Is Chris Matthews Unable or Unwilling to understand a simple exchange between Bush and Russert?

MSNBC

[sinkspur]

It appears Matthews is going to pound this issue and make it a major one.

And there's no evidence that anybody but the rabid, foam-at-the-mouth Kerry backers give a rat's ass about it.

They know Bush served, and they also know that most Americans were conflicted about Vietnam.

They also know that only a very few gave aid and comfort to the Viet Cong.

And, they don't like that. Here's hoping Karl Rove will carefully roll out Kerry's participation in the defeat of America in that war.

[woodyinscc]

I can't take much more of this.

I can't either.!!

I swore off Matthews once, but reneged. His bias, his enabling of selected lies, to be seen as truth, is too much for me.

[Lancey Howard]

When is the National Guard going to start running some somber television commercials in which, say, one or two active National Guardsmen name and thank those NG comrades who have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hotspots around the world?

Bush could make these ads happen, and maybe the scumbag Democrats would finally shut up with their ridiculous, "The National Guard isn't real service" crappola.

[cake_crumb]

"Evidently this is the only thing in the interview they decided could be picked on."

Yep. If the president's performance were REALLY as "weak" and "underwhelming" as even some here are saying, then they could be picking apart everything he said. Why this non-ussue? Because that's all they can come up with. Besides, the DNC and DLC are paying them well to say it. Maybe a bonus from Soros too.

[cyncooper]

Me, too.

Mike Deaver on and Chris asks him if he was in the WH would he be happy today? Deaver calmly and confidently stated YES. Says the picking is "inside baseball stuff" and the American people see an honest man.

Chris says he actually likes the president and he's a regular guy. (Me: Earth to Chris: He's also an honest guy, as the record will show, so stop slandering him if you like him. Policy issue differences fine. This NG duty is garbage and nasty)

[hotpotato]

Here's hoping Karl Rove will carefully roll out Kerry's participation in the defeat of America in that war.

I'm sure he'll do a great job ;-) I'm waiting to see the response of the Jane-the-communist-Fonda photo with Kerry in the background participating in an anti-war rally in the '70's.

[cyncooper]

And off topic: Deaver on Matthews ably defended George W. Bush and then related a delicious story about being at Nixon's funeral (I think that was the setting) and Clinton making his way into a small private gatherine uninvited.

Speaking of smarm. He took Nancy in his arms and said "There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of you" and Matthews say to Deaver "You say she treated him like a mugger" and Deaver said yes, she was SHOCKED at his rudeness.

LOL

I feel better already.

[hole_n_one]

Just because Matthews spews idiocy, it doesn't mean that he's being heard......

Cable news ratings for 1/12/04....

CABLE NEWS RACE MON. NITE JAN 12

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2.1 [RATING]

FOXNEWS SHEP SMITH 1.6

FOXNEWS HANNITY/COLMES 1.5

CNN LARRY KING 1.3

FOXNEWS GRETA 1.1

FOXNEWS BRIT HUME 1.1

CNN AARON BROWN 0.7

CNN PAULA ZAHN 0.6

MSNBC HARBALL 0.5

MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 0.4

MSNBC ABRAMS 0.3

MSNBC OLBERMANN 0.3

[cyncooper]

I should explain, Deaver has a book out with Nancy on the cover. I didn't see the name so don't know if it's about just her or both Reagans. That's why he was on and that's where his smarmy clinton anecdote came from.

Fortunately he was there to gallantly step up on behalf of GWB, too.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Hey FRiend, Just worn out and not up to posting today. I'm sure you've seen this e-mail. We got it from some fellow Vietnam Vets. Feel free to post it. We probably will. REPEATEDLY!!

Later, FRegards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I received this from my former roommate Lt. Gen. Charlie Bagnal, Retired, US Army. I saw the original article in Atlanta Journal. Kerry is trying to smear our President and others who were in the National Guard and Reserves during Vietnam era as draft dodgers. We need to let others know about Kerry. Carl

---

Classmates: This is an article by Terry Garlock, who flew Cobras in 334th
Armed Helicopter Company in RVN. He was severely injured when a surface to air
missle blew off his tail rotor and a portion of the tail boom. Terry spent
several years in hospital and therapy. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has an
exclusive on this for 30 days, so it can't be published in a newspaper or magazine
until after that; but he is allowing this to be sent to you with that
understanding. All the Best, Charlie Bagnal

