Turning Point USA’s Watchlists: Free Speech or Harassment?

No one should ever be targeted for their speech or opinions. Yet, Charlie Kirk’s own death may be seen as the tragic consequence of a culture of targeting that he himself helped create. When free speech becomes a weapon instead of a right, it not only silences others — it eventually turns back on those who wield it.

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🎙️ What This Episode Covers

• The origins of Turning Point USA’s Professor and School Board Watchlists.
• Stories from professors who were harassed, threatened, and silenced after being named.
• The contradiction between Kirk’s “free speech” rhetoric and the intimidation these campaigns created.
• Why all educators — regardless of politics — should be concerned about this becoming the new standard.

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🗣️ Key Quote:

“As Arizona State University professor Michael Ostling said: ‘It is neither about free speech nor about welcoming viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum. It’s about harassing professors who don’t agree with the viewpoint of Charlie Kirk.’”

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Listen to the full episode now, and read the full investigative report by clicking the link in the podcast description or visiting The Arrogant Independent Facebook page.

Because protecting free speech means defending all voices, not just the ones we agree with.

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Podcast Turning Point USA’s Watchlists: Free Speech or Harassment?

Full report - Turning Point USA’s Watchlists: Targeting Educators and Chilling Campus Debate

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19LGQJBxzwTcQvlkiJPzqXr6GGDhSJ3sy/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

#TheArrogantIndependent #FreeSpeech #Education #Podcast

Episode 2 Post – 

Health & Speech: What the Founders Really Intended

🚨 Part Two is live!

What happens when fear collides with liberty? In this episode, I unpack how health mandates and speech restrictions test the very limits of our freedom.

We’ll cover:

🔹 Why the Founders saw emergency powers as temporary and narrow

🔹 How both parties overreached during COVID

🔹 The absolute line they drew around free speech

🔹 The critical difference between free expression and harassment — and why it matters today

🎙️ Listen here:

📖 Read the full report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1noa-9ivTnuE6YugKQ_tbm8sGwHUYivOb/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

Liberty belongs to the people — in their bodies and their voices.

Episode 1 Post – 

Guns & Voting: What the Founders Really Intended

🚨 New Episode Alert!

Politicians twist the Constitution to fit their agendas. But what did the Founders really intend when it comes to gun rights and voting?

In this first part of The Founders’ Playbook: Liberty on Trial, I break down:

🔹 Why the Second Amendment was designed to arm the people — not just the state

🔹 How early America balanced safety rules with individual freedom

🔹 The Founders’ vision for state vs. federal power in elections

🔹 Where both parties distort these principles today

🎙️ Listen here: 

📖 Read the full report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1noa-9ivTnuE6YugKQ_tbm8sGwHUYivOb/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

It’s time to hold both sides accountable to the Founders’ standard, not just their stories.

Charlie Kirk—co-founder of Turning Point USA—has died at the age of 31 after being shot during a campus event in Utah.

Colleges are meant to be places of learning, not battlegrounds for political spectacle. In this episode, The Arrogant Independent looks at how unmoderated forums like “Prove Me Wrong” events can distract from education, undermine student safety, and transform universities into stages for conflict rather than centers for growth .

🎙️ Listen to the Podcast Episode:

🔗 The Campus as Sanctuary: The Deadly Distraction of Political Spectacle]

📄 Read the Full Report (APA 7 formatted):

🔗 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mcXm69N0W1YE_SzIYPWBvXbpAXT00zDq/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

🔊 Listen to the Full Audio Narration of the Paper:

🔗 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qr8_M5nPDoscFgKr92hrS6pMM1uETx6X/view?usp=sharing

Conservative Influence Over Universities – J.D. Vance’s Orbán-Inspired Vision

What happens when politicians decide universities are “the enemy”?

In this episode of The Arrogant Independent, we examine Senator J.D. Vance’s call to remake American universities in the image of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán — shifting control from independent boards to political loyalists. Vance has praised Orbán’s model as a “smart” way to deal with what he calls left-wing domination of academia.

But history shows us the risks: from Turkey’s mass academic purges, to Russia’s war-driven propaganda in classrooms, to China’s ideological “strongholds” under Xi Jinping — authoritarian regimes almost always target universities first. Academic freedom, debate, and dissent are replaced by political conformity.

The episode explores why this agenda appeals to some voters frustrated with “wokeness,” but also why it poses deep risks to democracy. If universities become extensions of partisan politics, America risks losing the independence and open inquiry that fuel a free society.

“If draining the swamp just means refilling it with Disney World politics, maybe we’re better off with the gators.”

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🎙️ Listen to the full podcast episode: 

📄 Read the full report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EAd1Xl8z2Lr8sv_ONwg_MN10_949T3Vk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

📄 Explore the white paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_u3ZAaColiL4oyDa7h24NIMBMnhrqJgk/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

🎧 Extended audio version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uzmt9x8TpYy7VQr8tExH1dWShJKFVbA6/view?usp=sharing

The Arrogant Independent

Episode Release: Rights Under Fire — Victims, Violence, and the Fight Against Unconstitutional Gun Laws

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This week, I take you inside my story — a 20-year Army veteran, targeted by stalking, harassment, and even poisoning — and show how my experience connects to the broader fight over unconstitutional gun laws.

Politicians like Gavin Newsom push restrictions that sound like “safety,” but in reality, they punish victims, erode rights, and fail to address the true root causes of violence.

In this episode, I challenge the myths, expose the legal failures, and lay out a path that protects both victims and constitutional liberty.

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🔗 Listen to the full episode now on The Arrogant Independent podcast.

