Working title: The “Kristi Noem Shoots A Puppy” Bowl
Republicans hate Biles. He had to insult her.
Seriously? Figures. Not white enough for them?
She supported Harris in the last election, and she’s taken a few potshots at Drumpf.
They hated her before that
She’s Black and monumentally successful. She’s a “female”, to borrow the Charlie Kirk Blogosphere terminology.
Sounds more Ferengi.
In a field where bullshitting the rubes won’t do you any good.
Don’t you mean shots and prayers?
Being out of the US and away from the news (and unlikely to watch it even if I weren’t)…
Are there reports of any memorials today in honour of CKs birthday? Or has he (hopefully) been forgotten already?
Mostly forgotten. There’s a few state legislators still trying to make a thing of him, but most people have moved on now
Couple mentions in the news it would have been his birthday but I think he is on minute 14 of his allotted 15 of fame.
At least I’m hoping
His widow and former organization Turning Point USA are the main force behind planning an alternative to the Bad Bunny headlined Super Bowl halftime show. That is what is getting the most airplay on mainstream news and websites.
But Fox and the other rightwing news/blogs are still talking about Kirk frequently and blaming the Democrats/Left for his killing. I think it would be foolish for those of us who are progressive/liberal to think just because he isn’t still getting a lot of exposure on the news we watch that this has blown over. He will be held up as a martyr in the MAGAsphere for a long time.
There’s a difference between still getting airplay and having it mostly blown over.
The alternate Super Bowl thing might stay relevant, but, let’s face it, that’s less about Charlie Kirk and more about the explicit MAGA racism, i.e. it’s more about being against Bad Bunny than being for Charlie Kirk. If it wasn’t Turning Point, it would have been another right wing group trying something similar.
It’s not just the news. A few weeks ago, you’d pass people at work or out in public and hear them talking about what a visionary Kirk was or denouncing the violence or whatever almost constantly. Now? Maybe the odd mention now and again but he’s literally dead and buried to the vast majority of those folks. Whenever it does come up in conversation, it’s because some local legislator is desperately trying to blow on the few smoldering embers by putting up legislation to name streets for him or put up statues on college campuses.
That’s not to say the same people aren’t still dangerous, but they were always going to find some cause or martyr to emphasize their own “persecution” and justify their prejudices. Just like they always have for decades. Kirk just happens to be the flavor of the month. Is the suggestion that they’d have come to senses by now if he hadn’t been killed?
He’s getting the presidential medal of freedom today. I had to scroll pretty far down Google news to find any mention of it though.
Maybe they could use a hymn. It’s a first draft:
There’s a new martyr that’s here today and they call him Charlie,
A new martyr that’s here to stay and they call him Charlie.
Kinda young kinda now, Charlie,
Kinda hip kinda wow, Charlie.
It’s not the same without Mel Torme, frankly.
For those who think the Charlie Kirk thing has blown over I offer this as evidence it isn’t going away as quickly as many imagine - Trump Administration revokes visas for people who criticized Kirk.
Just because it isn’t getting as much coverage in certain media doesn’t mean MAGA won’t continue using this to suppress off free speech everywhere they can.
Again, there’s a difference between the Kirk thing being effectively over and Kirk still being used as an excuse to do things they were already going to do.
They were already revoking visas. This just provides additional putative cover to do the things they were already doing.
Or, are you suggesting they wouldn’t have dared revoke visas or suppress free speech if he hadn’t been shot?
I.e. are they doing more suppression and revoking additional visas with Kirk as an excuse or are they continuing their existing plans but now slapping his name on top?
Your original post about this said he was “mostly forgotten”. I’m pointing out that may be true for those on the left, particularly those who were unaware of Kirk prior to his killing. I’m pointing out he is not forgotten by MAGA or this regime and they will keep on using his killing to taken actions to harm their opponents. Whether they would have done some of these things anyway isn’t relevant, at least to me. His killing is going to continue to be used to stir up the GOP base.