.
There were some very remarkable moments in the hours-long Christian affirmation for Charlie that took place yesterday in Glendale, Arizona; however, this testimonial from Marco Rubio is among the top tier.
Rubio begins with good natured humor; this cognitively breaks the psychological drag of recent memory and reorients the audience. Secretary Rubio then begins to speak eloquently about the impact of Charlie Kirk and the light he brought to a generation. Rubio bears witness.
Toward the end of his remarks, Secretary Rubio then enmeshed the truth of Charlie’s message to the life of Christ, and the immortal connection that binds a Christian nation in spiritual purpose. Like Charlie, Rubio has a gift. WATCH:
THAT, my friends, is a powerful seven minutes!
♦ The First Martyr – Stephen is introduced in the Book of Acts as one of the seven deacons appointed to oversee the distribution of food to widows in the early church. He is described as a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Stephen’s bold preaching and miracles drew the attention of the Jewish authorities, leading to his arrest.
During his trial, Stephen delivered a powerful speech recounting Israel’s history and accusing the religious leaders of resisting the Holy Spirit. This speech culminated in his being stoned to death, making him the first Christian martyr.
♦ Paul – Saul, who later became known as the Apostle Paul, was present during Stephen’s stoning. The witnesses laid their clothes at Saul’s feet, indicating his approval of the execution. At this time, Saul was a zealous Pharisee, actively persecuting Christians and seeking to eradicate the new faith. His involvement in Stephen’s death highlights the intense opposition faced by early Christians from Jewish leaders.
♦ Transformation of Saul – Saul’s life took a dramatic turn on the road to Damascus, where he encountered the risen Christ. This event led to his conversion, and he became one of the most influential apostles in spreading Christianity. His transformation from a persecutor of Christians to a devoted follower of Christ is a powerful testament to the grace and power of God.
Significance – The stories of Saul and Stephen illustrate the early church’s struggles and the profound changes that can occur through faith. Stephen’s martyrdom is often seen as a catalyst for the spread of Christianity, as it prompted many believers to flee Jerusalem and share the gospel elsewhere. Saul’s conversion marks a pivotal moment in Christian history, as he became a key figure in establishing the church and writing many of the New Testament letters.
Summary: Stephen’s martyrdom and Saul’s transformation are central to understanding the early Christian movement and the challenges it faced. Their stories reflect the depth of faith, the virtue of redemption, and the power of the gospel.
Many people, me included, have pondered the remarkable transition of Marco Rubio.
The left must pay a heavy price for their encouragement, excusing, and even loose material support for violent left-wing terror.
The entire world watched as Charlie Kirk, the father of two young children, was gruesomely murdered.
But leftists cheered. A group of leftists in the crowd stood around unafraid as soon as Charlie was shot. One man can be seen raising his fists in the air and celebrating. A 71-year-old man, who was later found to have child sex abuse images on his phone, immediately claimed he was the shooter so the real shooter could get away. Across social media platforms and at workplaces, leftists rejoiced or said that Kirk deserved to be murdered. Leftist media outlets tried, without any evidence, to convince their audience that the shooter was either right-wing, or hinted that Charlie deserved to die because of his Christian and conservative views. After Kirk’s murder, even leftist intellectuals such as The New York Times’ Peter Baker and MSNBC’s Matthew Dowd appeared to justify the crime (Dowd has been fired).
The left’s lurch toward terrorism didn’t start with assassinating Kirk. About half or more of the “left of center” respondents to a national and respected poll released earlier this year by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) said that killing either President Donald Trump or Tesla CEO Elon Musk would be at least “partially justified.” This was about a third of the overall respondents; 13 percent of the respondents who are left-of-center said killing Trump would be “completely justified.”
The same NCRI survey found that pro-violence attitudes were amplified by left-wing social media platforms BlueSky and Reddit. Whole communities exist to praise the assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, for example. Another poll, after Kirk’s murder, found that 26 percent of young voters and 24 percent of Democrats believed that America was “better off” with Charlie Kirk’s murder. Nothing close to these deranged numbers can be seen in the polling of those on the right.
Democrat politicians and the media have certainly encouraged this. Media members and Democrats labeled Trump and Republicans as “fascists,” strongly implying that bloodshed against their political opponents was a righteous cause.
Realize where we are: Something like 10 to 25 percent of the population is openly supporting the murder of their political opponents. The violence is absolutely meant to impact the political process. This most certainly has and will alter the decisions of state and federal representatives, judges, and reporters. Nationalists and conservatives won’t be able to hold open-air events any longer, without spending many millions on security.
How to Avoid Civil War
The ugly truth is that we are headed toward something like the Spanish Civil War. Much like the Spanish Civil War — where the left especially targeted the religious, hunting down priests and raping and killing nuns — the left’s violence today has taken on an overtly anti-Christian bent. Whether it be the Annunciation church shooter and his weird connections to a Satanic cult called the Order of the Nine Angles (the recent Colorado school shooter was also potentially connected), or the obvious truth that Kirk’s espousing of the orthodox Christian sexual ethic is what made trans activists hate him the most.
