MSNBC's Chris Hayes Apologizes for Anti-Fallen Military Hero Remark
NewsBusters reported Sunday that MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes said on live television Memorial Day weekend he was "uncomfortable" with calling fallen military members "heroes."
On Monday, Hayes issued a written apology at his MSNBC.com blog:
On Sunday, in discussing the uses of the word "hero" to describe those members of the armed forces who have given their lives, I don't think I lived up to the standards of rigor, respect and empathy for those affected by the issues we discuss that I've set for myself. I am deeply sorry for that.
As many have rightly pointed out, it's very easy for me, a TV host, to opine about the people who fight our wars, having never dodged a bullet or guarded a post or walked a mile in their boots. Of course, that is true of the overwhelming majority of our nation's citizens as a whole. One of the points made during Sunday's show was just how removed most Americans are from the wars we fight, how small a percentage of our population is asked to shoulder the entire burden and how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are wounded and fight and die, to not ask questions about the direction of our strategy in Afghanistan, and to assuage our own collective guilt about this disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to our barbecues.
But in seeking to discuss the civilian-military divide and the social distance between those who fight and those who don't, I ended up reinforcing it, conforming to a stereotype of a removed pundit whose views are not anchored in the very real and very wrenching experience of this long decade of war. And for that I am truly sorry.
As you might expect, NewsBusters will have more on this in the coming days.
Stay tuned.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
He might
Submitted by mcherr on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 7:50pm.
also do his "apology" on the cable.
Yes, do it on air
Submitted by wingnut55 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:12am.
Once again the wrong is done on air and the apology is done elsewhere. I am a firm believer in if you do or say wrong then apologize in the same venue. How many of his watchers read his blog? My guess is not many. I challenge him to go on air and read that apology. Do it on the same day in the week and at the same time in his program. If he doesn't then he, once again, shows his lack of guts. He didn't have the guts to join the military and defend the country that gives him his freedom to say such stupid things on the air. And again he doesn't have the guts to apologize where the people who heard his statement will hear his admitting that he was wrong.
Chrissy Hayes apology
Submitted by shadowman on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 4:08pm.
Why should this progressive/liberal apologize on the air, he wouldn't mean it there either. He only blogged it to save his job. He is so transparent.
Hogwash
Submitted by Joe W. on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 7:56pm.
" how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are wounded and fight and die, to not ask questions about the direction of our strategy in Afghanistan, and to assuage our own collective guilt about this disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to our barbecues."
What the hell sort of apology is THIS, Chris. What's so hard about saying something like:
"You know, folks, I was so caught up in my intellectual pontificating that I allowed myself to totally disrespect the utterly selfless sacrifices made on my behalf by our brave American Heroes. And, make no mistake, they are heroes every one of them, and I offer my humble apologies to them, to their families, and to my fellow citizens. Please forgive me. Thank you."
THAT would be an apology, Chris. You are a mealy mouthed wimp, and a coward.
He said it and he meant it
Submitted by Tomorama on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 7:58pm.
I as a veteran DO NOT accept his apology.
He spoke for the majority of progressive, pablum, puking pu&&ies.
NOT ALL, but the majority in my experience.
In Other Words
Submitted by stratman on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:22pm.
He's sorry he was caught spilling his true feelings.
He should have shut up after the first sentence and gone to the apology portion of his re-imaging. Instead, he couldn't help himself hiding behind sanctimony and Leftwing talking points, using his supposed apology to remind us yokels of our faults as if we were the ones who crapped on America's sons and daughters who gave their last and every measure to us, for us, in the service of their country.
What a prick.
You are right Strat, he's not sorry he did it.
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:25pm.
"Assuage our collective guilt"? You can tell he was raised in a left-wing household with absolutely zero pro-American values and too much emphasis on badly performed psychoanalysis.
You can always count on a leftist hack to tip their hands in issuing "apologies". In their narcissistic, self-important minds they do not have to debase themselves with negative feelings like remorse. Instead, they go on and on like an abscessed tooth about how their own delusions of moral superiority. They don't recognize their own amorality, and they have zero functional capacity to deal with anything that undercuts their illusions of superiority. Just take Ear Leader as the prototype and copy him too many times.
Think that 3+ decades of psychiatry practice has made me just a bit cynical about liberals/leftists and their "apologies"? Heard it all before, and I can tell you never to believe them at all. There is a greater chance that humanity will be able to travel safely faster than light speed in my lifetime than the gender dysphoric little hack is sincere in his apology.