And for those who want to go deeper, I’ve linked the full reports that back everything discussed in the show. Don’t just take my word for it — read them for yourself:

·      Podcast 

·      Audio version of the full report “Gavin Newsom’s Gun Control Policies”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lcwse55Fq7GP3hSwdF8ofM5tlI8el39D/view?usp=sharing

·      Targeted Harassment, Complex PTSD, and Civil Rights

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-CM59rrJOGeIhGGZTR0UylWSW3Oae3kG/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

·      Mass Shooters: Characteristics and Background

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17u7-qLs-IDZYbCDhYw6mOVzvm0WRHbXK/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

·      Preventing Violence Through Root Cause Interventions

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fMhinn_qUSmnUa1-7LAIXYpF9pdZI5oJ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

·      Gavin Newsom’s Gun Control Policies

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UioljxO7JqYE6oalV-5Xn0AichBmkFYg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

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This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about truth. It’s about protecting victims instead of scapegoating them. And it’s about defending rights that are under fire.

Stand with me. Share this episode. Read the reports. And let’s keep The Arrogant Independent strong, together.

Respectfully,

Shawn Havens

From Hillbilly Elegy to the Vice Presidency, J.D. Vance has become one of the most consequential figures shaping America’s political future. His rise tells a story of working-class roots, cultural battles, and the evolution of populism in Republican politics.

In our latest deep-dive, we look at:

• Vance’s personal journey — Marine veteran, Yale Law, venture capital, and bestselling author turned national leader.
• The populist pivot — from Trump critic to Trump’s chosen heir, recasting America First for a new era.
• The 2028 stakes — how Vance’s blend of economic nationalism, cultural conservatism, and Midwestern appeal could reshape the GOP coalition.
• Strategic outlook — what it means for Democrats, independents, and the fight for working-class voters across the Rust Belt.

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🎙️ Listen to the podcast breakdown: 

📄 Read the full report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZvpsiJJ56DhMX-Huxh283N2y9WxQWQ_H/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

📄 Explore the white paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A5tX3TAx5NQD97GxHUSlE8ugNg15ekca/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

🎧 Extended audio version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SFYTQ1KOqO3jbnLlf8DSLpXqu8Ifq6LN/view?usp=sharing

Charting a Winning Democratic Strategy for 2028

Democrats are at a crossroads after Kamala Harris’s 2024 loss. Inflation, messaging failures, and weak connections with working-class voters left the party vulnerable in every battleground. But there is a potential path forward.

This episode of The Arrogant Independent breaks down the lessons of 2024, Gavin Newsom’s strengths as a communicator and governor, and how Democrats can rebuild trust with blue-collar voters through kitchen-table economics, safety, and freedom.

We also examine California as a test case — the world’s 4th-largest economy, strong gun safety laws, and bold social policies — while acknowledging the challenges of housing and homelessness.

Republicans will frame Newsom as elitist and “soft on crime,” but the data tells a more complicated story. The question is whether Democrats will unite around a hopeful, pro-worker vision, or remain divided by culture-war distractions.

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🎙️ Listen to the full podcast episode: 

📄 Read the full report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15TcPYBE0Gr5-f1n67wYcB8BJ3NLLrX-d/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

📄 Explore the white paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BtloRk0NgL3xjKy_mhjXC0k_q-gKl8fK/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

🎧 Extended audio version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vkzGKHBXpi-07punuJHy293c0ifVO7Rj/view?usp=sharing

I’ve lived this story. I was made to feel guilty for the very benefits I earned through service — targeted, humiliated, and even pressured into giving away money when I barely had enough to survive.

But here’s the truth: this isn’t just about me. It’s about a pattern where veterans are used as scapegoats. Institutions, corporations, and political actors deflect attention from their corruption by turning communities against those who served. Veterans become the “easy target,” while real misconduct hides in the shadows .

This isn’t only unfair — it’s dangerous. It erodes trust, fuels resentment, and weakens the very fabric of our society. Protecting veterans isn’t charity. It’s justice.

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🎙️ Listen to the Podcast Episode

🎧 Listen to the Full Report (Audio Version)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CU8gVUrmUFpOLFPGW5hLZxEcmuZPH0k7/view?usp=sharing

📄 Read the Full Written Report

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vMhtiCp_SkdZ9hJpGfAKwrR2neFTcOrV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

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If you’ve ever been told veterans are “getting too much,” stop and ask: Who benefits from making me believe this?

Because corruption doesn’t want you looking up. It wants you looking sideways.

#TheArrogantIndependent #Veterans #Corruption #Accountability

The Arrogant Independent

A Market-Aligned Solution to America’s Retirement Crisis

Traditional pensions are gone for most workers, wages have stagnated, and nearly half of U.S. households have no retirement savings. The system leaves too many Americans behind.

That’s why we developed a Universal, Market-Aligned Retirement Savings Plan — a reform that:

• Provides every worker with a portable retirement account.
• Uses automatic enrollment with opt-out to boost savings.
• Directs progressive federal matches to low- and middle-income workers.
• Relies on private management and market competition, not government control.
• Rewards employers who participate through tax credits and payroll offsets.

This is a solution that respects free-market capitalism while tackling a crisis that affects tens of millions of Americans.

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🎙️ Podcast episode:

🔊 Audio narration of the report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16O_uIAeHwq5T9bN_9QiXwFZjJEHiXYL0/view?usp=sharing

📄 Full Report (DOCX): https://docs.google.com/document/d/19-u293WFuqkGedh_19_bJXWyZZUbsZAA/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true

📑 White Paper (Policy Proposal PDF):https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zyJry8CxU7h4d0gHLs2pUccWEopymKTc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111018917453627434082&rtpof=true&sd=true