The Apology Makes it Worse

There is a fellow named Chris Hayes who apparently has his own show on MSNBC and who substitutes frequently for Rachel Maddow on the same cable network. Over the weekend, Hayes was talking about Memorial Day and he said that he felt "uncomfortable" using the word heroes for the soldiers, sailors and airmen who have given their lives for this country. It was too "rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war" according to Hayes. In his bloviating way, Hayes was saying that if we honor those who gave their lives for this country, we are more likely to have more wars in the future. It was a disgusting display even from a network like MSNBC which often acts as if it exists to denigrate America and its achievements. Brave men and women who defeated Hitler are to be forgotten. The Union army that ended slavery and saved the United States are not important. The Continental Army that starved at Valley Forge to keep the flame of liberty lit are not to be praised. Indeed, our sons and daughters are probably to be told that all these people who gave their lives for the country are meaningless.

I was mightily annoyed when I heard what Hayes had said, but I decided that I would not comment on it since I probably have almost as big an audience with this blog as Hayes does for his TV show (both are quite small), and I did not want to add to the coverage that Hayes got for his public display of stupidity and bad taste. Then I heard that Hayes had apologized and I read the text of the apology. Here it is:

"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,"

Do you get that? Hayes is not sorry for refusing to call these brave men and women who gave their lives for us "heroes". No, Hayes is sorry that he acted like a stereotypical pundit whose views are not anchored in the reality of the last decade. As a former partner of mine would say, that statement is clear as mud. Hayes does not have it in him to actually apologize. He needs to apologize to the dead. He needs to apologize to the families of the dead. He needs to apologize to the country as a whole. He needs to apologize for dishonoring these brave men and women.

Hayes may have apologized for being too intellectual. In his mind, that is probably a badge of honor. I can just picture him sitting alone somewhere chukling to himself that he managed to issue an apology that says nothing at all. The truth, however, is that the so-called apology actually speaks volumes about Hayes. It says that he is a smarmy, self-important pseudo-intellectual whose views are based wholly in the dogma of the left. To Hayes, all soldiers are on the other side of the "divide" from him. To Hayes, he is superior to all those fools who actually fight. Hayes is here to revel in the benefits of being an American; it is just when it comes time to pay the price for those benefits that he disappears.

I would suggest that you all stop watching Hayes show, but there is no point to that. There are so few in that category already that my search for an actual viewer might be futile.