BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION SEPT. 12-14, 20250 — Prior to recent events, THE PLANET had never heard of Charlie Kirk. True. We don’t “follow” anyone on social media or YouTube, much less watch the endless political blather of talking heads, and so when we heard of the assassination of this darling of the far right, it slipped by as “just another shooting.” That there can even be such a thing as “just another shooting” provides its own commentary on the state of debate and First Amendment freedoms.

We only found out later that Kirk was considered by this millions of followers as a cultural icon. What hath social media wrought?

Reactions to his murder on both sides have been as polarizing as the actions of the dude’s trigger finger who shot Kirk through the neck from 200 yards. The killer wore all-black tactical gear, and it’s clear this cowardly act took some high-level planning. Was this a preordained hit? Time and the investigation will tell.

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THE PLANET has seen diatribes from both extremes of the political spectrum. They are as predictable as they are boiling over in rage and devoid of insight. The left particularly has the hypocritical custard smeared all over its face after weeks of showing President Trump lying dead in his coffin. The captions to these images invariably expresses some form of rejoicing or fervent hope. The ones who enjoy such images are the same ones dancing on Kirk’s yet-to-be-dug grave. They are the first to decry violence, of course. Hate has no home there, but it does have a plush apartment.

If anyone ever need proof that we’ve lost the ability to rationally air our differences, the Kirk killing provides it. We knew long ago. THE PLANET wasn’t shocked at what happened, only surprised … but even that, barely. We’ve become accustomed to the bullet over the ballot, or have you forgotten the assassinations JFK, Malcolm X, King, RFK, and the attempted murders of George Wallace, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Gerry Ford, and Donald Trump and many more?

Lost in all this is its effect on First Amendment rights, particularly freedom of expression. One case caught our eye: the overreaction of the MSNBC brass, as described in this wire account:

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Political analyst Matthew Dowd has been fired from MSNBC after his comments about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to a network source.

During MSNBC’s coverage of Kirk’s shooting, anchor Katy Tur asked Dowd about “the environment in which a shooting like this happens.” Dowd responded with the following about 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 or sort of 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 is the environment we are 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.”

DAN VALENTI, in poison, DALTON LIBRARY, Sept. 18 from 1-2 p.m. He’ll be expecting you!

The remarks sparked outrage across social media, and MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler issued an apology in response. She slammed Dowd’s comments as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”

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THE PLANET disagrees with the network’s chicken-livered reaction to Dowd expressing a response to a legitimate question. Of course, expecting network executives to stand by their people and act with character is futile, a bit like expecting a politicians to tell the truth.

We see nothing in what Dowd said that could be called “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable.” Kutler’s apology smeared Dowd, took away his job, and spat on the First Amendment.

What are we doing?

Where are we as a nation going?

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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“I think it’s worth it … some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment”–Charlie Kirk.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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