Another Shooting; Trump Deploys Guard to Portland; and The Left Still Doesn’t Get It
Each night here at Barstool Patriot I unpack the biggest conservative conversations of the day — pulling from voices like Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Megyn Kelly, Michael Knowles, and more, then adding my own straight-talk take. Tonight, the themes are grim: political violence intensifying, the media failing, and an America that feels like it’s teetering. But there are also signs of resilience and resolve.
Another Church, Another Shooting
Ben Shapiro opened his show today with a gut punch: “A shooter left four people dead and several people injured at a church about 50 miles north of Detroit.” This time it was a Mormon congregation in Grand Blanc, Michigan. A 40-year-old Marine Corps veteran drove his truck through the church doors during Sunday service, opened fire with a rifle, and then set the building ablaze.
It’s hard to overstate the horror of that description. Families were sitting in pews for a Sunday service, kids running around in a place that should be sacred and safe, and in an instant there’s gunfire, flames, and chaos. The photos showed an American flag flying from the suspect’s truck as it sat lodged in the building’s wreckage. Shapiro asked the question that hung over everything today: “What the hell is going on?”
This isn’t isolated. We’ve watched violence surge. Assassinations, ICE facility attacks, and now houses of worship under siege. Whether it’s Antifa radicals, jihadi sympathizers, or unstable men who’ve marinated in the rhetoric of hate, the bottom line is the same: America’s social fabric is shredding.
A Real Insurrection
Matt Walsh didn’t sugarcoat it. His headline today: “A Real Insurrection Is Happening And It Needs To Be Stopped.”
He pointed out what a lot of conservatives are noticing: President Trump has authorized “full force” against left-wing terrorists, but so far it looks like nothing close to full force. Walsh said bluntly: “We haven’t seen full force, or really any force at all.”
Meanwhile, the violence escalates. ICE agents targeted, churches burning, families burying their dead. Walsh’s frustration mirrors a growing sentiment: if this administration is serious about restoring order, then the time for half-measures is over.
Trump Sends the Guard, The Left Melts Down
Megyn Kelly reported today on Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Portland. Not surprising — Portland has been a left-wing pressure cooker for years, and the violent rhetoric there has only intensified since Trump’s return to the presidency.
But Kelly brought on Michael Shellenberger and Leland Vittert to highlight the hypocrisy of the Left’s reaction. The very people who told us for years that “democracy is at risk” when conservatives raised their voices are now openly defending mobs who torch federal property and terrorize neighborhoods.
Kelly reminded listeners that Trump’s move isn’t about showmanship. It’s about securing the streets. Yet predictably, the outrage machine kicked in. To the Left, a mayor banning police from using tear gas is “justice,” but Trump sending troops to restore order is “authoritarianism.” It’s the same tired script flipped upside down.
“The American Social Order Is Unraveling”
Michael Knowles went further.
“The left ups the political violence from Portland to Chicago. A killer with an unknown motive launches a brutal attack on an LDS church in Michigan, as the American social order continues to unravel.”
That phrase — “the American social order continues to unravel” — stuck with me. Because that’s exactly how it feels. It’s not just one tragedy here or there. It’s the cumulative weight: Charlie Kirk murdered on a college campus, ICE facilities under attack, churches burning, mobs in Portland, and the media still telling us with a straight face that the real threat is conservatives.
Clay & Buck: Buck Reporting From Taiwan, Clay Holding the Fort
On Clay and Buck, Clay Travis was solo as Buck reported from Taiwan, with an aside that hopefully China doesn’t invade this week. But Clay kept his focus on home.
He noted Trump’s Ryder Cup appearance, the chants of “USA” as his plane flew overhead, and the bizarre swirl of stories — from sports to politics to another mass shooting. He also teased an interview with Paul Finebaum, the college football legend, who may even run for Senate in Alabama. Sometimes the news cycle feels like whiplash: one moment we’re talking about burning churches, the next about golf or football. But that’s America right now. Instability alongside normalcy, all colliding.
My Take
We’re watching something bigger than isolated stories. This is a pattern, and it’s accelerating. Houses of worship under attack. Federal facilities targeted. Leftist mobs defending “resistance” with arson and bullets. And an establishment media either downplaying it or, worse, romanticizing the perpetrators.
Bill Maher recently said, “If you don’t know what’s going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck.” He was right about Nigeria, but he could just as easily be talking about America. If you don’t know what’s happening to churches in Michigan, to ICE facilities in Texas, to streets in Portland, then your media sources do suck.
This is the reality conservatives have been warning about. The “tolerance” crowd is now the violent crowd. The media can call Jan. 6 the darkest day of the Republic, but what do you call assassinations, church shootings, law enforcement officers under fire, and mobs turning cities into warzones?
And here’s the kicker: Trump is in the Oval Office, yet the violence hasn’t slowed. That means the fight isn’t just political. It’s cultural, spiritual, generational. Laws can deter, but unless America finds the will to confront the lies fueling this madness, the unraveling continues.
In Closing
Each night, I try to cut through the spin and lay out what the conservative movement’s top voices are saying and then add what it means in the bigger picture. Tonight, the picture is dark: another church in flames, cities under siege, and a country that feels like it’s losing its grip. But in that darkness, there’s resolve — resolve to call it what it is, to stop pretending it’s “fiery but mostly peaceful,” and to fight for truth.