It’s hard to see how we aren’t spiraling toward domestic conflict. The far left won’t stop, and many mainstream Democrats are unflinchingly maintaining that both the shooter was a MAGA-conservative, as they twist past events to make it look like most violence comes from the right, and that MAGA-supporting Kirk had it coming. Democrats even have the audacity to try to minimize Kirk’s assassination and the left’s obscene reaction by bringing up the burning of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion (committed by a far-left activist, not someone from the right) and the murder of Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman (committed by a mentally ill man who had a whole host of potential motives, and who wildly claimed he was acting on behalf of Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz). Plus, no Republicans excused, justified, or cheered the assassination!
In other words, even the mainstream left lacks self-awareness or repentance. The only chance at an off-ramp is to make the left, including Democrat politicians, pay a heavy price for their encouragement, excusing, and even loose material support for violent left-wing terror. What does that look like? Many have already noted a few good ideas. These include:
Criminal code: Throw the weight of the criminal code at Antifa and far-left trans militia groups. FBI Director Kash Patel said a “broad network” of groups had prior knowledge of the assassination. One such group is called “Armed Queers of Salt Lake City” and has ties to foreign communist governments including Cuba and China. A handful of trans social media accounts also had apparent foreknowledge of the assassination. One such account said he hopes someone “evaporates” Kirk and then ominously followed by saying “something big will happen tomorrow.” Another account, days before the assassination, predicted Kirk would be shot on Sept. 10.
Earlier this year, the trans cult calling themselves the Zizians shot an ICE agent in Vermont. All these groups appear to be coordinating, as the Armed Queers of Salt Lake City even held a “workshop” with the Trans/Antifa perpetrators of the ICE facility shooting. A statute like the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), created to go after the mob in 1970, could be used to go after these groups and the NGOs and millionaire donors who support them.
Terror law: The Trump administration is classifying Antifa as a domestic terror organization. This is a helpful law-enforcement tool, but still requires conviction of individual members (no guilt by association) and proof that members are actively involved in a criminal conspiracy.
University free speech: Others have ideated that universities should be forced to accommodate conservative speakers and provide security or lose federal funding. This is a good idea, and Congress must act. Another version of this idea would create civil liability to speaker, audience, and host if universities don’t provide a safe place for free speech.
More is Needed
All the above ideas are necessary and worth pursuing to exhaustion. The problem is that these ideas are likely not enough to deter the far left, and are too defensive and reactive. The far left needs to be hit hard if the downward spiral is to be avoided.
– As the White House classifies Antifa as a terror organization, they should move to classify the group as a foreign terrorist organization, if possible, which allows more to be done to go after Antifa members in the U.S. and abroad. Assets supporting Antifa and trans militias should be frozen, homes raided, and associated persons scooped up and placed in detention facilities.
-In the same vein, internet personalities with large followings such as Steven Bonnell (aka “Destiny”) and Hasan Piker have called for the murder of Republicans (Piker), or engaged in wild rhetoric that “you need conservatives to be afraid of getting killed when they go to events so they look to their leadership to turn down the temperature” (Destiny). Thousands of leftists also posted on social media praising the assassination. A database has been created to help employers fire these individuals, but this is not enough.
If the FBI was tasked with investigating Latin Mass Catholics, Turning Point USA, and pro-life organizations under the Biden administration, it can certainly turn on those openly cheering and encouraging violence. Imagine what would happen if this were the Biden administration, a prominent Democrat had been assassinated, and a quarter of all Republicans supported it? Place “Destiny,” Piker, and the leftists who cheered Kirk’s death on the no-fly list, send government agents to their doors in the middle of the night, and investigate the most prolific or egregious examples for other crimes (search Destiny’s computers!). These demoralization tactics should especially be applied to persons tied to mainstream Democrat politicians or media figures, if they choose to incite violence or make threats against federal workers. The goal is not to follow a fully baked and reasonable process. Many of the no-fly-list designations may get overturned in court. But the exact point is to use the unlimited resources of the federal government to flood the zone and exhaust the finite resources of the leftists inciting violence.
– Apple and other tech platforms should face immense pressure from the government to deplatform Reddit and BlueSky. BlueSky tried to stop conservatives from catching users praising Kirk’s murder by banning the ability to search all users’ posts. Reddit is meanwhile a cesspool with many users praising Kirk’s murder. Parler was kicked off the Apple store for far less. But please stop worrying about precedent, or whether this matches what the Biden administration did, and realize what time it is. The Justice Department should also extensively investigate these platforms for possible violations of federal law. Meanwhile, Discord, a chat platform that is a hotbed of extreme left activity, should also face investigation over the assassin’s use of the platform.
– Finally, the Democrat Party and the left have their foot soldiers in Antifa, BLM, and the radical trans militias. Republicans should never stop asking Democrat Party politicians and candidates to disavow Antifa, which is effective because regardless of the answer (disavowing or not disavowing), the person answering is implicitly acknowledging some kind of ideological tie to the group.
But something is needed to both deter the far left and, where law enforcement is unable or unwilling, protect the political process from terroristic influence. A wealthy Christian donor should create an organization of young men, call it the Order of Christ the King, that mimics much of what the Guardian Angels in New York City did to reduce crime and fill the gaps that law enforcement could not — but on a national level. The Order, overtly Christian, would be defensive in nature. Depending on the situation and the state, no firearms would be carried. The organization would not engage in street brawls, either (this is not the Proud Boys). It could do random acts of community service, and be called upon to stand guard if, for example, leftists were threatening a judge’s home, or a church felt like it needed extra security.
