Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - September 17, 2025 [Philosopher Rex]

An ONT post is in the queue. It has the usual irreverent frivolity, music clips, jokes, and mystery clicks. You'd love it.

It was prepared for Wednesday, September 10 before circumstances intervened.

There is nothing wrong with the ONT in the queue. It is ready and will be posted at some point. The Pittsburgh Scanner will return soon. I promise.

But I am not ready.

I get the sense that many among the Horde are struggling. Life is frustratingly simple and complex at the same time. I do not have a satisfying and unifying theory of everything. Nobody does. My words should get no free pass. This is not about me. I'm just a dinosaur with a small brain and short arms and a keyboard that I can barely reach.

Part of the Charlie Kirk phenomenon over the past few days is people that consumed Charlie's content alone on their phone or computer are surprised to find how broadly others were doing the same thing. The silent majority does not always know they are the majority. Same for Charlie's reach outside the US. Maybe even more so.

The breadth and vigor of complaints about Charlie that had nothing to do with what Charlie actually said is notable. (It not surprising or shocking, but is notable.) Charlie is not the first or only to experience this (Rush and DJT have seen plenty of it too). It is not enough to disagree with your opponent's views.

Unlikely that everyone would agree on every point without the distortive screen, but it is easier for political opponents to invent a cartoon of their enemy rather than wrestle with their enemy directly.

It is disingenuous but serves the "ends justifies the means" philosophy. But the stuff they come up with is transparently ridiculous. No wonder people that did not listen to Charlie themselves might think he was a monster.

This is why discussion about "misinformation" usually misses the point. It is not about factual or neutral accuracy. It never was. "If only they understood..." "If only they read the [fill in the blank] report..." Stop it. The activists are post-truth. Their personal "truth" is their "truth." Ego over all. Even better if they can force others to accommodate their "truth."

Our moral compass causes discomfort with hypocrisy but that is our issue. That charge is meaningless for them. Everything is negotiable and disposable in the same of the cause. The same people screaming about censorship now spearheaded anti-DJT and COVID censorship only a few years ago. That's unprincipled and inconsistent, but it makes perfect sense when everything is negotiable for the cause. If we fail to see that, we keep thinking we can reason with people who are trying to destroy us.

There was only one Charlie. Some will try to copy with the best of intentions to continue the work. But putting on someone else's clothes often results in an awkward fit. Some may take his energy or cause and run off on unwise or imprudent tangents. Some may try without a full understanding of the intellectual labor required to do what Charlie did and be unable to pull it off. Some will take the inspiration and chart their own course for success. Some will purport to speak for him. There will be infighting over Charlie's legacy and the purity of the message and lessons to be learned. The Republican Party will find ways to hurt itself. The human condition remains flawed.

(By the way, be cautious of anyone purporting to fundraise for anything on behalf of Charlie or Turning Point. Scammers are already active.)

It will be interesting to see what traces back to Charlie's influence. We are slowly seeing stories of places where Charlie had a personal impact (see Data Republican). He was going to have a future impact with or without his murder. Some seeds will take time to germinate. But there was only one Charlie. Just like there was only one Rush.

The fact that Charlie resonated with college students is a blistering indictment on the state of college life. Nobody was saying the things Charlie said. Nobody else was allowed to say the things Charlie said. They tried to prevent Charlie from saying what he said. There was a hunger and interest for what Charlie said. If it was not for social media, many would not have heard the message.

The degree of self-confidence and self-assurance for eliminationist views is noteworthy. Shouldn't be a surprise though. One of the most remarkable aspects of Charlie's interactions with college students is that most had a poor grasp on their own very strongly held personal views.

For example, Charlie asked them to define a woman or being queer without using the word "woman" or "queer." Their beliefs often boiled down to "because I feel like it." They illustrated it better than Charlie could have on his own. They might have been embarrassed but Charlie did not seek to humiliate them or hit them with sick burns for social media clicks.

To the closet totalitarian, the ability to disappear people is endlessly attractive. Charlie's murder does not seem beyond the pale for people that fantasize about making people go away. There is no shame and they live in an echo chamber of justification. People who fantasize about socialism or communism always put themselves at the top of the pyramid.

The reaction to Charlie's murder brings further clarity. Nobody really believes that "diversity of ideas" really means "diversity of ideas" anymore. "Diversity" means surrender your power and wealth to me for reasons - whatever reasons I can come up with. (If you're going to call people "fascists," you should at least be able to define it first. Fascist does not mean anyone that I disagree with.)

