The Patriot Post® · Thursday: Below the Fold
- Charlie Kirk assassinated: “Assassination culture is spreading on the left,” Charlie Kirk warned in April. Sadly, that proved to be prophetic, as an assassin took Charlie’s life yesterday while he was speaking — about transgender mass shootings and gang violence, no less — at Utah Valley University. The killer fired from a rooftop about 200 yards from where Kirk was speaking and answering questions, striking Kirk in the neck with a single bullet. He was rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery, but he died of his wound. Kirk founded Turning Point USA at just 18 years old and often spoke to diverse audiences, using his formidable intellect and speaking skills to persuade listeners to adopt conservative ideas. He was a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ, so we take solace in knowing that when he left this earth at the age of 31, it was to enjoy the embrace of his Savior.
MSNBC’s ghoulishness: Various Leftmedia talkingheads were utterly reprehensible yesterday. Arguably, the worst was Matthew Dowd on MSNBC. First, he said, “We don’t know any of the specific details of this yet. We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration…” Then he called Kirk “one of the most divisive” figures in politics, “pushing hate speech.” He opined, “I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. … You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place.” His comments were so bad that MSNBC first apologized and then fired him. MSNBC’s Katy Tur still works there, though, despite having called Kirk a “divisive figure, polarizing, lightning rod — whatever term you want to use.”
House Dems object to prayer: In the immediate wake of the shocking news that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated, Speaker Mike Johnson held a moment of silence in the House. This was followed by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) requesting a verbal prayer, stating, “I believe silent prayer gets silent results.” At this, the Democrats boisterously objected, with many shouting “No!” One screamed, “Pass some gun laws!” And it escalated from there, with lawmakers yelling at each other. A reporter for the Daily Mail called the scene “possibly the ugliest moment I’ve ever witnessed in politics.”
Tariffs at SCOTUS: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to fast-track Donald Trump’s appeal of lower-court rulings that his imposition of tariffs was illegal. The law in question, which Trump has used to raise tariffs, is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Not only is the question of the president’s tariff power on the line, but according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, so is between $750 billion and $1 trillion in revenue the federal government expects to collect by next summer.
Inflation is on the rise: The Consumer Price Index for August came in slightly higher than anticipated, rising 0.4% rather than the predicted 0.3%. This has pushed the annual rate of inflation to 2.9%, up 0.2 percentage points from the month prior. Housing, food, and energy costs were the biggest drivers for the inflationary increase. However, it’s the unemployment numbers that may trigger the Federal Reserve to finally cut interest rates. Seasonally adjusted jobless claims for the week ending September 6 came in 27,000 higher than the expected 235,000. The question is whether the Fed will lower the interest rate by a quarter point or deviate from its standard practice and drop it by half a point.
Trump admin launches probe into BLS data practices: Given the recent massive downward correction from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on jobs added from April 2024 through March 2025, wherein the total was revised downward by nearly a million jobs, it comes as little surprise that the Department of Labor’s inspector general has launched an investigation into the BLS’s data collection practices. The announcement of this investigation follows White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s contention that “Trump was right: Biden’s economy was a disaster and the BLS is broken.” She added, “This is exactly why we need new leadership to restore trust and confidence in the BLS’s data on behalf of the financial markets, businesses, policymakers, and families that rely on this data to make major decisions.”
Fired FBI officials sue to get their jobs back: Claiming retaliation by the Trump administration, three former FBI senior officials, Brian Driscoll, Steve Jensen, and Spencer Evans, have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau in an effort to be reinstated to their jobs. The FBI fired several officials who had ties to January 6 cases. Driscoll, who was acting director for a short time, had refused requests to turn over the names of all pertinent agents. The three former employers alleged in the 68-page suit that FBI Director Kash Patel and others “initiated a campaign of retribution … [for] failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.” The suit claims that Patel admitted he could not stop the firings because “the FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it,” and that “his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President.”
Trump admin revokes Biden-era rule against public land use: The Trump administration has rescinded a Biden-era rule purporting to conserve federal land by prohibiting activities such as drilling and mining. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum elaborated that Biden’s rule “had the potential to block access to hundreds of thousands of acres of multiple-use land — preventing energy and mineral production, timber management, grazing and recreation across the West.” The Bureau of Land Management is allowed to lease federal land to private companies that may use it for mining, energy development, and other activities. Environmental activists claim that the Trump administration is prioritizing energy exploration over the climate and wildlife. But the BLM definitively declared, “The people who depend on public lands for their livelihoods have every incentive to conserve them and have been doing so for generations — no new rule was needed to force what is already a way of life.”
Hollywood vs. Israel: More than 4,000 Hollywood actors and filmmakers published an open letter pledging not to work with any Israeli film outfit that has been “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” The letter accused “many of our governments” of “enabling the carnage in Gaza,” adding that “we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.” Of course, there is no condemnation of Hamas for hiding among the civilian population and refusing to give up the remaining Israeli hostages. One who will not be signing the letter is actor/comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who said, “By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ Okay, that’s honest.”
Colorado school shooting: More violence took place on Wednesday at Evergreen High School, southwest of Denver. A male student shot two other classmates and then succumbed to self-inflicted injuries hours after the incident. One of the wounded had critical injuries, and the other had non-life-threatening injuries. The sheriff’s office says the investigation is ongoing. The assailant used a handgun and fired inside and outside the school. Hundreds of police responded, but officers did not fire any rounds. There are many students to interview, and authorities are working through multiple crime scenes to gather information, as well as the attacker’s home and locker at school. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation. We are all praying for the victims and the entire community.”
Headlines
Senate to confirm 48 Trump nominees next week (Just the News)
Missouri House passes redistricting map that creates new Republican district (Just the News)
U.S. racked up $2 trillion deficit over past 11 months (Center Square)
$100 million in LA wildfire aid is being doled out to fund pet clinics, DEI projects, and fungus planting (NY Post)
Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov freed from Hezbollah captivity after two years (NY Post)
Macron picks outgoing Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu as new French prime minister (Just the News)
Why Gen Z is revolting in Nepal to overthrow government (Newsweek)
Satire: 7 radical ideas to make our cities safer (Babylon Bee)
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