What Would Lincoln Do?
These ideas don’t sound nice, because the time we’re in is not nice — roughly a quarter of the population is cheering Kirk’s murder. If American nationalists and conservatives continue to play by rules the left refuses to play by, then we will lose. And losing by choice is not “turning the other cheek,” it’s an act of cowardice that turns your children over to a country run by men who act worse than animals.
For those unwilling to let go of the America of 20 years ago that no longer exists, let Abraham Lincoln assuage your mind. The Democrat Confederates, when capturing black Union soldiers in battle, were digging mass graves and executing the black Americans (and their white officers) on the spot — this policy was encouraged by Jefferson Davis, who viewed the white officers and black troops as leading a slave revolt. Lincoln was furious and released an order in July 1863 promising to retaliate on Confederate prisoners in the North if Confederate forces kept slaughtering black soldiers. The Confederates didn’t take the order seriously — indeed Lincoln had moral qualms about executing random Confederate prisoners — and the slaughter continued.
Finally, after the egregious Fort Pillow Massacre, Lincoln ordered his Secretary of War to set aside about 300 Confederate officers from the finest families in the South. If the Confederates slaughtered more black troops, these 300 Confederate officers would be culled. As a result, atrocities still occurred but much less frequently — Confederate generals realized that Lincoln could mean it this time, and avoided overt massacres to prevent reprisals against their own captured men.
This individual is granted anonymity since publishing an article on The Federalist would credibly threaten close personal relationships, their safety, or their jobs. We verify the identities of those who publish anonymously with The Federalist.
A post by “Awakened Outlaw” on X predicts that the left’s grotesque response to the death of Charlie Kirk spells the end for that movement, because it has lost all credibility.
I like the spirit of this post, but the leftists do not think they have lost anything. They’re using any pushback about their truly demonic responses to Charlie Kirk’s death as an excuse to feel even more like victims and to rationalize what they will do if they ever regain any substantial power at the national level. I predict concentration camps or worse, though much more sophisticated and on a level humanity has not yet seen. IF they regain any power, that is. And they absolutely can, because the money, the media and the schools are all on their side and let’s be real, President Trump has been a one-man show for a decade now.
The disgraceful, disgusting and morally obscene joy over Charlie Kirk’s brutal death has shown us what ghouls hard core leftists and Democrats really are, and these are the people who animate and run the Party millions of Americans still support. It’s so important to arrest and punish their leaders who literally committed treason, but I am concerned that won’t happen in the next 2 or 2.5 years, which makes for possibly quite perilous times ahead should they pull off another 2020 in 2028. Charlie Kirk’s life, and now his brutal death at the hands of an unrepentant left, serve as the cautionary tale to end all cautionary tales, screaming at us not to be complacent.
Mercy to the guilty is treason to the innocent. Conservatives and other cultural dissenters have to learn this, because we are the ones being annihilated, again and again and again.
*******
At her husband’s funeral, Erika Kirk boldly declared that she forgives the man that killed her husband.
I respectfully disagree. The terrorist punk who killed Charlie Kirk isn’t sorry. Nor are any of the warped leftists applauding him. How do you forgive someone who isn’t sorry? And someone who would do it all again, given the chance?
Some people reply that you cannot move on with your life if you don’t forgive. Why do you have to pretend that a monster isn’t a monster in order to move on with your life? It’s a tribute to your lost or murdered loved one to call a spade a spade, in defense of the victim.
When merit is replaced with ideology, fires rage unchecked, killers walk free, and fragile systems collapse—leaving lives and cities in ruin.
America has a lot of built-in safety backups and redundancies.
But every once in a while, when tradition, science, time-tested protocols, and common sense are ignored, a fragile system utterly collapses.
Usually, an iconic event reveals how vulnerable the entire country has become, and predictably occurs when suicidal ideologies and nihilism, in perfect-storm fashion, wreak havoc.
The media, academia, the bureaucracy, and higher education can mask the dangers of their political agendas—at least until their sheer incompetence or toxicity can no longer be hidden or excused, and a predictable disaster ensues.
Take the January 4-5, 2025, Pacific Palisades fire that destroyed an entire historic neighborhood of Los Angeles. The embers had not even cooled when we were lectured that “climate change” was responsible for the historically predictable annual autumn and early winter Santa Ana winds that whip up horrific fires before the first winter rains arrive—a phenomenon documented for over two centuries.
The media, in reporting the conflagration, downplayed human culpability. But over the next few weeks, outraged former homeowners and independent journalists began cataloging the real symptoms of a total system failure that turned the normal end-of-year fire season into a catastrophic inferno.
A lot of things had to go wrong to utterly destroy an ancient, coveted neighborhood. But DEI managed to do all of that with ease.
First, we learned that the incompetent mayor, Karen Bass, had cut the fire budget. Then, despite warnings of dry hillsides, underfunded fire protection, and predicted high winds, Bass was nowhere to be seen during the most dangerous weeks of the year.
