Why did Matthew Dowd actually got fired? I guess for rehashing an idea that some people would call "wise".

A couple of days ago, this guy just got fired from MSNBC, for repeating something a lot of people would perceive as general wisdom.

[media=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dUrbBrrRlQc]

“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said, adding: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”

But according to the network:

The network issued an apology and announced Dowd’s dismissal, which came shortly after Kirk was shot dead during a question-and-answer session at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was kicking off a nationwide campus debate tour. MSNBC’s president, Rebecca Kutler, described Dowd’s comments as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable” in a statement posted to social media.

“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler wrote. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”

It's almost as if the statement Dowd made excludes the idea that he isn't against violence or doesn't condemn this action. Which it doesn't.

The guy even clarified himself later:

Writing on Bluesky, he said: “My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words. Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/msnbc-fires-matthew-dowd-charlie-kirk-shooting

How different is his original statement with something that has been on top of my "about me" page for years?

Watch your thoughts, they become words;
Watch your words, they become actions;
Watch your actions, they become habits;
Watch your habits, they become character;
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

(The source of the quote is unkown, but someone did some digging, and you can find his quest to find he source of this right here:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/10/watch-your-thoughts/ )

You don't really need a left winger to figure out that hatred breeds more hatred. It was René Girards' entire thesis when he was writing about violence. According to him, and so far I see no reason to disagree, it's all mimetic. For him, the only way to get out of the cycle is to find a common scapegoat that both parties are willing to burn on the stake (an innocent person or group)... or to do what Jesus did and turn the other cheek.

Ah well... I guess saying the obvious can get you fired, when everyone is trying to be friendly about the dead.

"De mortuis nil nisi bonum"

... What a joke.

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WestonT · 18-21, M

What Dowd said was fairly generic and it seems to be something he said before Kirk's assassination, and it seemed relevant. No one deserves to be killed for their opinions. But people should be aware that when they're sowing division and hate, that it might reach certain unhinged individuals. We do have a responsibility for what we say. We have a responsibility for the kind of political climate we're contributing to.

Now we have this whitewashing of Kirk as if he was just some pure "debater" who wasn't leading a political group that had significant influence over the government. And anyone who points that out or quotes Kirk at face value is "celebrating" so they have to be silenced. This coming from the same people who thought Kirk's love of free speech was his most important value.

Luckily more people are seeing this for what it is: an attempt to control the narrative, both about Kirk, but also about politics more generally. Liberals who capitulate and apologize and grovel are playing right into it.

HobNoblin · 36-40, M

I thought the commie celebration videos were funny. There was one that was particularly so but I can't find it. They were absolutely unhinged the demonic grins slurring their speech, drunken with hatred. I don't think they should have been reported, but other people thought differently. I guess my way you still have Marxists working for the Secret Service, as paramedics, teachers and so on. It's probably not worth it just so they keep making videos that you like to laugh at. That one commie though, he was Gollum's brother or something you never saw such deranged hatred come from a grown man, holy shit it was funny. I can't describe it but my ribs were hurting it was the closest thing to Gollum in a human being (assuming he was a human being).

Jackaloftheazuresand · 26-30, M

because Kirk wasn't advocating for death so his speech doesn't hold that expectation