If Chris Matthews were a young cub reporter one might say he was indiscreet in his comments. But he is not. He has decades of experience. According to his MSNBC News biography:
“Matthews spent 15 years in politics and government: he worked in the White House for four years under President Jimmy Carter as a Presidential speechwriter and on the Government Reorganization Project, in the U.S. Senate for five years on the staffs of Senator Frank Moss (Utah) and Senator Edmund Muskie (Maine), and was the top aide for Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Jr. for six years.”
Matthews was a print journalist for 15 years and has been with CNBC and MSNBC since 1997.
One could say he has a lot of experience and it is clear that he is very solid in his liberal beliefs. So, when he says about Obama’s visit to West Point that “he went to maybe the enemy camp tonight” Matthews is saying what he means.
It is interesting that Matthews observes about the West Point cadets and their officers that he “didn’t see a lot of warmth in that crowd”. To some extent that could have been because “that crowd”, ready to dedicate their lives to democracy and freedom, had already been in their seats for four to five hours for security reasons while waiting for the commander-in-chief that they have already sworn allegiance to upon entering the academy. Moreover, Matthews opines that the “crowd” seems to be regarding Obama with “if not resentment, skepticism”. Mr. Matthews and Peacock must have been watching two different presentations because Peacock saw none of that. However, a healthy skepticism from these soldiers might have been appropriate. After all this Commander-in-Chief might be ordering any and all of them off to war upon their graduation. It would certainly be appropriate for them, as leaders in training, to be taking the measure of the man. As students in one of the best universities in the world they would certainly have done their homework and known much about their top leader.
These soldier leaders in training would understand the irony of listening to this man in this commemorative Eisenhower Hall while knowing that he is making all the political and economic moves required to transition our country from a free democracy to a socialist state. They would also be fully aware that they are the current link in a chain of military men going back over 200 years who fought, got maimed or died to preserve our democracy that our founding fathers gave their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for. Peacock saw a lot of tired faces of hard working students in the crowd. Peacock saw a lot of people paying close attention and seeming to evaluate what they were hearing. Peacock didn’t see the skepticism that Matthews saw. However, a very healthy skepticism would have been in order.
These military men and women had to be evaluating the words they were hearing that night and comparing them to words they had heard their President say at other times.
Jan. 26, 2009: “All too often the United States starts by dictating … and we don’t always know all the factors that are involved. So let’s listen. And I think if we do that, then there’s a possibility at least of achieving some breakthroughs. … My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are
not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect.” – President Obama, in an interview with Al Arabiya.
That is tremendously conciliatory language to use when talking with Al Arabiya journalists while soldiers are dying in the middle east.
April 2, 2009: “I would like to think that with my election and the early decisions that we’ve made, that you’re starting to see some restoration of America’s standing in the world.” – President Obama, at G20 summit in London.
The graves of American soldiers all across the world are silent testimony to the greatness of America’s standing in the world. Perhaps these future leaders of men were wondering what kind of leader would make such a crass and self-serving statement while outside of our country. Perhaps some of them were wondering what this President might be saying at some future date while they were fighting in some distant country to save the democracy that Obama was “fundamentally” changing into socialism. Perhaps some of them were comparing this President’s actions with those of Winston Churchill who said “When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country”.
April 2, 2009: “It is true, as my Italian friend has said, that the (economic) crisis began in the U.S. I take responsibility, even if I wasn’t even president at the time.” – President Obama, at the G20 in London, as reported by Germany’s Der Spiegel.
Yet another apology, and a totally inaccurate statement, at an inappropriate location and the loss of another opportunity to speak to America’s strengths preserved by generations of soldiers and earmarked by many square miles of overseas American military cemeteries.
April 6: “I know there have been difficulties these last few years. I know that the trust that binds us has been strained, and I know that strain is shared in many places where the Muslim faith is practiced. Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not at war with Islam.” – President Obama, in Ankara, Turkey
Certainly some might be saying “Tell it to the Ayatollah’s!”
It would be difficult to criticize the young men and women at West Point for possibly reflecting on this President’s comments while he was making a war speech that didn’t even support the minimum recommendation of his battlefield commander. Perhaps some of them were wondering if they would be among the last officers leading men on a dangerous battlefield fighting a rear guard action 18 months from then as they were making the withdrawal from Afganistan that the commander-in-chief was pre-announcing to the enemy.
By way of contrast, it apparently was easy for Chris Matthews to make these criticisms and name these future defenders of a free America the “enemy camp”. It was apparently easy for Chris Matthews to name this oldest military academy in our country and the site of a major Revolutionary War stand by George Washington a “strange venue” for a major war speech about troop deployment. Perhaps Matthews thought that Paddy’s Irish Pub would be more appropriate.
You see, it wasn’t just Matthew’s comment about West Point being the enemy camp that was so crassly inappropriate. It was his criticism of the cadets and their officers. It was his perception of “resentment, criticism” that was neither voiced nor visible to others. Perhaps Matthews was seeing what he wanted to see because he didn’t sense a collective tingle running up the legs of all these uniformed people at the sight of the man Matthews has expressed such gushing adoration for. It was Matthews’ sense of this entirely appropriate hall named for one of our greatest defenders of democracy against socialism, Marxism and fascism as a “strange venue”.
Many in this “crowd” that Matthew’s was so critical of will make a career of defending our country and declaring themselves ready to defend their President with their lives even if their President was overseas inappropriately apologizing for our great country and our courageous military. Quite a few will find themselves in the real “enemy camp” fighting, and perhaps dying, for Chris Matthews right to be crass.
Chris Matthews apologized later in his telecast for calling Eisenhower Hall the “enemy camp”. In the context of the rest of his words on this subject his apology can’t be accepted. It is clear that this journalist with decades of experience on the national level meant exactly what he said. His apology smacks of the man who got caught in an illegal or embarrassing act begging forgiveness not because he is sorry but because he got caught.
Mr. Matthews, you are simply a scoundrel whose words precisely describe your feeling toward our military and our future military leaders. You will receive no forgiveness here.
