Conor Friedersdorf: In Defense of Chris Hayes
Very few Americans wake up early on weekend mornings to watch public intellectuals chat. For the tiny number who do, Up With Chris Hayes, a show hosted by Chris Hayes of The Nation, has distinguished itself for its unusual success bringing thoughtful, intellectually honest conversation to cable news. The show’s producers try to cover what they judge to be important, even when more trivial topics would result in higher ratings. During the panel portion of the show, the host and most guests actually grapple with fraught issues rather than shying away from them. Straw men, ad hominem attacks, and cheap point-scoring are exceptions* rather than the rule. Partisan hackery is discouraged. And Hayes tends to highlight rather than elide complicating facts and arguments that cut against his ideological instincts, preferring to interrogate his own views and to treat positions with which he disagrees fairly (something I’m attuned to because my politics are different enough from his that we’re often at odds).
Despite all this, Hayes is suddenly under fire for weekend remarks he made about heroism, war, and politics. Our public discourse is such that anyone can find him or herself viciously denounced by complete strangers based on a single sound-byte from which everyone extrapolates wildly. This controversy is worth highlighting because Hayes’ words and the reaction to them helps explain why so few broadcasters forthrightly discuss complicated, controversial subjects. Hayes subsequently issued an apology, but it’s his critics who’ve behaved badly.
An impassioned defense of Chris Hayes. We’ve read a few in the past day or so.
“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.”
An update to our earlier post on the matter.
Enjoy photos from Memorial Day celebrations taking place in big cities and small towns across the United States (in case you missed it, check out Obama’s speech from earlier in the day). Happy Memorial Day from everybody here at ShortFormBlog! (Photo Credits (left to right): Ron Cogswell, Kansas Poetry, ISAF Media, Virginia Guard Public Affairs, Secretary of Defense, Deborah Edwards-Onoro, marada, pauls95blazer, Timefortea3)
For the first time in nine years Americans are not fighting and dying in Iraq. We are winding down the war in Afghanistan…after a decade under the dark cloud of war, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon.President Barack Obama • During a speech given at Arlington National Cemetery this morning, honoring America’s current, former, and fallen soldiers on Memorial Day. While noting that the end of the wars meant an end to this chapter of many citizens’ lives, he also noted that the families of those who lost loved ones will long be affected. “As long as I am president we will make sure you and your loved ones will receive the benefits you have earned and the respect you deserve,” said the President, adding, “America will be there for you.” source (via • follow)
Vets prefer Mitt over Obama: As our pal Philip Bump smartly put this: “One way to say this: veterans strongly prefer Romney. Another: older white men strongly prefer Romney. Only one yields clicks.”
This Memorial Day, we took a look back at how the U.S. soldier has evolved over the years. Did you know camouflage wasn’t introduced until the end of World War II?
A very smart piece by The Daily on the evolution of the soldier.
Tropical storm Beryl threatens the East Coast: With sustained winds of up to 60 mph, Beryl is headed west from the Atlantic Ocean on toward the Florida/Georgia area. The storm is expected to pick up strength and make landfall in northeastern Florida on Sunday, go into southeastern Georgia and then spin out of South Carolina and back into the ocean by Tuesday or Wednesday. Are people concerned about this storm? We’ll let you be the judge: ”We enjoy the storms. We live here,” Teri Hood told Central Florida News 13. “As long as there are cocktails for the weekend, that’s it.” source
Update: @breakingstorm reports that Beryl is now officially a tropical storm.
They’re going to come out of the woodwork. This is like Christmas for a phony.Former U.S. Navy SEAL Don Shipley • Speaking to ABC News about fraudulent “war heroes” seizing the opportunity of Memorial Day for a little beginning-of-summer fakery. A couple of ABC reporters, Lee Ferran and Vic Walter, have reported that the incidence of people lying about serving in the military has gotten much worse since the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of SEAL Team 6. It’s also reported that five people have been charged with claiming to be medal winners, or illegally wearing military service medals in 2011. We’ll admit, we had no clue it was illegal to wear a service medal that you didn’t earn, but beyond the legality of it, we think we can all agree — this is a disgustingly manipulative, lowly brand of fraud to be perpetrating. source (via • follow)
Martin’s memorable Memorial Day: President Obama announced today that Army General Martin E. Dempsey is his nominee to serve as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey’s nomination will go before the Senate, where Obama’s folks have been known to languish against a partisan opposition. Seeing as military issues and figures have generally become matters of bipartisan veneration, though, we reckon this very high profile job will be an exception to that political rule. Interesting tidbit: Dempsey was sworn in as the Army’s Joint Chief on April 11th, 2011, making this an impressively quick promotion. source
This Memorial Day, we remember our fallen soldiers. Many have died in combat, but increasingly, for off-duty members of the National Guard and Army Reserves, soldiers are dying by their own hands. Nationally, the number of those who’ve committed suicide has nearly doubled from 80 in 2009 to 145 last year.
On Fresh Air: Treating Vets with PTSD // The History of PTSD // Remembering The Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq
A great NPR feature to start an important holiday.
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