Why would the state allow those with little legal certification to become de facto judges? Why would their records of freeing dangerous criminals not come under scrutiny.
The result of those unanswered questions was that DeCarlos Brown entered a train with a knife, silently jumped up, and lethally slashed the throat of Ms. Zarutska in the seat ahead. She had no idea she was sitting in front of a career, violent, and released felon from a family of violent felons—and was now to become the prey of a cold-blooded, racist killer.
Four passengers sitting adjacent to, ahead of, and behind Brown did nothing as he attacked Zarutska. Nor did they render her aid, as they callously sidestepped her in her death throes. He seemed to have muttered, “Got the white girl,” as he walked away from that lethal attack and got off the train.
The system was now breaking: why did riders not have to buy tickets to enter the train? Why was there no security on the train? Why did not one nearby passenger intervene either to stop the attack, render assistance to the dying Zarutska, or seek to apprehend Brown for the police?
When merit is replaced with ideology, fires rage unchecked, killers walk free, and fragile systems collapse—leaving lives and cities in ruin.
America has a lot of built-in safety backups and redundancies.
But every once in a while, when tradition, science, time-tested protocols, and common sense are ignored, a fragile system utterly collapses.
Usually, an iconic event reveals how vulnerable the entire country has become, and predictably occurs when suicidal ideologies and nihilism, in perfect-storm fashion, wreak havoc.
The media, academia, the bureaucracy, and higher education can mask the dangers of their political agendas—at least until their sheer incompetence or toxicity can no longer be hidden or excused, and a predictable disaster ensues.
Take the January 4-5, 2025, Pacific Palisades fire that destroyed an entire historic neighborhood of Los Angeles. The embers had not even cooled when we were lectured that “climate change” was responsible for the historically predictable annual autumn and early winter Santa Ana winds that whip up horrific fires before the first winter rains arrive—a phenomenon documented for over two centuries.
The media, in reporting the conflagration, downplayed human culpability. But over the next few weeks, outraged former homeowners and independent journalists began cataloging the real symptoms of a total system failure that turned the normal end-of-year fire season into a catastrophic inferno.
A lot of things had to go wrong to utterly destroy an ancient, coveted neighborhood. But DEI managed to do all of that with ease.
First, we learned that the incompetent mayor, Karen Bass, had cut the fire budget. Then, despite warnings of dry hillsides, underfunded fire protection, and predicted high winds, Bass was nowhere to be seen during the most dangerous weeks of the year.
Why? She was junketing in Ghana, an African nation rarely considered vital to the running of the third-largest city in the United States.
The now-convicted felon, Deputy Mayor Brian Thompson, was under house arrest for phoning in a bomb threat to the city hall. So a mayoral apparatus did not exist.
Next, the clueless and vastly overpaid Janisse Quiñones, the CEO and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, was likely hired based on diversity, equity, and inclusion criteria despite a prior uninspiring record in her administrative roles at PG&E. She was utterly unprepared for the fire.
When the fires swept in, a key reservoir that might have saved the community had been bone dry for months while under superficial repair. Dozens of fire hydrants were nonfunctional.
Unhinged environmental mandates had prevented homeowners from clearing nearby combustible brush on the hillside, the proverbial fuel of the Santa Ana wind-powered fires.
The chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Kristin Crowley, had bragged about her diversity hiring but had done little to ensure her firefighters had enough water to put out the fires.
In other words, the wages of electing, appointing, or selecting officials on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation, or making policy on the basis of radical green orthodoxy, rather than proven meritocracy and empiricism, finally came due in a systems collapse of the city government, utilities, fire protection, and prevention.
There have been lots of Palisades events in the past. And there will be far more to come in the future, as our ever more complex society that requires meritocratic operators cannot afford social engineering and ideological agendas at the expense of lives and property.
Similar to the Palisades disaster was the train of events that led to the needless murder of a 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, Iryna Zarutska, on a light-rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
DeCarlos Brown, a 14-time felon, was out on cashless bail, despite his lengthy record of violent offenses that should have ensured imprisonment. He was homeless with a lifelong record of recidivism.
Who let him out? And why? A magistrate, Terese Stokes. She had never passed the bar but seemingly enjoyed impunity from apparent conflicts of interest by sentencing the convicted to an alternate treatment center in which she and her partner had financial interests.
Why would the state allow those with little legal certification to become de facto judges? Why would their records of freeing dangerous criminals not come under scrutiny ?
The result of those unanswered questions was that DeCarlos Brown entered a train with a knife, silently jumped up, and lethally slashed the throat of Ms. Zarutska in the seat ahead. She had no idea she was sitting in front of a career, violent, and released felon from a family of violent felons—and was now to become the prey of a cold-blooded, racist killer.
Four passengers sitting adjacent to, ahead of, and behind Brown did nothing as he attacked Zarutska. Nor did they render her aid, as they callously sidestepped her in her death throes. He seemed to have muttered, “Got the white girl,” as he walked away from that lethal attack and got off the train.
The system was now breaking: why did riders not have to buy tickets to enter the train? Why was there no security on the train? Why did not one nearby passenger intervene either to stop the attack, render assistance to the dying Zarutska, or seek to apprehend Brown for the police.
