⏰ Tick Tock
Days until the court-mandated deadline for lawmakers to submit new congressional maps (9/25/2025) - 14
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Today is the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, D.C.
Here's New York Times coverage from that day.
How a simple fact about Utah's gun laws became fodder for the media outrage machine.
When Charlie Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, right-wing media didn't just report the tragedy—they weaponized it. My factual comment about Utah's campus gun laws on MSNBC became their latest ammunition in the culture war.
Yesterday evening, I was a guest on Jen Psaki's MSNBC program to discuss the latest developments in the story.
Toward the end of the segment, I brought up what I thought was a relevant bit of information - that Utah lawmakers had just a few months earlier changed the law to allow open carrying of weapons on college campuses.
Here's what I said:
"An interesting aspect of this is our- the Utah Legislature, which is- which has a Republican supermajority. They changed the law earlier this year to make it legal for someone to openly carry a weapon on college campuses. Previously, you could carry a concealed weapon if you had a permit. They changed the law that if you have the permit, you can carry the weapon either concealed or in an open fashion. And I'm going to be tracking that over the next few days to see if there are any attempts to maybe roll back that change to the law after this."
That quote was enough for right-wing outlet NewsBusters to loudly proclaim that I was somehow pushing my own "policy preferences" by calling for gun control.
"There is always something particularly unsavory about rolling out policy preferences in the wake of national tragedies. And it is particularly ghoulish to wishcast for gun control in the wake of a still-unresolved assassination with no suspect in custody (as of this writing)."
It takes a pretty big leap to reach that conclusion, but consider the source.
Media tracking organizations rate Newsbusters as "hyper-partisan right" in terms of media bias and "unreliable, problematic" in terms of how accurately they report a story.
At least they spelled my name and the name of this publication correctly, which is something.
Thursday morning's headlines
Charlie Kirk
"I want to be clear. This is a political assassination." [Utah Political Watch]
Graphic video of Kirk shooting was everywhere online, showing how media gatekeeper has changed. [Associated Press]
Vice President JD Vance to visit Utah following Kirk shooting. [Fox 13]
MSNBC fires commentator Matthew Dowd after he suggested that Kirk's "awful words" led to him being shot. [Wall Street Journal]
Here's how leaders are responding to the shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. [KSL]
Hundreds turn out to vigil for Charlie Kirk at Utah State Capitol Building rotunda. [KUTV]
Conservative Christians mourn Kirk as a Martyr. [New York Times]
Yes, open carry is legal on Utah college campuses: Breaking down Utah gun law after Charlie Kirk shooting. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Utah and the West
A former legislative intern sued after alleging harassment by a lawmaker. Here's how much Utah paid to settle. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Nation
Shooting suspect is dead after attack at Colorado high school, authorities say. [New York Times]
Deaths are projected to exceed births in the U.S. by 2031 according to a new projection from the Congressional Budget Office. [Wall Street Journal]
World
The Venezuelan boat the U.S. military destroyed last week appeared to have turned around before the attack. [New York Times]
Economy
Inflation climbs in August as grocery and gas prices jump. [NPR]
Space
NASA discovers "clearest sign of life that we've ever found on Mars." [Washington Post]