Morning Brief 2022-06-10

Bottom of Hour 1
GUEST: Salena Zito
TOPIC: The first January 6th hearing & Salena's piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Rhetoric versus realism at the pump, and in the formula aisle.

Top of Hour 2
GUEST: Bill O'Reilly
TOPIC: Bill's top stories of the week

Top of Hour 3
GUEST: Michael Malice
TOPIC: Michael has purchased his first firearm!

Bottom of Hour 3
GUEST: Ryan Kelley
TOPIC: Kelley, a Republican seeking the Governorship in Michigan against Gretchen Whitmer, was arrested on a January 6th Capitol riot charge.

CB, RR, JB, SK, BM, NN

Domestic News...

Revealed: Ministry of Truth was formed to fight 'conspiracy theories' regarding COVID-19, 2020 election, domestic extremism
"The people that the Biden administration thinks are the real threat to America, it's not the drug cartels, it's not foreign threats. It's you, it's the American people," said Hawley.

Aware of Injuries Inside, Uvalde Police Waited to Confront Gunman
More than a dozen students remained alive for over an hour before officers entered their classrooms. The commander feared a risk to officers’ lives, new documents show.

Man attempting to 'forcibly enter' elementary school, patrol car fatally shot by police
A school resource officer went outside to check on the situation. The officer found the person and started engaging in a conversation with him, which led to a physical altercation were the suspect was attempting to take the officer's gun.

Michigan County Limits In-Person Responses To 911 Calls After Blowing Through Gas Budget
“We have exhausted what funds were budgeted for fuel with several months to go before the budget reset,” the sheriff’s office explained.

Sriracha Sauce Is Off The Menu Amid Chili Pepper Shortage
First, it was toilet paper. Then, it was baby formula. Now, it’s sriracha sauce.

Court rules Geico to pay $5.2 million to woman who caught STD in car
The woman contracted HPV from a man insured by Geico. She alleged he knew he had the virus but had unprotected sex with her in his car anyway. As a result, the woman notified Geico she would be seeking damages from the company.

"Baby Holly" found 41 years after parents murdered in Texas
An Oklahoma woman has been identified as “Baby Holly” — the infant who made headlines four decades ago when she vanished without a trace during her parents horrific 1981 murder in Texas.

Tech founder spends $93M to buy out three Miami homes from longtime owners
Phillip Ragon plans on demolishing the fairly modest beach houses, and replacing them with a large family home.

Life on tech billionaire’s Hawaiian island is so expensive only the super-rich could afford it
Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison's purchase of a Hawaiian island 10 years ago has made life there so expensive that residents who have been there for generations have been forced to leave.

2 workers fall into chocolate tank at Mars facility
The chocolate-coated victims weren’t hurt, but couldn’t get out of the tank on their own.

Politics...

Biden approval sinks to 22% among young adults, 24% among Hispanics: poll
Approval of President Biden’s job performance slipped to just 33% in a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University — as even key Democratic voting blocs such as young people and racial minorities give the president a big thumbs-down.

DA refuses to release video from Paul Pelosi’s DUI arrest
"...the Napa County District Attorney’s Office has advised the release of records would jeopardize an ongoing investigation."

Democrat: "I believe I’m the only member of this House that is a victim of gun violence"
Who would expect her to remember Steve Scalise being shot up by a Bernie Bro when the news coverage of it only lasted for about 8 hours.

The Day Democracy Almost Died...

NYT Analysis: Trump Depicted as Would-Be Autocrat Seeking Power at All Costs
The House panel outlined a conspiracy to overturn a free and fair democratic election executed by Trump.

Trump accuses Jan. 6 committee of burying 'positive witnesses and statements'
"So the Unselect Committee of political HACKS refuses to play any of the many positive witnesses and statements, refuses to talk of the Election Fraud and Irregularities that took place on a massive scale, and decided to use a documentary maker from Fake News ABC to spin only negative footage."

It Took Only Minutes For Dem To Invoke KKK, Slavery During Jan 6 Hearing
“I am from a part of the country where people justified the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and lynching,” Thompson said. “I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists on January 6th, 2021.”

J6 Show Trial Committee Chair Called Clarence Thomas An ‘Uncle Tom,’ Mitch McConnell Remark ‘Racist’
The chairman of the January 6 committee previously called Clarence Thomas an “Uncle Tom,” claimed the justice disliked black people, and accused Mitch McConnell of making “racist” remarks.