And then the broken system utterly collapsed—as happened in Los Angeles, where fires raged, no official either cared or had any solution, and nine months later, the charred ruins sit mostly untouched.
Once disgraced Mayor Bass tried to restore her reputation by hogging TV microphones and blasting the Trump administration for arresting and deporting violent and criminal illegal aliens, living exempt and free in her city, as the ruins of an entire neighborhood sit mostly untouched.
Almost immediately after the Zarutska murder, the left-wing media nexus was confronted with a dilemma. The light rail video had already been released by the police. Yet left-wing mayor Vi Lyles immediately lectured the public not to blame the homeless Brown. She urged the video not be seen so it would not stir up animosities. She called the evil work of Brown a “tragedy” and pontificated that arresting people would not be a solution.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein was silent too long about the murder, despite posting all sorts of extraneous news stories. In contrast, he had earlier been quick to editorialize upon the death of George Floyd.
Once popular rage forced his public statement, Stein blabbered about all the anti-crime bills he introduced, but the former Attorney General of North Carolina kept quiet about his state, which allows an incompetent Stokes, with zero legal training, to release lethal criminals onto the public.
Add up the systemic failures to find the common denominator.
Barack Obama is such a soulless fraud. He’s spent the last week trying to downplay the significance of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. First, he pretended that the motive behind Charlie’s murder was impossible to ascertain. Then he blamed President Trump for welcoming “extremism” into the White House. Finally, he insinuated that Charlie was a racist and at least partially responsible for his own death. As always, America’s foremost “divider in chief” excels at rubbing salt in gaping wounds.
The Soros network of NGOs must have recently sent out marching orders instructing Democrats to speak favorably of Obama’s presidency because every prominent Donkey Party politician has tried to rewrite Obama’s divisive reign as some kind of unifying era of social harmony.
I suppose they’re attempting to brainwash the fifteen-year-olds who can’t remember a thing about the ugly Obama years but who will be voting in the next presidential election. The quick and dirty version, kids, is this: When Obama left office, even the leftist propagandists at the AP acknowledged that his presidency had greatly divided the country.
Obama could have been a remarkable figure in American history. When he entered office, he enjoyed phenomenal approval ratings because Republicans who had voted for John McCain recognized the real possibility that the worst chapters in American race relations might finally be closed for good. For several decades, in fact, black and white Americans had been getting along better than ever.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortation that we view people by the “content of their character” and not by the “color of their skin” had won hearts and minds everywhere. Forty years after MLK Jr.’s assassination, Obama became president. His campaign promised “hope and change.” Americans of all political backgrounds wanted to believe that the country’s best years lay just ahead. Even Republicans who voted against Obama in 2008 recognized the remarkable opportunity his presidency provided to bring all Americans together.
Unfortunately for America, Obama and his “wingman” attorney general, Eric Holder, had no intention of uniting Americans. They had been incubated in the politics of hate and inculcated with Marxism’s prime directive to divide people and turn them against each other for partisan political gain. Once in office, Obama and Holder transformed every political debate into a new excuse for cynically accusing ideological opponents of racism. During the Obama presidency, the “race card” was the unofficial cover sheet for every administration policy.
With the race-obsessed duo of Obama and Holder at the helm, Christians were smeared as “white supremacists” and “Christian nationalists.” Grassroots members of the Tea Party movement were marginalized as “racists” who wanted to take the country back to a time before black Americans could vote. And police officers were demonized as “slave catchers” dedicated to beating up and murdering black men.
What Obama and Holder did in the name of “criminal justice reform” made Americans less safe to this day. They went out of their way to paint law enforcement officers as villains and actively sought to inflame tensions in black communities whenever possible. They put targets on the backs of good cops while celebrating lifetime criminals as civil rights “heroes.” They led a devastating effort to “defund police” and criticized police officers for proactively working to prevent crime.
Cops quickly got the Obama White House memo: When you put your life on the line to protect civilians, Democrats will throw you under the bus and turn every busted suspect into a victim. The result of the Obama-Holder police reforms was a drastic rise in violent crime across the country and a spike in police officer assassinations. While all Americans have suffered from a drawn-out hangover following the Obama years, minority neighborhoods have suffered most of all, as capable cops decided to protect their lives and jobs from unfair accusations of racism.
The Obama-Holder legacy of using false charges of racism to divide the country, pass unpopular legislation, and put cops in criminals’ crosshairs did incalculable harm to America. So when Barack Obama takes a break from retirement to take credit for the imaginary “unity” during his presidency while defaming Charlie Kirk as a “racist,” his outrageously obscene observations are particularly galling.
Charlie Kirk is dead because people such as Barack Obama lied about who he was. Police officers and civilians in this country are dead because people such as Barack Obama lie about what law enforcement officers do. Time and again, Obama and his friends portray good men and women as evil, while defending evil people as good. Then they interview each other, pat themselves on the back, and congratulate each other for being morally superior to all the Americans they’ve managed to kill.
