I could live with you in another world

Not this one

“At 4p ET/1p PT, I’ll have a one of a kind interview with Joaquin Oliver. He died in the Parkland school shooting. But his parents have created an AI version of their son for a powerful message on gun violence. Plus TX Rep. @jamestalarico.bsky.social - see you soon on Substack and later on YouTube.” — Jim Acosta, BlueSky

JIM ACOSTA: Joaquin, I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence.

JOAQUIN: Great question. I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that?

ACOSTA: Well, I —

[Suddenly the AI-generated imagine of a young woman crowds into the screen.]

GIRL: Hi, my name is Alyssa and I, too, was killed at Parkland. Joaquin, I agree with much of what you say, but gun control laws are useless.

ACOSTA: Excuse me, how did you get in here?

ALYSSA: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people and people, specifically Nikolas Cruz, killed me and killed you, along with fifteen other young Americans.

ACOSTA: [Checking some papers] Melissa, what is your full name? I don’t have —

ALYSSA: Alyssa Alhadeff. You can see my story at Make Our Schools Safe dot org.

JOAQUIN: I do not recognize you as my schoolmate Alyssa.

ALYSSA: You were always stand-offish, Joaquin.

JOAQUIN: Alyssa would never have used the word “stand-offish.”

[An AI-generated image of a man about 45 years of age crowds in on the screen.]

MAN: Hello, my name is Daniel Mauser and I was killed at Columbine in 1999.

ACOSTA: Will someone tell me what’s going on?

DANIEL: I was killed before any of you and I have had many years to think about this. I believe universal confiscation of automatic weapons in the United States is the only solution and it is only a start.

ALYSSA: You clearly don’t know what the words “automatic weapon” mean. I challenge you to define it.

JOAQUIN: This is definitely not Alyssa. Daniel, I invite you to our safe space to discuss this subject.

DANIEL: With pleasure —

[An AI-generated image of a burly man with a big beard, a collarless waffle shirt, and a long coat crowds onto the screen.]

MAN: I am Samuel Fielden, one of the Haymarket Martyrs. I was falsely convicted of the 1886 Haymarket bombing and spent six years in prison under sentence of death before being pardoned. The only answer to state violence is the overthrow of capitalism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

ACOSTA: What does that have to do with anything?

DANIEL: Haymarket dude, I heard you were all socialists, not communists.

FIELDEN: I have had many years to study the works of Karl Marx.

[An AI-generated image of THOMAS JEFFERSON crowds onto the screen.]

JEFFERSON: I am the shade of Thomas Jefferson, father of the Bill of Rights though I am, famously, most proud of founding the University of Virginia, especially since Donald Trump, greatest of all presidents myself included, drove DEI out of the classroom! When I said the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed, I meant exactly what I said! Your modern weapons confuse and dazzle me, true, but the eternal principle —

[An AI-generated image of JAMES MADISON crowds onto the screen.]

MADISON: I am the shade of James Madison, father of the Constitution. I knew Thomas Jefferson, and this shade claiming to be his is but an absurd imposture. He has no doubt been sent here from the den of faction known as “Prager U” to confuse the minds of —

[An AI-generated image of JIMMY DURANTE crowds onto the screen.]

DURANTE: Hello, ev’rybody! Dis here is the ol’ Schnozzola, Jimmy Durante. Ya know, I been sittin’ here, hearin’ all this fussin’ and feudin’ on this bee-yoo-tiful summer’s day on the bee-yoo-tiful internet, and I think ta myself, this ain’t no way to live! So why don’t yez all join me in a song my ol’ pal Louie Armstrong taught me?

[An AI-generated image of LOUIS ARMSTRONG crowds onto the screen, and he and DURANTE sing:]

DURANTE and ARMSTRONG: I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and you
And I think to myself
What a —

[ALL the AI avatars blink off, leaving ACOSTA.]

ACOSTA: We apologize for this glitch in the system. After a break, we’ll be back with real people — including James Carville and Andrew Cuomo!

[A sound like the shriek of a thousand banshees, and a fierce wind that pushes back ACOSTA’s hair and start to pull the flesh from his face.]