Betsy DeVos says 25th Amendment discussed by Trump Cabinet after Capitol riot
DeVos said she explored the feasibility of using the 25th Amendment to oust Trump, but Pence quickly dashed any hopes of backing the initiative, so she tendered her resignation the following day out of dismay over the riot.

Democrats Don’t Just Fail To Apologize For Violence That Pushes Their Agenda, They Actively Incite It
If you disagree with Democrats, you’re an insurrectionist. But if you’re a Democrat actually inciting violence, you get away with it.

Ryan Kelley, a candidate for Michigan governor who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, is arrested by the FBI
While it might sound like the FBI is just a political tool of the Democrat party, you must understand that Kelly was arrested on misdemeanor charges by the FBI, in part because he gestured “to the crowd” that it should continue moving.

Tucker Carlson unloads on Jan. 6 hearing
"This is the only hour on an American news channel that will not be carrying the propaganda lie. They are lying, and we are not going to help them do it. We hated seeing vandalism at the U.S. Capitol ... but we did not think it was an insurrection because it was not an insurrection."

Rikki: There will come a time when you don't recognize your own country...
ABC News uses 'he/him' on title banner under name of man during a news story.

Economy...

Average gas prices surpass $5 per gallon in US
It was only on March 5th that the average price surpassed $4/gallon for the first time since 2008.

CNBC CFO Survey: The recession will hit in the first half of 2023
Most of the CFOs agreed that recession would hit the first half of 2023. ALL of them agreed a recession was inevitable.

Consumers changing eating, shopping habits as inflation pushes up prices
“The stuff that we used to eat we’re not eating anymore. We’re eating more spaghetti and that type of stuff because it’s cheap — but it’s not healthy for you.” The family used to eat a lot of chicken, but it’s gotten so expensive that they're substituting less expensive, fattier hamburger.

Rents across U.S. rise above $2,000 a month for the first time ever
She keeps getting outbid when she makes offers to buy houses. And now with mortgage rates up sharply she says she's just been priced out completely. Meanwhile, continuing to rent is getting harder to afford, too. "My rent is increasing 22% this year," she says.

Sanders, Warren and other Dems unveil plan to expand Social Security by $2400/yr
Sanders' Social Security Expansion Act "would lift this cap and subject all income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax," to pay for this new handout.

Famed economist Robert Shiller sees ‘good chance’ of recession
He placed the odds of a recession within the next couple of years at a “much higher than normal” 50%.

South of the Border...

Biden’s impotence on full display at Summit of the Americas
Biden has neither the vision nor the will to secure the cooperation needed from other nations to bring mass illegal migration under control. And the entire hemisphere will continue to suffer as a result.

WAR News... 

Russia says it is planning to hijack a German space telescope
The Russian Space Agency has claimed it will confiscate a German telescope placed on a Russian-built spacecraft, after being banned from involvement in a cooperative X-ray telescope project with Germany in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine are battling over underwater mines as the global food crisis worsens
“The real issue going forward is that Russia seems intent on using this as an instrument of leverage.”

Putin, offering a glimpse into his sense of his own grandeur, likened himself to Peter the Great
Putin said that when Peter founded the city of St. Petersburg on the captured land, “none of the countries of Europe recognized it as Russian.” That remark seemed to be a reference to today, when no Western country has recognized Moscow’s claim to Crimea.

Polish president says talking to Putin is like negotiating with Hitler
“Did anyone speak like this with Adolf Hitler during World War II? Did anyone say that Adolf Hitler must save face? That we should proceed in such a way that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler? I have not heard such voices”

Finland Plans To Fortify Its Border With Russia
The amended legislation will permit fencing and new roads to facilitate border patrolling amid concerns Russia could flood Finland with asylum seekers as a means of applying political pressure.

Turkey threatens US allies and partners as Ukraine war gives Erdogan leverage
A cross-border assault could upend the U.S. approach to suppressing IS and perhaps even drive the most important American partner in the country into an alliance with Syrian.

MONDUCKVID-2219...

WHO expert group says lab leak theory needs more study
During initial investigations into how the global pandemic seeped into circulation, the WHO assessed it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 originated as the result of a lab leak. Now, the organization said the theory warrants further study.

Covid death rate for White Americans now exceeds Black/Latino/Asian Americans
The death rate for white Americans has recently exceeded the rates for Black, Latino and Asian Americans.