As for our distance from the events of war, how would that putz know? I lost my two dearest cousins and two uncles due to war--all four were volunteers and not draftees. They served America with pride and professionalism. For Rachel's little sister to say otherwise tells you how far (s)he is from reality.
drsamherman
Submitted by amyshulk on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:27am.
The cynical part of me thinks this was a put up job so the left could berate us for not "sacrificing" enough - not enough of us go to war, pay our "fair share" and on and on.
All the while ignoring those who really DON'T carry their share of the burden!
Ronald Reagan
Sam
Submitted by stratman on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:03pm.
I glossed over that Liberal dog whistle code word "collective". Probably learned it on his community activist father's knee while down at the co-op communing with fellow comrades in between readings from Mao's Little Red Book.
awesome post...
Submitted by JPTSO3 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 11:37pm.
Nothing else worth writing
I noticed he justified
Submitted by misterbee241 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:27pm.
his attitude with the meme that the "majority of Americans" didnt duck any bullets either. As if that makes him right.
that is not an appology
Submitted by c5then on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:23pm.
That was an excuse from an adolescent trying to get out of trouble. He doesn't believe that our fallen military are heros and he is sorry that he got caught saying it on air.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
precisely, that was an explanation, not an apology
Submitted by mom_rox on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:17pm.
Noel, even Hayes himself described it as a statement, not an apology. You're giving him waaaaaaay too much credit.
Memorial at Fort Stewart.
Submitted by BD on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:40pm.
At Fort Stewart Georgia the troops have planted a grove of several hundred trees surrounding the 3ID parade field, one tree for each of their comrades who died in either Afghanistan or Iraq.
Each tree has a soldiers name, his unit flag, and unit crest. The troops take great pains to tend these trees of their fallen friends with the utmost care. As I walked by today I noticed that some of them have personal messages written on paper by old friends.
I noticed more than one young family make the walk along the grove this afternoon. Young men, their wives and young children. Occasionally stopping to quietly chat about the person for whom the memorial is intended. They are truly missed.
In his remark of "just how removed most Americans are from the wars we fight, how small a percentage of our population is asked to shoulder the entire burden and how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are wounded and fight and die" he truly does not know the half of it. Nor has he made much of an effort, nor do his comrades in the press....
➚ Chris Hayes
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:40pm.
You know, I'm uncomfortable calling anybody at NBC or MSNBC a journalist.
To do so is rhetorically proximate to accepting their justifications for President Obama's reelection.
Cool
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:33pm.
I'm uncomfortable calling Obama the president, but I'm not sure what I can do about it until November.
Another
Submitted by grammajane on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:51pm.
msdnc jerk trying to sound apologitic for far left radical remarks. If you or any of your so-called "hosts " ever took time to read American History instead of blabbing about your anti-war BS you possibly would learn about the meaning of war and the respect all the hero's deserve. Your shameful words are a disgrace and the Great Military was/is fortunate you never joined. The best apology you could offer, would be to get lost and am sure. no one would miss your lousy show.
It sounds like he is trying
Submitted by tcm14 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 8:59pm.
It sounds like he is trying to say, "All you commoners out there who are criticizing me care even less about the troops than I do, but I didn't dumb it down enough for you to understand my deepness, and for that I apologize." What a weasel.
Too little, too late
Submitted by gobnait06 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:12pm.
you odious toad.
Apology rejected.
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:16pm.
You'll have to do better than that.
Something along the lines of "It was callous and ungrateful of me to not recognize the heroism of those who willingly put themselve in harm's way and shoulder the burdens of war for all of us."
You can start with that.
Then you can check yourself into rehab.
That was no apology
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:28pm.
It was a typical liberal spin. It was a "you do it too" comment, so what I said is really true. His statement, to assuage our own collective guilt about this disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to our barbecues. shows that he has no idea of how many of feel or celebrate Memorial Day.
For him it is a pro-forma ritual, for some of us it is much more meaningful and personal.
He is truly scum.
1/10 apology, 9/10 explanation.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:30pm.
Pack it, suckwad.
➚ And 100% crawfish
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:42pm.
And 100% crawfish because what he didn't realize is that a lot of liberal viewers have been affected by the loss of family to war.
