Free Speech Versus the Assassin’s Censor: Order, Chaos, and the Battle for American Values

On September 15, 2025, Kim Monson anchored a broadcast centered on the fundamental choice between order and chaos facing American society. Just days after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, the show examined youth radicalization, failed homelessness policies, and the vital importance of local civic engagement with Free State Colorado founder Brandon Wark, Dr. Brian Joondeph, Free Up Foundation’s Michele Steeb, and Longmont City Council candidate Steve Altschuler.

Local Government Transparency and TABOR Circumvention

Start listening at 15:09 – Hour 1

Brandon Wark, founder of Free State Colorado and candidate for Greeley City Council, exposes how local governments circumvent taxpayer protections through accounting tricks. Wark details the Greeley West Catalyst project, where the city plans to own a water park, hotel, and hockey stadium without voter approval. Despite gathering 50,000 petition signatures, twice the required amount, a judge blocked the measure from appearing on the ballot. The city deploys certificates of participation, a year-to-year leasing arrangement that sidesteps TABOR’s constitutional requirement for voter approval of debt. Wark emphasizes that the battle for liberty starts at the local level, where entrenched bureaucrats spend 40-plus hours weekly devising ways to grow government while part-time citizen council members struggle to keep pace.

“The people really are not happy with this project that the city has embarked upon, so much so that the opposition actually got 50,000 signatures to get this issue on the ballot to put the question to voters and get some public input.”

Brandon Wark, Free State Colorado Founder

Understanding Youth Radicalization After the Kirk Assassination

Start listening at 33:34 – Hour 1

Dr. Brian Joondeph analyzes why young voters are turning radical in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The killer, once a promising high school student, dropped out of college and descended into radicalization within months. Joondeph identifies a generational split: some Gen Z youth embrace conservative values and return to religion, while others follow a dark path toward extremism. The COVID-19 response devastated a generation through school closures, mask mandates, and vaccine requirements that impaired socialization and learning. Without acknowledgment and accountability for these failures, healing remains impossible.

The contrast in reactions to Kirk’s death versus George Floyd’s proves stark. Rather than riots and property destruction, Kirk’s supporters held prayer vigils. Those celebrating Kirk’s assassination on social media now face termination from employers enforcing morals clauses, a turnabout from the cancel culture that previously silenced COVID dissenters. Joondeph predicts Kirk’s death will fundamentally change the country, potentially for the better, much as 9/11 did.

“And I think by doing that, they’ve unleashed a force that they have no idea what’s coming.”

Dr. Brian Joondeph, American Thinker Contributor

The Housing First Disaster and the Path to Restoration

Start listening at 71:10 – Hour 2

Michele Steeb, founder of Free Up Foundation and author of Answers Behind the Red Door, dismantles the failed Housing First approach to homelessness. In 2013, the Obama administration mandated that all federal homeless funding go toward lifelong subsidized housing, eliminating mental health treatment and addiction counseling. Twelve years later, homelessness has reached the highest point ever recorded, up nearly 35 percent. With 80 percent of homeless individuals struggling with mental illness or addiction, defunding treatment programs allowed these diseases to worsen. Living on the streets creates further trauma while the system lacks enough housing units to meet demand.

The Trump administration’s recent executive order redirects funding toward treatment, recovery, and restoration, finally turning the battleship in the right direction. Steeb notes that advocacy organizations like the National Alliance to End Homelessness filed suit last Thursday to block these reforms, preferring the gravy train to genuine solutions. She calls the Housing First policy a straitjacket to dependence and misery, the most oppressive policy of this century. Colorado listeners should watch for supervised injection site legislation, which has come dangerously close to passing in previous sessions.

“You know, I often call this system that we’re, you know, moving away from, thank God, a straitjacket to dependence and misery.”

Michele Steeb, Free Up Foundation Founder

Fighting for Fiscal Sanity at the Local Level

Start listening at 102:03 – Hour 2

Steve Altschuler, running for Longmont City Council, describes six years of attending council meetings and speaking during public comment periods, often as the lone free-market voice against seven-member socialist majorities. A recent city survey found 75 percent of residents identified traffic, crime, and homelessness as top concerns. The council’s response: build hundreds more low-income housing units, worsening traffic while ignoring root causes. Altschuler points out that city fees and taxes add 24 percent to every home’s cost. Reducing these burdens would make housing naturally more affordable without government intervention.

The subsidy trap keeps recipients dependent indefinitely. Altschuler proposes limiting assistance to three to five years while requiring recipients to take classes at Front Range Community College to increase their employability. He recounts constituents admitting they cannot work extra hours because earning too much would disqualify them from benefits, a perverse incentive that steals not just from taxpayers but from recipients’ own potential.

“The current city council, and not just in Longmont, but certainly all the little cities in Boulder County, if you look at what they’re doing, it’s all about control.”

Steve Altschuler, Longmont City Council Candidate