Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
‘No evidence’ found yet of ties between Charlie Kirk’s shooting and left-wing groups, officials say
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/no-evidence-found-yet-ties-090000648.html
“Vice President J.D. Vance was almost incredulous when a reporter asked him what “legal authority” the Trump administration used to blow up an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela with a drone on Tuesday. “There are people who are bringing—literal terrorists—who are bringing deadly drugs into our country,” Vance said.
Why are they “literal terrorists”? Because the administration said so. President Donald Trump declared just after taking office that he would be designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. One of them was Tren de Aragua, the organization accused of sending out the drug boat. (The administration tends to play fast and loose with labeling things Tren de Aragua; for all its criminal activities, the gang is not known to smuggle cocaine.) After the drone strike, multiple cabinet officials made sure to use the phrase “narco-terrorist organization.”
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A terrorist can be anyone the White House declares: an American journalist, a suspected drug smuggler, or another government. The only requirement seems to be that the terrorist is located outside of U.S. soil.
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Deploying uniformed troops against street crime, flying (unarmed) Predator drones over protesters, blowing up suspected smugglers instead of arresting them—these images are breaking down the political distinction between the “battlefield” and the “homefront.” Last week, U.S. Border Patrol agents were photographed training with mortars during live-fire exercises in Alaska. Since when do American police need artillery?”
https://reason.com/2025/09/04/trumps-drug-boat-drone-strike-shows-how-terrorism-makes-everyone-killable/
“many of Kirk’s most ardent fans are now engaged in one of the largest mass cancellation efforts of all time: Some Republican legislators, MAGA activists, and conservative media figures are assembling watchlists with the explicit aim of silencing, firing, expelling, and perhaps even criminalizing any and all anti-Kirk sentiment.
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There is also a big difference between canceling someone for justifying violence against Kirk and canceling someone who merely objects to his views, behavior, and political project. Furthermore, there’s a major difference between canceling someone in a public-facing communications role and canceling someone who is otherwise obscure.
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Opposing cancel culture does not mean there should be zero accountability for anyone in a public role. It only means that those of us who denounced the excesses of woke enforcement during the late 2010s should similarly reject a rightwing counterreaction that seeks to unperson anyone who does not hold Kirk in sufficient esteem.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that Kirk disdained cancel culture and loved debate—seriously, he relished the fray more than most, and enjoyed mixing it up with people who obviously disliked him. Launching a vast and unscrupulous campaign to silence everyone who shares an unkind thought about Kirk is a poor way to honor his legacy.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/15/charlie-kirk-would-not-have-wanted-this/
A reading of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article on Charlie Kirk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2FTnmoG8T4
Charlie Kirk thought the Civil Rights Act should never have been passed and that MLK was a bad guy. He agreed with that description of his views. He absolutely should not have been killed. But, let’s stop pretending he was a good actor politically. He had bad ideas.
He said Joe Biden should be put in prison and/or given the death penalty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTUY-Tsa554
BREAKING: Trump BANS Jimmy Kimmel from TV for THIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmWrXgPSWjo
““The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.””
If this is all he said, then this is a political cancellation that goes against everything many on the right used to say they stand for. Kimmel’s statement is not totally accurate, but is hardly beyond the pale.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/17/media/jimmy-kimmel-charlie-kirk-trump-fcc-brendan-carr
The U.S. deadly strike on the potential drug boat appears to have been illegal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKF1e58j5XQ
“An archived version of the study is still available online, and states that “far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides” than the left”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/doj-quietly-deletes-study-charlie-005626328.html
The Fallout from Charlie Kirk’s Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz3SBK8PJik