Sounds like a psuedo-apology,
Submitted by killa37 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 9:53pm.
Sounds like a psuedo-apology, along with a list of excuses, explanations, and alibis for being HIMSELF!!! And I'm sure that this tilley has a very elevated opinion of himself......................so I'm calling the whole spiel horse manure.
Ya'know - if just ONE of these guys would look at the camera and say - 'I'm sorry, I was wrong, it was a stupid thing to say, and I won't do it again'..........and then prove it by their subsequent actions and statements, they might actually invite a little bit of credibility to themselves. Of course..................it won't happen that way.
Lets see if he does it on
Submitted by Pinetree3 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 10:01pm.
Lets see if he does it on MSNBC.
Ann Coulter responds:
Submitted by CO2Maker on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 10:24pm.
She tweeted: "Chris Hayes 'Uncomfortable' Calling Fallen Military 'Heroes' – Marines respond by protecting his right to menstruate."
Nothing more can be said!
https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/206882592782430208
One other thing
Submitted by CO2Maker on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 10:26pm.
Chris just might get to keep his Rachel Madcow glasses.
I will give credit where credit is due with Chris Hayes.
Submitted by djwolf12 on Mon, 05/28/2012 - 10:40pm.
Let me be fair and honest about this: He did say these 3 words: I AM SORRY. It is still better than listening to Maddow's "Story Corrections" and Crazy Larry's "Rewrites". They simply twist their words to throw it back into the people's faces they slandered. Need proof? Here you go:
Maddow's "Story Correction":
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/21/rachel_maddow_corrects...
Apparently Maddow believes that History ONLY BEGINS whenever a Democrat is elected to the Presidency.
Then, there is Crazy Larry's "Rewrite":
http://www.ihatethemedia.com/msnbc-host-lawrence-odonnell-forced-to-apol...
And WHO COULD EVER FORGET THIS DOOZIE?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydNY-9xNzB0&feature=related
As the old saying goes: "If it happens the first time IT IS AN ACCIDENT. If it happens again, IT IS BECOMING A TREND. If it still happens a 3rd time, THEN IT IS A PROBLEM.
I hope Chris Hayes been scared straight about what is RESPONSIBLE speech by a tv host and what is IRRESPONSIBLE speech, especially if it involves those who protect your rights to say irresponsible things.
He only 'apologized' to save his job
Submitted by Slyrr on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:15am.
Here's my two bits, for what they're worth.
Chrissy-boy meant every word he said when he declared that he 'had trouble' thinking of our military troops as heroes - living or dead. Why? Because he's a typical media/democrat/liberal/D-bag. He's been groomed and trained to HATE the military and everything to do with it. He's been trained that everyone on earth will dance around the maypole and live in peace if we could just destroy the US and it's armies. That was the motivation behind his stupid comments, which was a rare instance of honesty from this foul network of Obama slaves.
Here's the second thing: His apology was meaningless. Oh it was nice as far as it went, but he didn't mean a word of it. He still hates the military, and everyone in it, and wishes they were all dead or disbanded. Why then did he apologize? Because of the only thing that these liberal D-bags actually care about - their jobs.
I guarantee that the bosses of MSNBC (i.e., Obama and his thugs) dragged Chrissy-boy behind the woodshed and flogged him, then sent him limping back with orders to 'fix this or else'. That's the only reason he apologized. He's scared to death that he'll be the next person to join the nearly 3 million others that Obama and his cabinet have put on the unemployment line. He didn't give a d@#( about the other 2,999,999 people that Obama has ruined - he only cares about himself.
Right. He did at least
Submitted by robjh22 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:25pm.
Right. He did at least apologize, if in a mealy mouthed way. I don't think the "reverend" Al Sharpton would have done the same.
Of course , Bill Maher apologized for the "we're the cowards" remark and then he came back worse than ever!
That's not an apology.
Submitted by Saint Zero on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:31am.
That's not an apology.
Memorial Day Postscript
Submitted by berlet98 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:35am.
Memorial Day Postscript
In “Memorial Day 2012″, I committed a serious error of omission as well as what liberals would characterize as a grievous blunder in word usage.
In calling for renewed recognition of the meaning of Memorial Day honoring the 1,343,812 men and women who have died in the service of our country, I neglected to mention the tens of millions of veterans of America’s wars who honorably served. I also made the mistake–according to the Left–of calling our war dead “heroes.”