Diseases suppressed during Covid are coming back in new and peculiar ways
"We've never seen a flu season in the U.S. extend into June. Covid has clearly had a very big impact on that. Now that people have unmasked, places are opening up, we're seeing viruses behave in very odd ways that they weren't before," he said.

Airborne transmission of monkeypox 'has not been reported,' CDC says
It may spread through "saliva or respiratory secretions" during face-to-face contact, but these secretions "drop out of the air quickly," and studies have found that this method of transmission seems uncommon.

Deadly bird flu found in ducks on the Mall in Washington
People should avoid handling live or dead birds or coming into contact with their droppings as the virus can be easily moved around on shoes, the Park Service said.

Commie Update...

The US Military Is Almost Completely Dependent On China For Key Mineral Used In Ammunition
The U.S. military depends almost completely on China for a mineral essential to the production of ammunition and other defense products, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Panic buying in Shanghai as mass testing notices spark fears of new lockdown
On Thursday, Shanghai residents rushed to supermarkets to stock up on food and other daily necessities, forming long lines at checkouts and leaving shelves empty.

Entertainment...

Trump Broke Luke Skywalker. Cringe J6 Tweet Is The Latest Proof
Mark Hamill is wearing classic ANTIFA-chic of a black shirt, black beanie, black pants, and holding a bowl of pretty flavorless looking popcorn, while asking who else will be watching the J6 shot trial.

Britney Spears’ Ex Livestreams Attempt To Crash Wedding, Gets Tackled By Security, Police Called
Jason Alexander took to Instagram on Thursday to livestream his attempt to crash Britney Spears’ wedding.

Jurassic World: Dominion is ‘the worst’ in the franchise, critics say
The final film in the new trilogy is the worst reviewed of all six films in the franchise, currently holding a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Media...

WaPo Terminates Reporter Who Went On Weeklong Public Meltdown
Felicia Sonmez continuously targeted her colleagues in the newsroom and criticized the higher ups at her own newspaper beginning June 3 when political reporter Dave Weigel retweeted a joke she didn't like.

Middle East...

Biden overrules Trump policy on Palestinians
Biden’s move is viewed by some as rewarding the Palestinian leadership after a wave of terrorism during which two Palestinians wielding an ax and knife murdered three Israelis in the town of Elad in May.

Fatal blow to JCPOA if Iran doesn’t restore access within 3-4 weeks - IAEA
IAEA head Rafael Grossi said his agency would be unable to competently advise the US on Tehran's nuclear limits.

Environment...

Widespread power shortages are expected this summer, but Biden doesn't care
With all 50 states having now hit record gas prices this year, electricity is set to be the next casualty in a trail of Biden’s destructive policies. In 2021, Biden said that by 2020, “[We want to] make sure all of our electricity is zero-emissions.”

How a battery shortage is hampering the U.S. switch to wind, solar power
At least a dozen storage projects meant to support growing renewable energy supplies have been postponed, canceled or renegotiated as labor and transport bottlenecks, soaring minerals prices, and competition from the electric vehicle industry crimp supply.

LGBTQIA2S+...

Twitter locks out Libs of TikTok for exposing drag shows for kids
LoTT is posting public videos and event ads. She's not doxxing or personally harassing anyone. All she is doing is reposting videos of men in thongs gyrating before little kids, or teaching them how to do drag makeup, or having the kids themselves dance for crowds of sex-obsessed adults.

Education...

Disney exec who opposed Florida's parental rights bill OUSTED
A Disney chairman who voiced his opposition for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' anti-grooming bill has been ousted from the company.

Conservatives are all but shut out of university commencement ceremonies
Young America’s Foundation found that just three conservatives were invited to give commencement addresses at the top 100 schools as ranked by U.S. News and World Report: Glenn Youngkin, Tim Tebow and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s prime minister.

Technology...

Tech’s Decade of Stock-Market Dominance Ends, For Now
Big technology stocks are in the midst of their biggest rout in more than a decade. Some investors, haunted by the 2000 dot-com bust, are bracing for bigger losses ahead.

A.I. gurus are leaving Big Tech to work on buzzy new start-ups
Artificial intelligence gurus are quitting top jobs at companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI and DeepMind and joining a new breed of start-ups that want to take AI to the next level.