---

"Many Vietnam Vets Will Object to Kerry"
by Terry Garlock
Now that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is claiming the veteran vote based
on his war record, both sides of that story should be told. To appreciate the
dark side of Sen. Kerry's war record, you should know a few things about
Vietnam veterans.
For example, having fought in an unpopular war 30 something years ago, and
having been awarded medals, is noteworthy. But it doesn't give anyone a pass --
their record and their ideas should be examined on their own merit.
And reporters make a mistake when they divide us into decorated veterans like
Sen. Kerry and then all the others. We like to think of ourselves as
brothers, whether we fought the enemy directly in combat or served in vital support
roles in protected areas that were often exposed to attack.
Even today, after all this time, when two Vietnam veterans meet one
another for the first time they are likely to say "Welcome home brother!" because
many were never welcomed home - they met the cold shoulder of an ungrateful
nation on their return.
Those of us whose job was combat feel a very special brotherhood. We
learned to trust our brothers on the ground, on the water and in the air to do the
right things to protect one another, even under fire. We came to deeply value
the same trust they placed in us, and that mutual trust would form a bond
that cannot be fully explained in words. We quietly feared dying in battle, but
there was something we feared even more. We knew if we should panic under fire
and fail to do our job, we might lose our brothers' trust or we might lose
their lives, and this we feared more than anything.
Like Sen. Kerry, I have a few medals. But among combat veterans, who has what
medal doesn't make a dime's worth of difference between us. What matters is
that we are, for the rest of our life, brothers who kept faith with one another
in a miserable war.
A young John Kerry, however, broke faith with his brothers when he returned
to the US. With the financial aid of Jane Fonda he led highly visible protests
against the war.
He wrote a book that many considered to be pro-Hanoi, titled The New
Soldier. The cover photo of his book depicted veterans in patchwork military
uniforms, holding the American flag upside down and mocking the legendary image of
Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi in the 1945 battle for
Iwo Jima.
Sen. Kerry publicly supported Hanoi's position to use our POWs as a
bargaining chip in negotiations for a peace agreement.
Sen. Kerry played a key role in "Winter Soldier," a Jane Fonda event where
over 100 men, many of whom were later discredited, testified about atrocities
committed in the Vietnam war by American soldiers.
In 1971 Sen. Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and
said our soldiers in Vietnam were not America's best, as Vice President Agnew
had claimed, but that they were committing widespread rape, torture and murder
of Vietnamese civilians. We who were there know that to be untrue. Later
that same day Sen. Kerry threw what he said were his medals over a fence in front
of the capitol building in protest, on camera of course, but was years later
caught in his lie when his medals turned up displayed on his office wall.
Some say Sen. Kerry's anti-war stance arose from his political ambitions
since the war was so unpopular, and I cannot say I know his motivations. But when
he ran for congress in 1972 maybe he thought his book and it's cover would be
an embarrassment since it remarkably disappeared from store and library
shelves. I would guess Hercule Poirot himself could not find a copy today.
Many good and decent people other than Sen. Kerry opposed the Vietnam war.
Many of us who fought it hated it, too, I know I did. But like Jane Fonda's
infamous visit to Hanoi in 1972, Sen. Kerry's public actions encouraged our enemy
at a time they were killing America's sons. Decades after the war was done,
interviews with our former enemy's leaders confirmed that public protests in the
US, like Sen. Kerry's, played a significant role in their strategy and worked
against our chances of victory. Many of us wonder which of our brothers who
died young would be alive today had people like Jane Fonda and Sen. Kerry
objected to the war in a more suitable way.
Now that it serves his ambition to be President, Sen. Kerry reminds the
public of his war record daily, but the story of the dark side of that record is
not being told. Many Vietnam veterans have taken notice, and many of us will
vigorously oppose Sen. Kerry's election to any office. I will be one of them.

---

Terry L. Garlock of Peachtree City, GA was a Cobra helicopter pilot in
Vietnam.

(usma1956) Posted By: BAGNAL Charles W 1956 20783 G1

[hotpotato]

Anything about where Dennis Miller's new show fits in there?

[cake_crumb]

"He lost both legs, but he lost his mind, too, apparently. He's a very bitter man for getting his ass handed to him in 2002, and he's taking it out on every Republican he meets."

Yeah by dropping a grenade on himself...then altering the story years later to make himself out as a war hero.

[hotpotato]

MSNBC just advertised Bill Maher is scheduled to appear on Deborah Norville (sp?) tonight. I never watch her show. Tonight will not be an exception.

[hole_n_one]

We'll have to wait until the Feb. or Mar. ratings are released.

[Darlin']

Yes, both Gore and Kerry received and early discharge. As did President Bush.

Gore requested and was granted an early out ostensibly to go to Divinity school then when he flunked out he enrolled in Law school where he flunked out again.

Kerry requested an early out because he wanted to offically join the anti-war movement and to run for congress on an anti-war platform. He left 6 months early.

"I just said to the admiral: `I've got to get out. I've got to go do what I came back here to do, which is, end this thing,'" Kerry recalled, referring to the war.

President Bush requested and was granted an early release in Oct '73 to attend Harvard Business School. He left 7 months early.

Former Guard officials and members of Mr. Bush's unit said that release, seven months early, was not unusual for the Guard. Mr. Bush's unit was changing airplanes at the time, from the single-seat F-102 to the dual-seat F-101. They said it made little sense to retrain him for just a few months' service, and letting him go freed spots for the Guard to recruit F-101 pilots from the Air Force and elsewhere

[cake_crumb]

"Did Chrissy ask Cleland how he managed to blow himself up with his own hand grenade.?"

Didn't ask him why he revised that story years later either I bet.

[oldironsides]

Matthews gets weak and wobbley when he thinks the Democrats may take the whitehouse. He wants the press secretary position. He needs to take some lessons on interviewing and listening to others. The old Tip O'Neil Democrat insider is drooling over Kerry winning......

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Now Matthews is denigrating the Guard. Says it was just a rich kids way to avoid vietnam.

I thought the rich kids used college deferments and moves to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam.

[cake_crumb]

"I feel better already."

LOL. Clinton crashing a funeral is always worth an ironic chuckle. I'm chuckling.

[cake_crumb]

"This Guard bashing is PISSING me off....I say this one more time...My hubby right now is in Balad...member of the IlANG..Aviation...has been extended 4 times, has been shot at, mortared and has lost one of his Chinooks and 3 crewmembers to and RPG..he will be gone a total of 15mos with this last extension...if the Guard is not military, then I WANT MY HUSBAND HOME!"

May God bless and protect him. I'm boiling over about this too. When last weeks alleged poll numbers came out the first thing I thought was "did they poll any families of NG memners?" This is beyond despicably loathsome behavior. At least DEAN was ENTERTAINING. We could LAUGH at him.