Americans often confuse Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, with another national holiday, Veterans’ Day, originally referred to as Armistice Day.
Memorial Day honors our war dead whereas the latter commemorates the official conclusion of World War One on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The purpose of Veterans’ day was later changed to celebrate all who have served in America’s military.
In fact, all veterans should be saluted as heroes and remembered in our prayers. The only difference between them and our fallen heroes is that they survived.
Consider showing your appreciation and support for our hero vets by contributing to the very worthy Wounded Warrior Project.
Then, again, are they really “heroes”?
Chris Hayes thinks not.
The leftist weekend host and fill-in for Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, the cable “news” adjunct of Barack Hussein Obama’s Democrat Party, believes his parents are “totally amazing, heroic figures” because they are far-out liberals. But he thinks referring to America’s fallen as “is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war.”
What Jesuitical gibberish!
In honor of Memorial Day, Hayes felt compelled to demean our military and those who gave their lives for us. He said he feels “uncomfortable” in describing fallen American soldiers as “heroes.”
In a stuttering, semi-articulate attack on those brave men and women, an attack with which his liberal guests fully concurred, Hayes uncomfortably explained his discomfort.
In his own rambling words, Hayes said that ”Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that’ll be happening tomorrow. . . Um, I, I, ah, back sorry, um, I think it’s interesting because I think it is very difficult to talk about the war dead and the fallen without invoking valor, without invoking the words “heroes.”
Apparently, valor is as evil as heroism to America’s nasty, confused libs.
If that insightful observation were not sufficient to demonstrate Hayes’ insensitive ignorance of the meaning of a hero and their ultimate sacrifice, he added, ”Um, and, ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the word “hero”? I feel comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war.”
Perhaps realizing his grossly irrational insult of those who died and to give him more opportunity to make an ass of himself, Hayes babbled on: “Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.”
I’m embarrassed to admit that I have a number of things in common with Hayes, including being a Catholic, Jesuit-educated Bronx native of Irish extraction who also graduated from Fordham University although I don’t share either his liberal family background nor Hayes’ radical leftism.
Nevertheless, I completely understand Hayes’ discomfort. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=24720.)
And the Energizer Bunny...
Submitted by Rukus on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 5:48am.
...keeps going, and going, and going...
Heros...
Submitted by GeneralAl on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 8:02am.
Heros do what they do without regard to self. Their acts are purely unselfish with only the best interest of their fellow members in mind. No surprise that very few live to talk about it and if they do, they shy away from the title of hero!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
Chris
Submitted by panzerakc on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 1:57am.
I don't suffer from collective guilt. If you do, that's your problem.
As an aside, I also don't suffer from white guilt. My ancestors who were farmers were dirt-poor folks who could not afford slaves, and didn't have the mindset for it even if they had the money.
My dining table could have offered a better "apology".
And finally, I don't care what you think. I still awaiting any evidence that you actually do "think".
Who cares Hayes!
Submitted by gailannr on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 2:05am.
No one cared what you thought in the first place. Just shut-up!
A psuedo apology covering self justification.
Submitted by LaVallette on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 5:21am.
If you really analyse the so called "apology" one can only conclude that it is a self serving justification disguised as a psuedo apology.
Not an apology to our heroes, Mr. Hayes
Submitted by Rovin on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 7:20am.
It's an apology for his "reinforcing a stereotype" about media pundits, period.
Let's all remember that this is an employee of NBC, and the boy-child is a representative of this network. It should be pointed out that with the silence from the parent network, NBC must be condoning the language and sentiment of this moron's opinion.
another non-apology
Submitted by rowdygirl on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 10:15am.
I agree. This wasn't an apology. He was doing damage control.
Tam
Damage Done
Submitted by Chris Norman on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 9:41am.
While it's better to "apologize' (if that's what this was) the damage is done. No forced apology can undo the fact that he actually believes what he said - otherwise, he would never would have said it in the first place. His elitist disdain for the military fits his mindset and has the ring of truth. So, it was no slip of the tongue or using the wrong words or offering an opinion based on a factual error or a misunderstanding - things that can be fixed by a sincere apology. Hayes really believes that fallen members of the military should not be considered heroes and no explanations or fancy words he may offer can ever undo that. Hayes cannot unbake this poisonous cake he has made.
Why folks just ain't watching the news anymore
Submitted by cristo on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 11:26am.