Right now, Obama is whining about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from his late-night propaganda show that delivers hate for laughs. Kimmel’s in timeout because the jackass couldn’t resist the impulse to lie about Charlie Kirk even after his murder. Blaming a MAGA gunman instead of a leftwing zealot for Charlie’s assassination, Kimmel spoke of this American tragedy as if it were as meaningless as one of his unfunny jokes. In this regard, Kimmel’s flippant disregard for the value of Charlie’s life mirrors Obama’s own disregard for the country he worked so hard to divide. That’s no surprise. America-haters never think of anyone but themselves.
Those who wish to disarm us shouldn’t have armed guards.
Sundance over at The Conservative Treehouse brought to my attention an effort by some House Republicans to increase private security for members of Congress. The Treehouse links to an article from Politico that describes one budgeting option that would grant as much as $25,000 each month to individual lawmakers so that they may “have access to around-the-clock personal security.” These security guarantees would be in addition to current levels of federal spending for lawmakers’ safety — including those funds that assist Capitol Police in partnering with state and local law enforcement.
Over a haunting still image that shows defenseless Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska sitting on a North Carolina train just before a black man brutally stabbed her from behind and murdered her last month, Sundance poses this question: “What incentive exists to make sure American society is safe from domestic regional violence, if the representatives of the regions don’t ever have to concern themselves with such matters?”
It is an excellent question. It is astounding to me that Democrats (and squishy RINOs) can get up in front of television cameras and demand gun confiscation while insisting on taxpayer-funded security details for themselves. Ordinary people can’t afford private security. That’s precisely why they have a natural right to defend their lives in the best ways that they can — and why the Second Amendment explicitly protects that right in the Constitution. Lawmakers who walk around with armed guards have no business disarming citizens.
Before Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez moans, “It’s different because members of Congress are public figures,” allow me to say, “Hogwash!” Most Americans can’t identify federal lawmakers. Even the more famous ones look completely different in real life without an inch of makeup on their faces. But try walking down certain city streets with a red “Make America Great Again” hat for everyone to see! Or try waving an American flag in neighborhoods filled with foreigners who view that flag with contempt!
Regular Americans understand that they are sitting ducks in some parts of the United States. If Kyle Rittenhouse had been unarmed amid the Antifa-BLM riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin five years ago, he would not be alive today. Because of his heroic actions, Democrat politicians have painted a target on Kyle’s back for the rest of his life. Why should members of Congress receive thousands of dollars of taxpayer-funded security each month when Kyle does not?
This brings us to a larger point. Why should members of Congress be insulated from the consequences of their destructive policies? In the Rittenhouse case, the Antifa-BLM riots of 2020 caused billions of dollars in property damage and resulted in numerous deaths across the country. They were the most costly riots in American history. None of the destruction would have occurred had Democrat mayors, governors, and lawmakers not cheered on the arson, violence, and murder.
Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris and other prominent Democrats in Congress openly promoted leftist fundraising platforms that promised to bail rioters out of jail. It was one of the most brazen examples of elected officials actively inciting violent crimes across the United States — actions that sensible observers would describe as “insurrection” against the U.S. government and the American people — yet no lawmakers were ever held accountable for their crimes.
The same Democrats who fueled that summer of fire and bloodshed simultaneously demanded that regular Americans — including Kyle Rittenhouse — be disarmed. Consider how outrageous those dual policy positions really are. While Democrat lawmakers encouraged Antifa and BLM domestic terrorists to burn down businesses, drag people out of their vehicles, and put Americans in harm’s way, they had the temerity to call for the repeal of the Second Amendment and the confiscation of Americans’ weapons.
Anybody with any appreciation for American history knows that the Founding Fathers included explicit protections for gun ownership within the Second Amendment of the Constitution precisely as a check on government overreach. Their experience with British Redcoats taught them that armed citizens are the ultimate safeguard against government tyranny. Twenty-first-century Americans who have perhaps forgotten why civilian gun ownership is an indispensable component of true human liberty need only look at footage of Minneapolis, Kenosha, or D.C. burning during the summer of 2020 while Democrats denounced armed citizens as “racists.” Lawmakers with security details can survive Democrat-sponsored riots. Ordinary citizens without the “privilege” of self-defense are sacrificial victims.
Taking another giant step back from the Democrats’ 2020 Antifa-BLM riots, consider all the ways that U.S. lawmakers have made Americans less safe over the last fifty years. Since the ’70s, Americans have consistently highlighted (1) crime and (2) illegal immigration as significant challenges to their way of life. Knowing this, Democrat and Republican politicians have cycled through various promises, lies, and excuses over the last five decades as they pretend to fight crime and illegal immigration while really doing little to address either threat.
During the Obama and Biden presidencies, Democrats went so far as to call for open borders, mass amnesty for illegal aliens, the defunding of local police forces, an end to the enforcement of many property crimes, and clemency for violent offenders serving time in prison. Once again, Democrats pushed for these policies while simultaneously demanding that the Second Amendment be repealed and Americans be disarmed.
