Charlie Kirk

The most online Republican goes offline

Vivek unplugged Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy signaled virtue in the pages of the Wall Street Journal yesterday, claiming that he’s resolved to swear off social media entirely in 2026. “I’ll spend my newfound time listening to more voters in real-world Ohio, developing more policies to make our state affordable, and being more present with my family,” the former presidential candidate wrote. While Cockburn can think of more exciting pastimes than listening to voters in real-world Ohio, it’s not a bad sentiment. We could all use a social-media detox. But let’s consider the source. While running for president, Ramaswamy floated the idea of a TikTok ban for 16-year-olds and an “openness” to banning the app

The myth of human sacrifice

Most of us indulge in mild fortune-telling. We think “If the light changes before I count to five, I’ll get the job” or “If the solitaire hand comes out my tests will be negative’, and so on. We understand prophecy as the ability to foretell the future. But biblically, prophecy was not prediction but castigation. And prophets were those who were inspired by God to describe the present. Dr. King, Malcolm X and Charlie Kirk were modern prophets. Their lives and speech forced the populace to confront the unacceptable and obvious, which is why they were killed. Mass murderers and political assassins are incapable of facing the truth that their

david mamet