josh

1/2 KR | Software Developer @ Microsoft

[XBOX @XBOX]

November 19th

Wishlist Now: https://t.co/O1RVROCl2Z

[pat tobin @tastefactory]

Yep that’s them alright

[Piers Morgan @piersmorgan]

Jimmy Kimmel lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassin being MAGA, this caused understandable outrage all over America, prompted TV station owners to say they wouldn’t air him, and he’s now been suspended by his employers. Why is he being heralded as some kind of free speech martyr?

[Eric Matheny @ericmmatheny]

About once or twice a year, I have to explain free speech like I’m talking to a kindergarten class.

If Jimmy Kimmel got arrested and prosecuted for what he said on his show, that’s a free speech violation.

If his employer decides to take him off the air?

That’s not.

[Julie Borowski @JulieBorowski]

Yeah. Charlie Kirk did say, "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."

Here's the full quote:

“Yeah, it's a great question. Thank you. So, I'm a big Second Amendment fan but I think most politicians are cowards when it comes to defending why we have a Second Amendment. This is why I would not be a good politician, or maybe I would, I don't know, because I actually speak my mind.

The Second Amendment is not about hunting. I love hunting. The Second Amendment is not even about personal defense. That is important. The Second Amendment is there, God forbid, so that you can defend yourself against a tyrannical government. And if that talk scares you — "wow, that's radical, Charlie, I don't know about that" — well then, you have not really read any of the literature of our Founding Fathers. Number two, you've not read any 20th-century history. You're just living in Narnia. By the way, if you're actually living in Narnia, you would be wiser than wherever you're living, because C.S. Lewis was really smart. So I don't know what alternative universe you're living in. You just don't want to face reality that governments tend to get tyrannical and that if people need an ability to protect themselves and their communities and their families.

Now, we must also be real. We must be honest with the population. Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty. Driving comes with a price. 50,000, 50,000, 50,000 people die on the road every year. That's a price. You get rid of driving, you'd have 50,000 less auto fatalities. But we have decided that the benefit of driving — speed, accessibility, mobility, having products, services — is worth the cost of 50,000 people dying on the road. So we need to be very clear that you're not going to get gun deaths to zero. It will not happen. You could significantly reduce them through having more fathers in the home, by having more armed guards in front of schools. We should have a honest and clear reductionist view of gun violence, but we should not have a utopian one.

You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death. That is nonsense. It's drivel. But I am, I, I — I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe.

So then, how do you reduce? Very simple. People say, oh, Charlie, how do you stop school shootings? I don't know. How did we stop shootings at baseball games? Because we have armed guards outside of baseball games. That's why. How did we stop all the shootings at airports? We have armed guards outside of airports. How do we stop all the shootings at banks? We have armed guards outside of banks. How did we stop all the shootings at gun shows? Notice there's not a lot of mass shootings at gun shows, there's all these guns. Because everyone's armed. If our money and our sporting events and our airplanes have armed guards, why don't our children?”

[Colin Wright @SwipeWright]

This needed an update.

[Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog]

All that Charlie ever did was have conversations with people. He didn’t insult anyone. He made arguments. He debated. He wasn’t an extremist in any way. Everyone who knew Charlie personally loved him. That’s the kind of guy he was. And they still killed him. I am furious and heartbroken in equal measure. I cannot put into words how I feel. Maybe that is for the best.

[Michael Flynn Jr @realmflynnJR]

The assassination attempts are only happening in one direction…

Just saying.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson's Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today.

Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives. When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right--as he usually was--he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, "I told you so." But: "welcome."

Charlie was one of the first people I called when I thought about running for senate in early 2021. I was interested but skeptical there was a pathway. We talked through everything, from the strategy to the fundraising to the grassroots of the movement he knew so well. He introduced me to some of the people who would run my campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr. "Like his dad, he's misunderstood. He's extremely smart, and very much on our wavelength." Don took a call from me because Charlie asked him too.

Long before I ever committed (even in my mind) to running, Charlie had me speak to his donors at a TPUSA event. He walked me around the room and introduced me. He gave me honest feedback on my remarks. He had no reason to do this, no expectation that I'd go anywhere. I was polling, at that point, well below 5 percent. He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.

When I became the VP nominee--something Charlie advocated for both in public and private--Charlie was there for me. I was so glad to be part of the president's team, but candidly surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our kids, especially our oldest, struggled with the attention and the constant presence of the protective detail. I felt this acute sense of guilt, that I had conscripted my kids into this life without getting their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers. Some of our most successful events were organized not by the campaign, but by TPUSA. He wasn't just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists. And after every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do. "You focus on Wisconsin," he'd tell me. "Arizona is in the bag." And it was.

Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him.

Someone else pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he'd encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak. He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.

Charlie had an uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional. I've seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate.

He was a great family man. I was talking to President Trump in the Oval Office today, and he said, "I know he was a very good friend of yours." I nodded silently, and President Trump observed that Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father. And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family.

Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other's chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life. These group chats include people at the very highest level of our government. They trusted him, loved him, and knew he'd always have their backs. And because he was a true friend ,you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we've had in this administration traces directly to Charlie's ability to organize and convene. He didn't just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.

I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those group chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him. And that's how I learned the news that my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in.

God didn't answer those prayers, and that's OK. He had other plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I'll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly.

You ran a good race, my friend.

We've got it from here.

[PGA TOUR @PGATOUR]

HOW CAN YOU NOT BE ROMANTIC ABOUT GOLF?

[The Masters @TheMasters]

Bryson DeChambeau sparks a roar from the bunker on No. 4. #themasters

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

Tiger’s 2005 Masters chip wasn’t just a golf shot — it was sports history in slow motion ⛳ 🙌

[Girl Father @TIMBO_SL1CE]

I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my life than I was about Timothee Chalamet college football knowledge. Im speechless. This guy knows ball.

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

460 yards
4 touchdowns
2 pick 6s

The most Jameis Winston game in Jameis Winston history

[Mike Golic Jr @mikegolicjr]

“Somebody jump offsides, DAMN!” is one of the funniest things I have ever heard on a football field

[PFT Commenter @PFTCommenter]

It looks like a hit of mdma kicked in half way through this Jameis interview

[College Football Report @CFBReport]

WEEK 12 AP POLL:

1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Penn State
5. Indiana
6. Tennessee
7. BYU
8. ND
9. Alabama
10. Ole Miss
11. Georgia
12. Miami
13. Boise State
14. SMU
15. Texas A&M
16. Army
17. Clemson
18. Colorado
19. Washington St
20. K-State
21. LSU
22. Louisville
23. South Carolina
24. Missouri
25. Tulane

[Kirk Herbstreit @KirkHerbstreit]

I’m sorry I couldn’t properly lead to this beautiful tribute the @CollegeGameDay put together. Really wanted to thank all of you for the avalanche of love and support you’ve shown Ben. It gives me and my family such comfort knowing how he impacted so many peoples lives around the country. He was a beautiful and loving soul.

[Kirk Herbstreit @KirkHerbstreit]

Thank you again for all the outpouring of love for our Ben. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family.

He wasn’t just my best friend – he was America’s best friend ❤️