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Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Vice President Vance on the Groundwork Necessary for Unity

The Vice President was sitting as host of the Charlie Kirk Show: We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years, and I believe is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet. We’re going to talk about how to dismantle that and how to bring real unity, real unity that can only come when we tell the truth and everybody knows that they can speak their mind about the issues of the day without being cut down by a murderer’s gun…. A couple of months back, Charlie was asked about how he’d want to be remembered if he died. His answer, “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.” And that was Charlie and in this dark moment for our country, I think that’s the greatest lesson any of us can take from Charlie: To have faith, to have faith in the Lord and to be bold in how we glorify Him, to be bold in our pursuits as Charlie was in his… The Vice President closed out with these words: Psalm 133 tells us, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head.” Oh, how badly have I craved that precious ointment in recent days. And I believe we can have it, but first we must tell the truth. It’s the only way to honor Charlie for what was he, if not a man who told the truth in every place, in every environment. Now, the most important truth Charlie told is this, that long ago a man begotten, not made, came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pius Pilate and suffered death…. (Salem Podcast Network). The recording got cut a bit short. He was paraphrasing the Nicene Creed which continues: …and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end (USCCB).

FBI Investigating Social Media Posts From Individuals Who Appeared to Have Foreknowledge of Assassination

Aaron Sibarium of Free Beacon: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating social media posts by at least seven different accounts that appeared to indicate foreknowledge of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, according to three people familiar with the investigation and screenshots obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The posts—one of which referenced the date of Kirk’s assassination, September 10, more than a month before it took place—were all deleted in the days following the killing. Several of the accounts appear to belong to transgender individuals…. (Free Beacon). David Strom of Hot Air: … it is beginning to look like this was a Trantifa conspiracy, and the FBI is seriously investigating links between trans activists who explicitly said online things that indicated they knew that Kirk would be shot, and at least one of those people celebrated that “We did it!” after Kirk’s assassination…. There is a big difference between idly wishing harm upon another and having foreknowledge that it would and being in on the hit. So far, we know little about how deeply involved any of these people were, but it sure looks bad for them (Hot Air).

Stephen Miller on His Last Conversation With Kirk: “We need to have an organized strategy to go after the left-wing organizations that are promoting violence in this country”

Miller was a guest on the Charlie Kirk Show—with Vice President J.D. Vance hosting: The last message that Charlie sent me was—I think it was just the day before we lost him—which is that we need to have an organized strategy to go after the left-wing organizations that are promoting violence in this country…. we are going to channel all of the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks. So let me explain a bit of what that means…. the organized doxxing campaigns, the organized riots, the organized street violence, the organized campaigns of dehumanization, vilification, posting people’s addresses, combining messaging that’s designed to trigger and incite violence and the actual organized cells that carry out and facilitate the violence. It is a vast domestic terror movement. And with the God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen and we will do it in Charlie’s name (Salem Podcast Network).

Secretary of State Rubio Speaks on Israel Relationship After Strike on Hamas in Qatar

The Secretary of State made clear that the relationship with our Middle Eastern ally was strong—albeit a bit strained—in his interview with Gillian Turner of Fox News in Jerusalem: … our relationship with Israel is not going to be affected by any of this. We’re going to continue to be strong allies and partners. But the President has – the President said he wasn’t happy the way things went down. That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop being their partner and their ally. As far as meeting – well, we met with the Qataris already. What – we have – we have military bases there. We’ve cooperated on a host of issues with Qatar, and we’ll continue to do so as well. So—but our message both here in Jerusalem and also in Doha will be what it’s been consistently, and that is despite–we’re not diminishing it. We’re not asking them to ignore it. We understand they’re upset about it. We understand the Israeli position on it. Irrespective of that, we still have hostages that we want released. We still have a Hamas that needs to be defeated or eradicated or removed so that we can get to the peace that everybody says they want. And so we’re trying to get everybody to stay focused on what happens moving forward, not just only focused on what’s already happened with – what happened last week in Doha. We want everybody focused on what comes next because we still have these problems we have to solve (State).

Qatari Official Pleased After “Great Dinner” With Trump in New York

The New York Sun reports: Qatari officials are sounding satisfied after a Friday evening dinner at New York with President Trump, where this week’s Israeli air strikes aimed at Hamas officials based in the emirate were expected to have dominated the conversation. “Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended !” reads a post on X from the deputy chief of mission at Qatar’s embassy at Washington, Hamad Al-Muftah…. The Israeli strike and its aftermath have spotlighted the ambiguous role of Qatar, which has harbored Hamas leaders even after the terrorist organization’s October 7, 2002, massacre of some 1,200 Israelis, even while positioning itself as a mediator seeking the release of Hamas’ remaining Israeli hostages (New York Sun). MEMRI sums up Qatar’s role in the Israel-Hamas war: Since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and throughout the war that broke out in its aftermath, the state of Qatar, its media, and institutions affiliated with it have consistently expressed unreserved support for Hamas and for terror and armed violence against Israel. This support finds expression on all levels: in statements by officials and religious clerics, in the media and in the education system. Despite its ostensible role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, Qatar, which has for years sheltered Hamas leaders within its borders and funded this organizations with billions of dollars, has taken a blatantly pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line, as reflected in statements by members of the royal family and by Qatari politicians. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the mother of the Qatari Emir and the chair of the Qatar Foundation, implied that Israel had fabricated reports about Hamas’ atrocities, and accused Israel of spreading false historical narratives that “have taken over the collective mind of the world.” After the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 massacre, Sheikha Moza eulogized him, saying that “he will live on” while Israel will perish (MEMRI).