Lawmakers’ pro-crime policies and “criminal justice” reforms have occurred at exactly the same time that they sense their personal security in jeopardy. Coincidence? Of course not. When you put murderers, rapists, and thieves back on the streets, incidents of murder, rape, and theft rise. When you open up America’s borders to foreign soldiers, narco-terrorists, and America-hating zealots, you get a concomitant rise in industrial sabotage, cartel violence, and acts of terrorism. Members of Congress take one look at the chaos and general threats to their lives and demand around-the-clock personal security. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans living inside Democrat-controlled jurisdictions have to jump through administrative hoops and beg municipal authorities for permission to carry firearms.
To me, it seems only fair that those who intentionally put our country at greater risk should be the first ones to disarm. At the very least, they should not receive the benefits of extra security while dooming regular Americans to lives with less security and greater violence.
Congress’s hypocrisy when it comes to the security of lawmakers versus the security of regular Americans is part of a much broader problem: Lawmakers see themselves as separate from and superior to the rest of society. Adam Schiff and his colleagues apparently believe that they are entitled to commit mortgage fraud with impunity. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar apparently believes that she can commit immigration fraud while putting the interests of Somalia ahead of those of the United States. Nancy Pelosi and the many rags-to-riches members of Congress apparently believe that they should be able to use nonpublic information to make a fortune on the stock market. Lawmakers apparently believe that it is appropriate to flood public schools across the country with illegal aliens who struggle to speak English while sending their own children to well guarded private institutions. In other words, members of Congress insist on one set of rules for the public while exempting themselves from the consequences of the very laws they pass.
America is not a country of kings, queens, and assorted royalty. This is a place in which the people who represent Americans in Congress are meant to have no additional privileges relative to anyone else. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and members of Congress should endure equally the policies they force upon American society. At the very least, they shouldn’t be entitled to armed guards while working to disarm everyone else.
As mourners gathered for conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s stadium-sized memorial, FBI Director Kash Patel repeated his “pursuing every lead” statement shared in last week’s Senate testimony, saying the investigation is looking into the “possibility of accomplices.”
“We are meticulously investigating theories and questions, including the location from where the shot was taken, the possibility of accomplices, the text message confession and related conversations, Discord chats, the angle of the shot and bullet impact, how the weapon was transported, hand gestures observed as potential ‘signals’ near Charlie at the time of his assassination, and visitors to the alleged shooter’s residence in the hours and days leading up to September 10, 2025,” Patel wrote in a lengthy X post.
The 22-year-old assassin has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
Patel confirmed the FBI is also analyzing messages allegedly posted on Discord hours before the assassin’s arrest, including a confession to friends.
“It was me at UVU yesterday,” the alleged assassin wrote on Discord. “I’m sorry for all of this.”
Patel told senators last week that agents are reviewing everyone tied to that chatroom, adding that “a lot more than 20 people” could face questioning.
“As the Director of the FBI, I am committed to ensuring the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s assassination is thorough and exhaustive, pursuing every lead to its conclusion,” Patel’s X post read. “The full weight of America’s law enforcement agencies are actively following the evidence that has emerged, but our efforts extend beyond initial findings. We are examining every facet of this assassination.”
Patel also shared news to dispel conspiracy theories, including questions about a plane mysteriously turning off its “transponder after departing from an airport near the assassination site.”
“Regarding specific details, such as questions about the plane that allegedly turned off its transponder after departing from an airport near the assassination site, we can share updates when answers are confirmed,” Patel wrote. “After interviews with the pilot and consultation with the FAA, we determined the transponder was not turned off. Incomplete flight data in rural areas caused the apparent gap.”
“The entire FBI mourns the loss of Charlie Kirk. We will not rest until justice is served, and our investigation into this assassination will continue until every question is answered.”
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
That doesn’t mean the American experiment is over. It does mean, though, that we must understand what we’re up against.
I’m emotionally still coming to grips with Charlie Kirk’s assassination by a young kid caught up in the nonsensical Alice in Wonderland world contrived by the Deep State, the Marxists, the elite, and the Globalists; that is, by the Radical Left (“RL”). I am still angry about the vile murder of Iryna Zarutska, which was the result of the Democrats’ push to abandon common-sense policies.
Americans who have been browbeaten and gaslighted for their common sense were jolted awake by Charlie’s assassination. This young assassin is merely a pawn in a game of 3D chess.
The RL has crossed the Rubicon of the tolerance and patience of many Americans, from which there is no return. The RL brings nothing of value and no solutions to political debate. These RL policies are not from stupidity but are intentional. They are meant to sow chaos to destabilize our country by evil dark forces.
There are no two sides to this debate. RL preaches victimization, identity politics, points to scapegoats as the root of the problem, and sanctions violence. To leftists, “Orangeman bad.” The RL brands those with differing opinions unscrupulously without context, dehumanizing them as Nazis and Fascists and as a threat to democracy, ironically using the Big Lie of the Nazis of WWII.
However, the RL has created an army of Charlies with this assassination, an army no longer so intimidated by the RL’s tirades that it is afraid to speak the truth. (See Erika Kirk.)
Charlie Kirk went bravely into the belly of the beast to counter the RL infiltration of our culture, government, and public education (Big Ed).
Vital to countering the Big Lie is the public education system. Our public schools have been distracted by the latest fads, demands by teacher unions, and infiltration by RL ideology of anti-meritocracy, DEI, and teaching gender fluidity in elementary education instead of focusing on their core mission of life skills and civic knowledge.
