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The murder of Charlie Kirk has had me in a painful sorrow the last couple of days. Yes, terrible things are happening every day that shouldn't be normal. Parts of society are becoming more nihilistic and deadly every day, and we don't agree on what's causing it or how to stop it. But Charlie's assassination should have been met with universal and unequivocal mourning and condemnation. The fact that it wasn't is, to me, indicative of a new and heartbreaking low. How are we to find an off-ramp or come to an understanding of society's ills when the very thing that would solve it (civil public debate) has been flatly rejected?  Charlie was out there doing exactly what many of us wish we had the guts to do - civily engaging face-to-face. Debating. Standing for things he believed in, with an outstretched hand.  And THAT was intolerable. He was a "platform for hate and ignorance." He "got what he advocated for." He was an "extremist."  I a...
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Remember that whole “little brother” analogy?

Remember back in 2020 when I talked about little brothers coming out swinging when they feel like big brother gets away with changing the rules at will? When they feel like there’s no adult who will set things straight? I don’t like this. I’m not cheering for it. But it’s coming. And this is the best representation I know of from the perspective of the little brother. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-argument-with-nick-freitas/id1506127536?i=1000657445015
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Getting Their Lines Straight

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/23/anti-trump-legal-pundits-calls-00153300
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Let’s Unpack Together

Today I attempt to unpack and reduce my current political convictions to their most basic elements. My hope in doing so, for whomever one day might stumble across this (or even for my future self), is to build bridges of good will. To explain myself so fully that, even though we disagree, there can be no doubt about my motives, as that is frequently what gets misassigned when you disagree with someone.  First, a story. In June of 2016, there was a terrible attack at PULSE nightclub in Orlando. Try to recall what you know about that event. I'll wait.... That day, the attacker called 911. He was very blunt and explicit about his motives. He said:  "You have to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq. They're killing a lot of innocent people. What am I to do here when my people are getting killed over there? You need to stop the US airstrikes. You have to tell the US government to stop bombing. They’re killing too many children. They’re killing too many women. I feel the ...
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Moms and Guns

"Moms want gun control." I've been hearing and reading it for several days now, without even looking for it. "It's what they want for Mother's Day." Tin foil hat side of me thinks this phrase wave is not organic, but let's hush that side for a moment.  I'm a mom, and I want an end to violence and murder. I also want my fellow moms to stop accepting the talking points and data summaries that they are fed about the "number one cause of death of kids" and the "low-hanging fruit" of gun control that would end it. Because these summaries are not truthfully nuanced to help you reason your way through anything. They are chosen for the way they make your gut lurch.  To call guns the number one cause of death for youth requires a very large umbrella. It includes robberies gone wrong, gang violence, and suicide. Of gun-related deaths of youth, 0.5% are mass public shootings. Call me what you will, but this to me is an incredibly importa...
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Seriously, What's Your Number?

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"Curiosity about the wrong topics"

In the words of Bari Weiss, "Curiosity about the wrong topics has become a liability in the legacy press." I appreciate Bari Weiss's old-school, stubborn commitment to asking questions regardless of what kind of narrative it would support. The article below isn't by her, but it's from her newsletter. It's about the BYU volleyball racism event (or, non-event, as it turns out).  I don't think Bari and I would agree on how long ago this phenomenon took hold. And I don't know if she sees it as being as destructive as I do, though she certainly perceives it to be a problem. All I can say is you can't have your cake and eat it too. That is, you can't embrace this kind of activism in your "objective" straight reporting while also wringing your hands about the increasing number of people turning to the dark corners of the internet for their information.   How the Media Fell for A Racism Sham - by Jesse Singal (commonsense.news) "If any ...
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