Elon Musk Raves About Diet Coke, Popcorn, And Movies
"I don’t even care if it lowers my life expectancy"

Science...

Israeli scientists solve mystery: How human brain processes, stores movement
Scientists have not known until now how this amazing organ in our heads remembers this wide range of motions and learns new ones or how it calculates how to move so we can take hold of a glass of water without dropping it or failing to grab it.

GM and Lockheed announce first products in commercial space market
Plan to produce an array of moon-roving vehicles for commercial space missions.

NASA Plans to Join U.F.O. Research Efforts
Dr. Zurbuchen said that examining U.F.O. reports could be “high-risk, high-impact kind of research,” possibly uncovering some entirely new scientific phenomenon — or possibly coming up with nothing new or interesting at all.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams says crystals give city ‘special energy’
Speaking to Politico in the spring, Adams said he discovered NYC’s iconic bedrock is comprised of unique gems and minerals and that “there’s a special energy that comes from here.”

Sports...

PGA Tour Suspends Players Who Jumped To Saudi-Backed LIV Tournament
A slew of members on the PGA Tour in recent weeks have announced they will bail from the top league in the world to join the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.

John Elway cost himself $900 million with one Broncos decision
Elway, the former Broncos quarterback-turned-executive, was offered the chance to purchase a stake in the team in 1998. It would have earned him around $900 million with the sale today — if he hadn’t turned it down.

NAACP Demands Redskins’ Jack Del Rio Be Fired For Comments Comparing J6 Riots and BLM Riots
Del Rio issued an apology, but NAACP President Derrick Johnson called for him to quit or be fired. “It’s time for Jack Del Rio to resign or be terminated,” Johnson said in a statement meant to raise funds for the far left group.

Animals...

Movie star chimp found alive after owner faked death to avoid PETA seizure
An elderly chimpanzee who appeared in the film “Buddy” with actor Alan Cumming was found alive last week after his former owner faked his death to avoid having him confiscated by PETA, according to Rolling Stone.

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2012: Ea sed ocurreret disputando, amet salutatus pri ex, dico facer nec ea. Ad nonumy insolens eos, sed cu facete ornatus urbanitas, ut euripidis dissentiunt eum.

2020: Nam diam saperet accumsan ea, id tacimates dignissim cum, id mea audiam ceteros.

Revealed: The quiet architect behind Trump’s war on Big Gov’t

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Trump’s OMB chief built the plan for this moment: Starve pet programs, force reauthorization, and actually shrink Washington.

The government is shut down again, and the usual panic is back. I even had someone call my house this week to ask if it was safe to fly today. The person was half-joking, half-serious, wondering if planes would “fall out of the sky.”

For the record, the sky isn’t falling — at least not literally. But the chaos in Washington does feel like it. Once again, we’re watching the same old script: a shutdown engineered not by fiscal restraint but by political brinkmanship. And this time, the Democrats are driving the bus.

This shutdown may be inconvenient. But it’s also an opportunity — to stop funding our own destruction, to reset the table, and to remind Congress who actually pays the bills.

Democrats, among other things, are demanding that health care be extended to illegal immigrants. Democratic leadership caved to its radical base, which would rather shut down the government for such left-wing campaign points than compromise. Republicans — shockingly — said no. They refused to rubber-stamp more spending for illegal immigration. For once, they stood their ground.

But if you’ve watched Washington long enough, you know how this story usually ends: a shutdown followed by a deal that spends even more money than before — a continuing resolution kicking the can down the road. Everyone pretends to “win,” but taxpayers always lose.

The Vought effect

This time might be different. Republicans actually hold some cards. The public may blame Democrats — not the media, but the people who feel this in their wallets. Americans don’t like shutdowns, but they like runaway spending and chaos even less.

That’s why you’re hearing so much about Russell Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget and Donald Trump’s quiet architect of a strategy to use moments like this to shrink the federal bureaucracy. Vought spent four years building a plan for exactly this scenario: firing nonessential workers and forcing reauthorization of pet programs. Trump talks about draining the swamp. Vought draws up the blueprints.

The Democrats and media are threatened by Vought because he is patient, calculated, and understands how to leverage the moment to reverse decades of government bloat. If programs aren’t mandated, cut them. Make Congress fight to bring them back. That’s how you actually drain the swamp.

