The shock of Charlie Kirk being gunned down in Utah just doesn’t go away. There’s no one who’s been involved in conservative politics who doesn’t know about Charlie – even if some of us never met him – and there’s no one who doesn’t feel like this could have been the fate of any conservative speaker out in public. We don’t know everything about the shooter yet, but we certainly know that the national media have long carried a partisan message that Donald Trump and his supporters are an “existential threat” to democracy. It’s not hard to imagine that this constant message would lead someone to feel that it would be heroic to eliminate this threat. Managing Editor Curtis Houck lays out the worst of the bias that emerged in the first few hours after this awful murder. Former Republican Matthew Dowd proclaimed on MSNBC that Kirk was responsible for his own shooting: “I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. And I think that's the environment we're in that, 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.” ABC reporter Aaron Katersky claimed “there were people on both sides debating whether he should even be allowed to bring his message, often loyal to the agenda of President Trump, to campus.” White House reporter Mary Bruce underlined how Kirk was too controversial: “It's no secret that Kirk has said a number of controversial things over the years, in particular about DEI, Jews, women, LGBTQ community, people of color." Of course, a variety of journalists lamented "permissive" gun laws, as if they can prove that this shooter didn't acquire their rifle legally. In so many cases where liberals preach gun control, their "solutions" wouldn't stop bad shooters from acquiring their weapons. Enjoy the podcast below, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The federal government owns about a third of America. Since we’re on a path to bankruptcy, it would be smart to sell some unused property. President Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary says it may be worth as much as $200 trillion. Selling just a fraction of it would reduce our enormous debt. Not just that -- since government doesn’t manage things well, selling or leasing some would leave it in better condition. Federal bureaucrats have been slow to do controlled burns and remove deadwood that becomes fuel for fires. “Fires on federal lands accounted for more than half of the acres burned,” says the Congressional Budget Office. But whenever a politician suggests selling any land, environmental activists freak out. Jennifer Mamola of The John Muir Project says the government must hold on to every bit of land it owns “to solve our biodiversity crisis.” “What is a biodiversity crisis?” I ask her in my new video. “Human fingerprints are on the scale, and we are out-tipping it!” Like many activists, she’s not knowledgeable about science. “We are in very tumultuous weather times,” she tells me. “The fact that Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina is just unprecedented!” No, it’s not. Hurricanes hit North Carolina all the time. “I guess I mean the travel trajectory, right? ... (Helene) started in the Gulf and then it went all the way up. Seems pretty unprecedented -- going inland.” Actually, lots of hurricanes go inland. Floyd caused catastrophic flooding; almost every river basin in eastern North Carolina surpassed 500-year flood levels. Matthew brought record flooding. Florence caused about $17 billion in damages. Still, Mamola sees weather changes. “It’s really not that predictable anymore because we have our thumb on the scale. ... In the nearly 40 years I’ve been alive, we’re definitely seeing a shift! ... D.C., I’ve lived there 10 years. We had a drought last summer!” But drought isn’t more common. The EPA says the last 50 years have actually been wetter than average. If the government sells any land, Mamola says, loggers and mining companies will destroy it. Climate media company The YEARS Project peddles a deceitful video that says, “Imagine the Grand Canyon filled with oil rigs. That’s the world Pendley wants to live in.” “Pendley” is William Pendley, who ran the government’s Bureau of Land Management during Trump’s first term. I confront him with what the activists say: “Picture Yellowstone being strip-mined for coal. These are the kinds of policies he advocates for.” “Absolutely not!” he replies. “We’re not going to do parks. They made it up!” He wants to sell, as Congress has done for decades, “multiple-use” land: “It’s supposed to be used (for) oil and gas, mining, grazing.” He says private leaseholders would manage it better. Also, says Pendley, “The best forest managers are tribes and states because they’ve got skin in the game.” The governors of Utah and Nevada agree. They, too, want the feds to release some land. Most of Utah is federally owned. Utah sued the feds for the right to buy some of it. But so far, no success. In Nevada, 80% of land is federally owned and controlled. Gov. Joe Lombardo wants “immediate and systematic release of federal land.” “Why should it be controlled by the federal government?” I ask Mamola. “What if Utah or Nevada say they can do it better?” Mamola replies, “They’re not going to be able to maintain it.” But the feds don’t maintain it! The Park Service is $23 billion behind on repairs. Despite the incompetence of federal management, Mamola wants the feds to buy even more land. “They own 50% of the West. Isn’t that enough?” I ask. “What would be enough?” “I’m happy to give up some of the East Coast,” she replies. Yikes. But the silly people win. They’ve convinced voters that no land should ever be sold. Sen. Mike Lee saw which way the political winds were blowing. He withdrew his proposal to sell public lands. Too bad. We’re deep in debt. The feds should at least lease unused land. Washington bureaucrats don’t need to control half the West.

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AOC Postpones Rally, Says She Knew She Accepted a Certain Level of Risk

Raw Emotion: Charlie Sheen and Joe Rogan Show How America Should Have Reacted to Charlie Kirk’s Murder

Here's the Message That Was Radioed to Air Force Two Carrying Charlie Kirk As It Landed In Phoenix

Man Who Was Questioning Charlie Kirk As Fatal Shot Rang Out Speaks—'It's Hard to Grapple With'

FBI Releases New Video of Kirk's Shooter, Governor Announces He's Seeking Death Penalty

After a report revealed a Secret Service employee blamed "karma" for the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., demanded the agent be fired and blasted the agency.

Law enforcement officials in Utah released Thursday night a video of the suspected shooter in the assassination of Turning Point USA co-found and CEO Charlie Kirk, saying that the person wore Converse tennis shoes and left and handprint and shoeprint at the scene.