The Very Right MSNBC

For those of you with long memories, I wrote a piece this morning about MSNBC's idiotic firing of Sam Seder for a satirical tweet he made nine years ago.  I ended it by writing, "If MSNBC had any sense in the matter, they'd swallow their pride, admit a mistake and bring Seder back.  I don't expect that.  But I live in hope."

Later in the day, MSNBC swallowed pride, admitted a mistake and brought Seder back! 

Hope springs eternal

Huzzah.  Well done, MSNBC.  You ended up getting it very right.  

MSNBC President Phil Griffin released a statement:  “Sometimes you just get one wrong — and that’s what happened here.  “We made our initial decision for the right reasons — because we don’t consider rape to be a funny topic to be joked about. But we’ve heard the feedback, and we understand the point Sam was trying to make in that tweet was actually in line with our values, even though the language was not. Sam will be welcome on our air going forward.” 

Honestly, I can't remember the last time a network has fired someone and then hired them back within the week.  Maybe it's happened, but I'm hard-pressed to remember when, and even if so, it's certainly not a common experience.  And this wasn't a case of the person being fired falling on their sword and apologizing for some transgression.  It was the network saying, "Oops, we screwed up."  And they did.  And then they got it right.  Good for them.

Almost more important than getting Seder back on the air because he shouldn't have been let go in the first place is that it sends a message to the white supremacist behind the faux-outrage that "You didn't get away with it."  He already had acknowledged making plans to go after other liberals because his tactics had worked here.

Also good to know is how influential this site is...