Guilt is a powerful weapon and lots of people wanted to be seen as thoughtful and empathetic and went along for the ride. Even the LGB community was unwilling or unable to draw the line at the T+ alphabet soup that came along. Same thing with second or third wave feminists. I do not understand suicidal empathy but perhaps that speaks to the power of guilt and the need to be liked. The lack of a religious moral compass fuels the need to believe that meaning comes from positive attention for both the right social justice cause and not being like "those" other icky people. (Britian, I am also looking at you.)

Angry people see no difference between having personal opinions and wishing others would die. The quantity of people in education and health care with the arrogance to post death wishes on public platforms is notable (again, not surprising). People are eager to self-identify so they are easier to spot. They require approval from their tribe. The dark truth is that they are afraid of their own too. The left engages in "mostly peaceful" riots and takes out its own and enforces its message with fear.

Empty people find meaning in fighting the system or saving the whales or something else abstract that has zero meaning in their life but is an existential crisis at the same time. Always easier to blame someone else than start with yourself first. The crazy is normalized in the echo chamber. More difficult to get yourself figured out before diagnosing and fixing others by force.

Politicians will stretch to pathologically absolve themselves with the passive voice, redirect attention, and focus on lecturing others (I'm looking at you 44). It is in their DNA.

"They mean well..." or "the intentions are good but..." Why do we stipulate good faith in cases where it has not been earned? When someone tells you what they think of you, believe them. "Shut up," they explained. They mean it. Remember, Biden's "trans day of visibility" was on Easter. That was not a coincidence. Arctic Frost was not about the weather. Lois Lerner was not just processing paperwork at the IRS. We do not like thinking that people hate us and we think we can reason with them, so we make excuses.

They will humanize the murderer ("very touching" messages between modern Romeo and Juliet) and de-humanize the victim (just some podcaster) and speak in generalities and not see the problem. "We may never know the motive." That says something.

They'll also pivot to the real important issues, like free speech for comedians that lie. And the terrible implications for media outlets, TV stations, and movie studios. By the way, remember that Orange Man still bad.

Anecdotes are not data but seems like Charlie's murder has rattled people. Soccer moms, precious independents, people that do not see themselves as "political," people that have not been to church in a long time, etc. Jimmy Kimmel did not have to say anything, yet what worked on September 9 doesn't work anymore. He used to play to the echo chamber with impunity but now has an indefinite vacation because of ABC affiliate pressure. Doubt he understands what happened. Doubt he understands why his judgment was poor. Sounds like he was planning the usual non-apology apology but that didn't work this time. That's not cancel culture that dug up and distorted tweets from years ago to slime someone. That's FAFO.

We are not in "either you are with me or against me" mode or "everyone else is a foe." This is not loyalty oath time. We do not need to undermine our own principles. We are, however, in situational awareness mode to be cognizant that not everyone wishes us well.

Our faith will continue to be challenged. Last night, JQ said "God is not a vending machine." She is right. The hard part about faith is that we do not get the answer sheet to find out why things happen or do not happen, but yet we still take the risk of putting our trust in God. Prayer is part of a personal relationship with God. Prayer is part of what keeps us grounded and reinforces our core foundation. Prayer keeps us humble and reminds us that it is not all about us.

Despite a personal relationship with the Divine, we will continue to feel alone at times. We will wonder what happened, seek answers, and struggle to see paths forward. That is part of the human condition too.

We are collectively fortunate to have the Moron Horde. No, we do not all agree or believe the same things. We have a roughly consistent outlook on the world and still find ways to differ widely. But the knowledge the Horde is there provides comfort that we are not alone. That is one reason the gray boxes are important (even if you are late for a post or comment only periodically).

As I said in last Wednesday's ONT, the question is will the center hold. Will we hold fast when we would have bent before? Will we absorb the body blows while choosing to think they do not want to hurt us? Will we parent rather than assume teachers have the best interests of our children at heart? Will we turnout for midterms? Will we seek to hear what people actually say rather than rely on media or social media to summarize or repeat or excerpt it for us?

Fighting does not mean looking for violence in the streets or spoiling for confrontation. Fighting does not mean spending all day taking on all the Twitter trolls or monitoring cable news for the latest outrage. Fighting defends a religious moral compass that is still the best recipe for human existence. We each can fight in our own way.

For those wondering, yes this does feel different. No, it is not just you. It is not going away.

The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

We can't afford to let it go away.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 PM

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