Their core mission has become transitioning of children whose brains are still developing, with permanent, life-changing alterations to their bodies, based on flawed social science constructs driven by RL identity politics without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Remember, trust the science and COVID, the lockdown of the country? The long-term consequences to society from “transitioning” children (a factual impossibility) are not known, but there is a pattern developing of trans violence. Ask the question, who are the customers of public education?
Teaching our kids the necessary skills and tools to succeed in our society is essential. These include critical thinking, the culture and history of our country, and the founding principles of our government. I’m astounded by the many public employees and teachers who are cheering the death of Charlie Kirk. As Ben Franklin warned (and I’m paraphrasing), we have a constitutional republic if we can keep it. This is a challenge requiring an informed electorate with common sense and critical thinking ability to be ever vigilant to hold its government accountable.
Today’s youth, if properly educated, should challenge our current government and capitalist ideology. Since the Woodrow Wilson era, we’ve abandoned a free market with true capitalism. Instead, we have drifted into Crony Capitalism because of unabated corruption in our government. The youth are misdirected to the wrong enemy by RL propaganda and misinformation. The RL promises pie-in-the-sky utopias in exchange for the surrender of civil rights to totalitarian rule.
Our country’s survival as a Constitutional Republic (versus a totalitarian collective) is at risk, but, ironically, the RL declares that President Trump and MAGA are an existential threat to democracy. We are fighting an asymmetrical enemy that has infiltrated our government, institutions, and public education. This enemy intends to destroy our Judeo-Christian heritage, culture, and core beliefs by luring youth and adults with false promises of radical ideologies like some Pied Piper or false prophet.
Marxist ideologies and their ilk with centralized control and power are destined to fail because they don’t recognize the free will of men and women, free markets, and meritocracy. They can’t distribute goods and services on an equitable basis, for as Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
We must strive to return to limited government that provides the essential functions of government: the common defense, maintaining order, resolving conflict, and providing for the public good. A government that ensures a level playing field for businesses to prosper with minimal regulation. One that weeds out corruption that comes from crony capitalism. Global conglomerates and corporations can gain monopolistic power by corrupting the government for favorable regulatory laws that exclude other competitors in the market, creating the tragedy of the commons.
So, why did I say that Charlie’s assassin was a pawn in a 3D game of chess?
There is an entrenched, unelected Deep State that is an ongoing RICO criminal conspiracy. I would include the legacy and, in some cases, social media as co-conspirators acting as agents of the Deep State to create or echo false narratives or censor true stories (here and here).
The grand conspiracy operates with a common purpose, involving many conspirators, co-conspirators, and those who aided or abetted in the commission of numerous overt criminal acts, as well as acts to conceal the conspiracy. The motive and purpose are clear: to retain power, gain power, and cover up its illegal activities, stealing or diverting public funds for its own benefit or purpose. One example of many is USAID’s theft by fraud, abuse, and money laundering.
This grand conspiracy extends as far back as the Raid on Benghazi, the 2016 election, and the 2020 election until the present. I believe the two assassination attempts (here and here) on President Trump, as well as potentially other assassinations, including Charlie’s (here and here), are connected to this conspiracy.
The most egregious criminal act of the grand conspiracy was a coup to prevent the election of Donald J. Trump in 2016, followed by sustained efforts to unseat a duly elected President Trump by sabotaging his first term in office, and to prevent his reelection in 2020.
Our government has violated the Constitution, is corrupt, and has lied with impunity to the American people, who are the sovereign. The American people elected Trump to drain the swamp, akin to Jesus overturning the tables in the Temple.
In support of my opinion, see my investigative reporting since 2019 (here and here). My opinion and analysis are being confirmed by ODNI Director Tulsi Gabbard with the recent release of declassified documents secreted by the Deep State (here) and further by Mollie Hemingway, Editor-in-Chief, The Federalist.
Ron Wright is a retired detective, having served thirty-five years with Riverside P.D., Calif. Ron earned a B.A. in political science from Cal State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Administration from the University of California, Riverside. X @RonTcop
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come out on the decidedly losing end of a debate against a cardboard cutout of Charlie Kirk.
Despite her best efforts, AOC simply could not outclass the piece of cardboard set up to oppose her.
“Alright, you got me this time, Cardboard Charlie,” said AOC. “I tried to defeat fascism and bigotry, but today, it was too strong. Even for me.”
Then, staring down the cardboard cutout, AOC cried, “You haven’t heard the last of me, you hate-spewing paper product! I’ll get you next time, Cardboard Charlie!”
According to eyewitnesses, the debate started off with AOC declaring that Kirk opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave Black people the right to vote. As Cardboard Charlie stood unblinking, a Black member of the audience gently informed AOC that he had voted in 1960, and that she might be thinking of something called the 15th amendment passed in 1870.
“Well, well. I guess that’s one point for you, Charlie,” growled AOC.
The rest of the debate proceeded in similar fashion. Sources on the ground declined to provide any additional specifics after AOC threatened to eat them.
At publishing time, AOC had called on the country to unite, but to please wait until after she was done attacking a man who was just assassinated.
THE ARTFUL DILETTANTE 