Predictable meltdowns

Predictably, Democrats are melting down. They’ve shifted their arguments so many times it’s dizzying. Last time, they claimed a shutdown would lead to mass firings. Now, they insist Republicans are firing everyone anyway. It’s the same playbook: Move the goalposts, reframe the narrative, accuse your opponents of cruelty.

We’ve seen this before. Remember the infamous "You lie!” moment in 2009? President Barack Obama promised during his State of the Union that Obamacare wouldn’t cover illegal immigrants. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted, “You lie!” and was condemned for breaching decorum.

Several years later, Hillary Clinton’s campaign platform openly promised health care for illegal immigrants. What was once called a “lie” became official policy. And today, Democrats are shutting down the government because they can’t get even more of it.

This is progressivism in action: Deny it, inch toward it, then demand it as a moral imperative. Anyone who resists becomes the villain.

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

Stand firm

This shutdown isn’t just about spending. It’s about whether we’ll keep letting progressives rewrite the rules one crisis at a time. Trump’s plan — to cut what isn’t mandated, force programs into reauthorization, and fight the battle in the courts — is the first real counterpunch to decades of this manipulation.

It’s time to stop pretending. This isn’t about compassion. It’s about control. Progressives know once they normalize government benefits for illegal immigrants, they never roll back. They know Americans forget how it started.

This shutdown may be inconvenient. But it’s also an opportunity — to stop funding our own destruction, to reset the table, and to remind Congress who actually pays the bills. If we don’t take it, we’ll be right back here again, only deeper in debt, with fewer freedoms left to defend.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Britain says “no work without ID”—a chilling preview for America

OLI SCARFF / Contributor | Getty Images

From banking to health care, digital IDs touch every aspect of citizens’ lives, giving the government unprecedented control over everyday actions.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood at the podium at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London and made an announcement that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who loves liberty. By the end of this Parliament, he promised, every worker in the U.K. will be required to hold a “free-of-charge” digital ID. Without it, Britons will not be able to work.

No digital ID, no job.

The government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Starmer framed this as a commonsense response to poverty, climate change, and illegal immigration. He claimed Britain cannot solve these problems without “looking upstream” and tackling root causes. But behind the rhetoric lies a policy that shifts power away from individuals and places it squarely in the hands of government.

Solving the problem they created

This is progressivism in action. Leaders open their borders, invite in mass illegal immigration, and refuse to enforce their own laws. Then, when public frustration boils over, they unveil a prepackaged “solution” — in this case, digital identity — that entrenches government control.

Britain isn’t the first to embrace this system. Switzerland recently approved a digital ID system. Australia already has one. The World Economic Forum has openly pitched digital IDs as the key to accessing everything from health care to bank accounts to travel. And once the infrastructure is in place, digital currency will follow soon after, giving governments the power to track every purchase, approve or block transactions, and dictate where and how you spend your money.

All of your data — your medical history, insurance, banking, food purchases, travel, social media engagement, tax information — would be funneled into a centralized database under government oversight.

The fiction of enforcement

Starmer says this is about cracking down on illegal work. The BBC even pressed him on the point, asking why a mandatory digital ID would stop human traffickers and rogue employers who already ignore national insurance cards. He had no answer.

Bad actors will still break the law. Bosses who pay sweatshop wages under the table will not suddenly check digital IDs. Criminals will not line up to comply. This isn’t about stopping illegal immigration. If it were, the U.K. would simply enforce existing laws, close the loopholes, and deport those working illegally.

Instead, the government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Control masked as compassion

This is part of an old playbook. Politicians claim their hands are tied and promise that only sweeping new powers will solve the crisis. They selectively enforce laws to maintain the problem, then use the problem to justify expanding control.

If Britain truly wanted to curb illegal immigration, it could. It is an island. The Channel Tunnel has clear entry points. Enforcement is not impossible. But a digital ID allows for something far more valuable to bureaucrats than border security: total oversight of their own citizens.

The American warning

Think digital ID can’t happen here? Think again. The same arguments are already echoing in Washington, D.C. Illegal immigration is out of control. Progressives know voters are angry. When the digital ID pitch arrives, it will be wrapped in patriotic language about fairness, security, and compassion.

But the goal isn’t compassion. It’s control of your movement, your money, your speech, your future.

We don’t need digital IDs to enforce immigration law. We need leaders with the courage to enforce existing law. Until then, digital ID schemes will keep spreading, sold as a cure for the very problems they helped create.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.