You'd think someone in the media industry would have seen the trend by now. Thousands of viewers are leaving network and cable news shows. I hope they are reading, or playing with the kids and grand kids. It's much more fun. Chris Hayes over at The Prison Channel blew it the other day with his remarks about war heroes. It must be nice to sleep at night knowing its not your life on the line guarding freedom. So he apologizes. LIke Ed Schultz apologized and Rush Libmaugh amd Cal Thomas and Rachel Maddow and Larry Odoland and Sean Hannity and Jon Stewart. They all apologized for something. You can Google it. What ever happened to thinking before you open your mouth?
No body watched this guy
Submitted by Delsa on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 11:41am.
This brainless prig was unknown before the news outlets made a big deal of his statement.
No one watches his station.
He is a total ZERO as is his station affiliate.
apology
Submitted by robjh22 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:13pm.
Monumentally stupid thing to do on Memorial Day.
But ... we all mess up, and he did apologize for it, if equivocally.
I had no problem finding the apology on all the online news feeds, liberal and conservative, that I visit daily. And we see that NBC itself hosted a panel today, I believe, that condemned the comments.
Time will tell whether this annoying guy improves as a news analyst. Remember that some of our greatest current allies on the right were once leftist stalwarts.
I'm skeptical but willing to accept the apology and move on. I also completely understand those who can't accept it.
I don't accept it.
Submitted by CobraMan on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:32pm.
That's not much of an apology. It's more like a deflection. He's claiming that most of us give lip service to our Military members, claiming we are, supposedly, "disconnected" until we celebrate our militarily with a few token holidays and then we "go back to barbecuing," thus distancing ourselves from this supposed "collective guilt" he believes we all share. Well, none of the people I know share HIS "guilt," and I certainly don't, so unless and until he stops trying to include the entire country in HIS personal "guilt" over things like Afghanistan, Iraq, and every other military action America has be involved in, he can just keep his foolish mouth SHUT!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Cobra,
Submitted by Agnostic on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:46pm.
Not that I care too much about being understanding when it comes to this topic but in truth he is basing this upon his own perceptions and those that exist within his very limited bubble. He is surrounded, by virtue of his family, profession and personal choices, with people who look on Memorial Day as a day off work and little more.
In his original statement I could actually find some understanding and possibly evidence that he doubts the seemingly meaningless gestures towards patriotism of those around him. His apology is complete snarky leftist though and was not worth the time it took to read.
How "far removed" we all are?
Submitted by CobraMan on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:22pm.
"Of course, that is true of the overwhelming majority of our nation's citizens as a whole."
Well, except for the fact that each and every member of the military, living or dead, veteran or active, have many friends and family members who know, the joy, the pain, the sorrow, and the pride of those who serve, especially the friends and family members of those who died in combat. That adds up to tens of millions of people. Add in the "friends of friends," the co-workers, and the rest who also share a connection with military members, that adds up to hundreds of millions. So, this man is ether a fool or a liar, take your pick. Unlike what this man believes, most of Americans are NOT "removed" from the military, they're deeply involved, hence the Memorials, the Parades, the National Cemetery, and, especially, the Holidays dedicated to the American Solders.
Far from what this fool is insinuating, America is one of the few countries that is deeply involved, deeply committed, to our Military. We love and support our Military Solders, living and dead, active and veteran, especially since, by far and large, we are an all Volunteer military. There is no "collective guilt." That's a fallacy.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
As far as Im concerned
Submitted by misterbee241 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 12:25pm.
it's up to the members (past and present) of the military whether they want to accept his apology. I didnt serve. So while his attitude was still offensive to me, I do not care about any apology. In my view, it's to avoid blowback to MSNBC and not in the least sincere. Maybe if he made a few visits to VA hospitals, or journalistic visits to war zones, or attended a funeral or two of our fallen heroes, then maybe I might consider taking him seriously.
Until then, Chris, tell it to the Marines.
Plus one, Minus nine
Submitted by Model850 on Tue, 05/29/2012 - 4:03pm.
I'll give Hayes +1 for offering his "apology" on his blog instead of just banging out a quick Twitter message.
But I'll subtract nine points for not offering the apology in the same venue where he made the slur, on TV (though it is possible he may yet do that but I doubt it), and for the weakness of the actual "apology." Others here have adequately deconstructed this apology so I need not add my thoughts on it.