How would Iowa State Chickenhawks support the war? STRATEGY!!

[krkaufman]

This is just an amazing video clip that warrants wide distribution, highlighting the hypocrisy of the chickenhawk nature of support for the war.

VIDEO at Crooks and Liars (5min) and Transcript, from the Weds, Oct 18 broadcast of Hardball on MSNBC, LIVE from Iowa State University

Here's an extract of the relevant exchanges (with my comments parenthecized) after Matthews asks the members of Iowa National Guard in attendance to stand, to deserved applause, at the 1:10 mark of the video ...

MATTHEWS: (at 1:48) "How many other people, men or women, are thinking of making a military commitment in the next couple of years in this audience? Anyone else? Stand up, please, if you‘re thinking about making a military commitment. Well, you guys are already ROTC, right? And we have the ROTC people here."

(almost no one stands up, maybe 20 or so, and apparently many of whom are already ROTC members; and none of the audience members on the bleachers behind Matthews stand-up)

MATTHEWS: "... so few people here — we‘ve got a couple of thousand of young people here, and a very, very small percentage have expressed a commitment, even by standing here. "

(Matthews and McCain go back-and-forth, for a moment or two)

MATTHEWS: (at 3:31) "How many in this room believe in the war in Iraq from beginning to now, support the war in its full reality? The senator (McCain) is one of those. Who else agrees with him? Stand up."

(about a third of the crowd stands up, including half of those in the bleachers behind Matthews, applauding vigorously; and McCain sits on the stage, smile beaming, giddy with the show of support for the war)

MATTHEWS: "Everybody now stay up who intends or would consider participating in this war."

(people start dropping to their seats, about half of those who had stood up, leaving far more people now standing than had earlier indicated their willingness to serve in the military. What are we left to think... those who sat are cluelessly hypocritical, while those now standing who hadn't earlier are at least wise enough to recognize the hypocrisy?)

MATTHEWS: "All you people standing up are planning to participate in the war in some way? ... Because I asked a minute ago how many were going to join the military. I wonder what your participation would involve."

MCCAIN: "Chris, your bias is starting to show."

MATTHEWS: "No, I‘m just trying to get an answer now. Wait a minute — I want the people that are standing up. Somebody yell out why are you standing if you‘re not joining the military. ... look at all the people in the back. I asked before if anybody was joining the military. And now you‘re standing up in support of the war but not in terms of a plan to actually participate in a war. I don‘t get the connection. Would somebody explain it?"

CROWD: Strategy.

(Yes...that's what was said. "Strategy." An honest real-world response from a member of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders.)

Once the chickenhawks stood up cheering for the war, many of them must have realized how hypocritical it would be to not then indicate they'd be willing to serve. So I expect that many who didn't sit down simply didn't want to demonstrate publicly their hypocrisy.

An even greater contrast was the difference between those applauding the war and how few stood up, just a few moments earlier, to indicate thoughts of a future commitment to serving in the military.

Matthews even briefly attempts to call the chickenhawks on the contrast, asking those still standing how, if they support the war, how they would demonstrate their support given so few stood up earlier to indicate their willingness to make a military commitment. But, alas, Chris cuts away to commercial before getting any coherent responses, and never returns to the subject. Chris's Hardball appears to have gone limp during the commercial break.

[upi402]

1. Very telling, glad I hung in there

it became revealing, albeit typical of chickenhawks.

[krkaufman]

4. Updated the OP to add time markers for the start of the relevant passages

[zeemike]

2. K&R n/t

[B Calm]

3. Republicans wrote the book on hypocrisy

[BlueManDude]

5. MCCAIN: "Chris, your bias is starting to show." - God what an asshole

yes it's biased to point out the hypocrisy of a healthy young person who supports the war but would not fight in it even though the military is strapped.

[krkaufman]

6. Yeah, that statement really stands out.

Exactly how was Matthews being biased? Matthews was simply trying to highlight the vast difference between the number of people saying they support the war, and the number who would dare to indicate a possible future commitment to serving in the military.

McCain's cluelessness was what was really evident.

[B Calm]

7. McCain is an idiot!