Fourth Day of the World Course, 37th of Autumn, 525 M.E. (Deneb): A little warmer today (high of 85°) but still very pleasant. I walked an 8.5-mile Van Buren along the Beltline path - due to a late start, I decided to stay local. 

The late start was largely because I spent the morning watching the news about the capture (finally) of the (alleged) assassin of Charlie Kirk, and just as we all feared, the shooter was a black, transgendered woman angry furious about DEI, Palestine, and climate change. JUST KIDDING! It was a white Mormon kid raised in a traditional Republican family who had become disenchanted with Charlie for some reason. 

The MAGA mob will say he became "indoctrinated," but isn't that exactly what Charlie was doing, albeit in the opposite direction? I say the shooter was raised in the American gun culture and turned to the rifle as the only way he know to express his frustration.

The violence was so unfortunate on so many levels. First and most obviously, murder is a crime and no one should be killed, however reprehensible. Innocent children are now orphans. One confused mind has lost his only chance at awakening and redemption. But also, the media are already starting a "white washing" of Charlie. No one wants to speak bad of the recently departed, and some media types have already been fired for merely noting that Charlie was "divisive."  But  the pendulum is swinging so far in the opposite direction that now the media is ignoring all the racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic remarks good ol' Charlie has made over the years (look them up - I'm not doing your homework for you) and are saying that he was merely engaged in "open debates" on college campuses, and that he allowed "all viewpoints" to be expressed at his events (cough, bullshit!, cough). Some have compared him to Martin Luther King, Jr. and are even suggesting a national holiday in his honor. He wouldn't be on this pedestal if he hadn't taken a bullet to the neck.

The Stable Genius has been trying to foment civil unrest since the year began so he can exercise a full-blown authoritarian crackdown. He's used immigration and crime to justify military actions and has encouraged deliberate cruelty by ICE and other agencies to provoke a response, which he would be more than happy to quell. Now, he's fanning the anger over Charlie's death to prod his followers into violent action, so he can further his authoritarian takeover and divert attention away from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. He's using Charlie's death as just another agitprop device in his toolkit while a timid media is making a saint out of a demagogue. 

During the press conference, FBI Director Kash Patel (I still can't believe the appointment) concluded his remarks with, “To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I’ll see you in Valhalla.” Are you fucking kidding me?  A Hindu-raised agent of  Gujarati Indian descent is addressing a deceased self-proclaimed Christian using terms from Nordic paganism? No, "Valhalla" is a white Christian nationalist trope and Patel's dog-whistle to the far-right extremists watching the press conference. And who does me mean by "we" in "we have the watch?" Is he saying the FBI will pick up Charlie's campaign of white Christian nationalism and will advance racial discrimination, bias against women, and denial of rights to gay and trans citizens? If so, he should be immediately fired, impeached, or however the fuck you get rid of an FBI Director. If not, he should immediately apologize and clarify his statements.

God, I hate these times. How long is this tired act going to continue, and when does this miserable play finally end?