A man who tells the truth is chased out of 12 villages
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Even someone who was a bona fide made man in the second Bush administration can be fired for simply telling the truth, and in a quite measured and moderate way, about the latest entry in Fox News’s Book of Martyrs:
“During our breaking news coverage of the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Matthew Dowd made comments that were inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable,” read a statement from MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler. “We apologize for his statements, as has he. There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”
Dowd, a long-standing political commentator, who served as the chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign, was asked on-air to talk about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens.”
After emphasizing that there were no details of the shooting at that time, Dowd said of Kirk: “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive, younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
“And I think that’s the environment we’re in. You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place. And that’s the unfortunate environment we are in.”
Following the on-air commentary, a source at the network has told TIME that Dowd is no longer with MSNBC.
Meanwhile:
A dean at a Tennessee university was fired over social media posts saying she has “zero sympathy” for slain conservative activist, Charlie Kirk.
The move, “concerning the horrific and tragic murder of Charlie Kirk,” Middle Tennessee State University’s President Sidney McPhee said in a statement, came after what officials are calling the “political assassination” of the American right-wing activist on Sept. 10, and as comments from the school’s assistant began making rounds on several social media platforms.
The school is about 40 miles south of downtown Nashville.
According to information from the university’s website and social media pages, the school fired Laura Sosh-Lightsy, who “joined the MTSU family in June 2004. Laura has over two decades of experience in student development.”
According to her LinkedIn page, Sosh-Lightsy was the assistant dean of students at MTSU and previously attended Western Kentucky University.
Sosh-Lightsy’s comments were brought to the attention of U.S.Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who, in a repost on X, called for the dean’s removal on the night of Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The Republican lawmaker, who recently announced her run for Tennessee governor, shared copies of the comments about Kirk, which another user had screenshotted and said were made by an “Assistant Dean of Students” at the university.
I’m sure that Bari Weiss, who apparently is about to be named director of CBS News by Paramount, will be all over these attacks on free expression.
Why would anybody express anything other than profound heartbreak over the death of this heroic champion in the unending battle against human decency?
His omnipresent posts on social media regularly disparaged trans, gay, black and Jewish people. He was a proponent of the racist “great replacement theory”, and on his podcast in 2023 he blamed Jews for “pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”. Increasingly drawn to Christian nationalism, he believed that women – including the pop star Taylor Swift, to whom he offered unsolicited advice on her recent engagement – should “submit” to their husbands.
He rejected efforts at gun control, opining only a few months ago: “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.” A climate change denier and an opponent of abortion, he promoted a number of conspiracy theories, including Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen by Joe Biden, and spread misinformation about the Covid pandemic.
Charlie Kirk was some combination of sincere advocate of extreme authoritarian reaction, as embodied in the now one would think undeniably fascist guise of Donald Trump, and shameless new media age grifter, who was willing to do and say just about anything for more of those precious clicks and reposts and hashtags.
I already blogged about Ezra Klein’s disgraceful performance this morning, but I want to come back to this in particular:
He was one of the era’s most effective practitioners of persuasion. When the left thought its hold on the hearts and minds of college students was nearly absolute, Kirk showed up again and again to break it. Slowly, then all at once, he did. College-age voters shifted sharply right in the 2024 election.That was not all Kirk’s doing, but he was central in laying the groundwork for it. I did not know Kirk, and I am not the right person to eulogize him. But I envied what he built.
There it is. Game recognize game as they say in the Association.
Which side are you on?