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Sometimes I don’t know what to write an email newsletter about. But I know exactly what the topic needs to be today. As I reflect back on 2025, by far the dominant story was the murder of Charlie Kirk. And while it could have been the saddest, most depressing story of the year, it turned out to be perhaps the most inspirational and hopeful story of the year.
I will not lie to you, though. On Sept. 10, after seeing multiple videos of the shooting, one of the first thoughts to cross my mind was, “Man, is being involved in this political climate really worth it?”
Not that I view myself as Charlie Kirk. I’m not dumb. Well, I’m not that dumb. But the sad reality is the Left doesn’t really differentiate between Charlie Kirk and those of us who agree with Charlie Kirk.
It didn’t take long following his murder to realize that, yes, it is worth it being involved in this fight. And then, in the days that followed, as we saw Leftists across the country and even here in Iowa celebrate and/or justify Kirk’s murder, it became evident we need to be involved in politics.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. And it doesn’t mean it will always be comfortable. But it is 100 percent necessary.
So as conservatives in the midst of waging political battles that often are not popular within the culture, I think that’s the message to end the year with. Let’s close the year by looking at what Charlie Kirk said about courage.
Charlie said there is a “crisis of courage in America,” noting that the top form of censorship in the US isn’t from Big Tech, it is self-censorship. People worry about losing friends, jobs and status by speaking out on politics.
“I understand what people say about you matters,” he said. “Should it? You can be a lot of things, but if you are not courageous, they’re all very brittle. You can be smart. You can be creative. You can be funny. You can be successful. You can be charming. George S. Patton, one of the greatest men ever to live, famously said that moral courage is the most necessary yet absent characteristic in men. Aristotle famously said about courage, there is no other virtue. That it is the virtue that holds all the other ones in place.”
Charlie offered advice on how to become courageous. He said it’s easy to be courageous when there isn’t much to lose. Revolutions work with people who don’t have a lot. But we do.
“You just have to ask yourself, does that matter more than pursuing the truth of courage?” he asked. And if so, so be it. A lot of people say, ‘I’m going to lose my job.’ You might. You’re right. You might lose your job. Make a decision. That’s it. Maybe it’s the right decision. Maybe it’s the wrong decision. ‘I’m going to lose my friends.’ Yes, you will, but you’ll make new ones — a lot of them.”
He invited those in attendance to think of the courageous people they’ve seen in life or see in history. And then ask one simple question…
“Do I want to be more like them?”
I often tell people we’re here in this country at this time when very basic truths are somehow being debated as though they are in doubt. And speaking out doesn’t cost us our life. It doesn’t result in prison. It just results in some temporary discomfort.
Let’s look at the library situation. Kids are being provided sexually explicit content by their government. Some will scoff at the thought that it’s a big deal. Some will say just be better parents. Some will cry censorship. Some will say, “I would never want my child to read that…” but I guess if some other kid ends up with it, oh well, why would we care about them?
They’re all wrong. Each of those arguments misses the moral responsibility we have to protect children.
The majority of people are on our side — but they’re not going to be public about it. It reminds me of Dick Odgaard talking about people who supported their decision not to host same-sex weddings at their art gallery, telling him they are behind them, but noting they just can’t be seen going into their wedding gallery for various social reasons.
At some point, those of us who are right have to have at least the same amount of courage as those who are wrong. After all, we are right. We have nothing to apologize for, whether it is standing up for our religious beliefs or defending a child’s innocence.
The Left stands for almost everything that is wrong, yet they’ll fight tooth and nail for it. The Right stands for much that is right, yet won’t risk breaking a nail defending it.
If we really believe what we say we believe, then we’d better find a way to muster the courage to defend it — privately and publicly. We’d better worry less about what it will cost us if we do speak out and instead worry more about what it will cost us if we don’t.
The reality is, if we allow the Left to silence us, if we allow the Left to intimidate us, if we retreat because we’re scared, then we’re leaving our country to the radicals hellbent on destroying it.
I’m going to close with more from Charlie Kirk on courage:
“The cool thing about courage is that it actually doesn’t require any talent. It is just a choice. That’s it. You have to choose to be courageous. A lot of things in life have to do with, ‘Well, I don’t have enough money. I don’t have enough…’ No. Courage is different. You can just choose to be courageous. You can say, ‘Today I am going to be courageous.’ How do you create more courage? We must find other role models and find other stories of the past of courageous people, and raise our children in those stories. Some of the great heroes that have built our civilization were men and women full of courage. We need to teach our young people about that.”
Charlie Kirk was, without a doubt, an example of courage. Guess what — you can be too. And you should be. Not just for yourself. Not just because it’s the right thing to do. But because we know that if we want the next generation to be more courageous than this one, we have to be more courageous today. We must show them the way. We must show them that some things are worth fighting for. Some things are worth being uncomfortable for. Our friendships, our jobs, our social lives — none of them are more important than our principles.
Let’s make the choice to be courageous, even when we’re not sure what the outcome will be. Trust this, though, courage begets courage. And it is contagious. Go spread it.
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