President Trump Announces Plan for Crime-Fighting Effort in Memphis

The President was joined by agency heads and principal leaders of Tennessee in the announcement. From the memoranda: There is hereby established a Memphis Safe Task Force (Task Force), whose objective shall be to end street and violent crime in Memphis to the greatest possible extent through the promotion and facilitation of hypervigilant policing, aggressive prosecution, complex investigations, financial enforcement, and large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods with law enforcement personnel, and which shall coordinate closely with State officials in Tennessee and local officials in Memphis to share information, develop joint priorities, and maximize resources to make Memphis safe and restore public order (White House). More: Memphis is a deeply troubled city. In 2024, it had the highest violent and property crime rates in the U.S. and the third-highest murder rate. President Trump is deploying federal law enforcement to lock up career criminals, take back our streets, & Make Memphis Safe Again! (White House).

US Military Strikes Another Venezuelan Drug Vessel

The President announced the successful mission: This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests. The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! (Truth). Wall Street Journal: The strike took place in U.S. Southern Command’s area of operations, which includes Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. It was the second attack this month by the military on a vessel in international waters that Trump has ordered, claiming that they were carrying illegal narcotics that pose a threat to U.S. national security…. “What needs to start happening is some of these boats need to get blown up,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Monday. “Some of these boats need to be not just intercepted but stopped, no matter what direction they plan to head” (Wall Street Journal).

How We Got to This Moment; “It didn’t happen in a vacuum”

Liel Leibovitz of Tablet: If we’re being honest and level-headed, it’s not too hard to understand that the tragedy was imminent. It didn’t happen in a vacuum and it was no freak aberration. Charlie Kirk was shot because great forces spent decades reshaping social norms and institutions and creating vast cadres of Americans ready to do great violence to anyone they were led to believe was their enemy. This isn’t hyperbole. In a grim coincidence, just a few hours before Kirk’s assassination, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released a survey of 68,000 students in 257 universities nationwide; one in three said it was acceptable to use violence in response to offensive speech…. Holding quiet candlelight vigils or townhall meetings on Zoom won’t stop the next shooter. To do that, we need to crush the titanic structure erected by the left and free our republic from its ruinous designs. And that’s not a project for just one candidate, or one political party: It’s a civilizational reclaiming project, and it calls on all of us to first understand what happened to America and then work together to change it. Then, and only then, will we give Charlie Kirk justice and America a real turning point (Tablet).

We Need to Dispense of the Notion That “Words Are Violence”

Greg Lukianoff heads up FIRE—the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (see post above). He points out how the “words are violence” arguments we’ve heard for so many years have laid the groundwork to a violent response. He writes: In the minds of these gleeful posters, Kirk deserved to die because of his words—words that allegedly promoted policies resulting in hate, violence, and even death. They think this way because they have forgotten—or have been trained to unlearn—a crucial distinction: Words are not bullets. Words can’t strike a man from 142 yards away, causing a torrent of blood to erupt from his wound, sending him first to the hospital and then to the morgue. Only bullets can do that. Upholding that distinction is the North Star of everything I do as president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). For years, I’ve warned that equating words with violence erases the bright line liberal societies drew after centuries of bloodshed. The law draws this line with precision. Advocacy, even vile advocacy, remains protected unless it is intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action. That’s the Brandenburg standard, and it exists because the alternative is to let the powerful decide which ideas are allowed. Or, as the Supreme Court put it in Texas v. Johnson, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” These aren’t lawyerly niceties; they are the safety valves of pluralism. Blur them, and real violence becomes more, not less, likely (Free Press).

10.

We Are at a Turning Point

Walter Hudson of Hot Air looks at the response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk: What has followed is as abhorrent as than the crime itself: the response. Instead of sober reflection, elected Democrats, academics, and media figures have openly justified or even celebrated Kirk’s murder. • Minnesota Democrats retweeted and liked posts suggesting Kirk “reaped what he sowed.” • Ilhan Omar shared a video calling Kirk a “stochastic terrorist” and “Dr. Frankenstein” who “deserved” his end. • A New York Times columnist mused publicly about wishing for Donald Trump’s death, with no meaningful pushback from his peers. • University faculty and even public-school teachers joined in the pile-on, only disciplining themselves once exposed. This isn’t fringe Twitter noise. These are institutions and elected officials—the people who shape your laws, your kids’ classrooms, your news feeds. Their message is unmistakable: if you are on the right, your right to life is conditional (Hot Air).

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