MSNBC Host Apologizes

[SassyLady]

As he should!

MSNBC Host Issues Apology for Saying He's 'Uncomfortable' with Calling Fallen Soldiers 'Heroes'



MSNBC host Chris Hayes has issued an apology one day after saying on national television that he is "uncomfortable" with calling fallen soldiers "heroes."
"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," Hayes says in a written statement (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/28/chris-hayes-uncomfortable-soldiers-heroes_n_1550643.html?ref=tw). "I am deeply sorry for that."
Hayes continues:
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.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/msnbc-host-issues-apology-saying-hes-uncomfortable-calling-fallen-soldiers-heroes_645956.html

[DragonStryk72]

As he should!

Hey, I'll give him points, it was a sincere sounding apology why he flatly admitted he was wrong, and shouldn't have gone for the topic being ignorant of the real strains put on our armed forces.

[Nell's Room]

If this was his genuine opinion, why should he have had to apologise for it? Just because someone is insulted by something you have said, does not mean you need to do an about face and say sorry. He is entitled to his opinions, just like everyone else. If he genuinely changed his mind, then fair enough but if he is only apologising because of outrage over his comments, then that simply isn't right.

For the record, I do not consider our soldiers 'heroes' either, because I do not believe a hero is made by doing their job. A hero is someone who does something completely out of the ordinary, such as a man running into a burning building to save its occupants. Not the firefighters, or the police, or the soldiers, just ordinary citizens.
I may be roasted for that opinion, but it is my opinion, and I have a right to it. :)

[Noir]

So now we know he doesnt have a backbone, great.

[darin]

I don't mind what he said originally. I think he represents a growing segment of american society. He's betrayed his feelings; his feelings are the problem - not expressing them. When folks decide the most-noble among the population are somehow 'bad' or otherwise not to be praised, there isn't much hope left.

[Noir]

I don't mind what he said originally. I think he represents a growing segment of american society. He's betrayed his feelings; his feelings are the problem - not expressing them. When folks decide the most-noble among the population are somehow 'bad' or otherwise not to be praised, there isn't much hope left.

Saying that everyone isnt a hero isnt saying people are bad or not worthy of praise. That would be like saying that everyone who's died in duty should get a medal of honour. No, the medal of hounour is used to distinguish the bravest of the brave, to some of us the word hero is used to distinguish the brave from the normal.

If you or others think that just being in the military is heroic thats grand, but some of use have different criteria, to be told that applying this different criteria is not honouring the dead is a little silly IMO. Because the point of it is to be able to not only hounour the dead, but honour those within them who did heroic deeds.

And if this guy had that opinion, he's now apoligysing for having it, who needs a difference of opinion anyways, not when we can just listen to the same rhing over and over, right? (ironic much?)

[darin]

Saying that everyone isnt a hero isnt saying people are bad or not worthy of praise. That would be like saying that everyone who's died in duty should get a medal of honour. No, the medal of hounour is used to distinguish the bravest of the brave, to some of us the word hero is used to distinguish the brave from the normal.

No, in fact it's NOT like that. Terrible example.

It's MORE like saying "Anyone who writes a check to their nation for an amount up to and including their life" IS a hero by definition. They are saying "Take my life if it means protecting our nation's interests."


If you or others think that just being in the military is heroic thats grand, but some of us have different criteria, to be told that applying this different criteria is not honouring the dead is a little silly IMO. Because the point of it is to be able to not only honour the dead, but honour those within them who did heroic deeds.

Most folk who say things like that are doing so out of a need to justify their fear/laziness/weakness.


And if this guy had that opinion, he's now apoligysing for having it, who needs a difference of opinion anyways, not when we can just listen to the same thing over and over, right? (ironic much?)

His apology is his own. I didn't need it. Most people don't need it. Arrogant/self-centered people are the only people who "Need" an apology.

[Shadow]

No, in fact it's NOT like that. Terrible example.

It's MORE like saying "Anyone who writes a check to their nation for an amount up to and including their life" IS a hero by definition. They are saying "Take my life if it means protecting our nation's interests."



Most folk who say things like that are doing so out of a need to justify their fear/laziness/weakness.



His apology is his own. I didn't need it. Most people don't need it. Arrogant/self-centered people are the only people who "Need" an apology.

This guy was bloviating with his anti military rhetoric to impress a certain segment of our population...period. You could tell he was really uncomfortable doing so the whole time he was choking his words out in the first place.

The apology was in the same vein to me. Given to appease another segment of the population. This guy clearly wants to have it both ways. He is not only a weasle...but one with no backbone.