Chris Matthews is actually building the anti-Syrian-war coalition on his television show without regard to partisan politics. Last week he struck a populist stance, mocking Obama liberals for supporting intervention. Last night he had on a Republican and a Democrat who are against intervention: Congressman Scott Rigell of Pennsylvania and Senator Daniel Murphy of Connecticut. Murphy called Syrian intervention an “enormously complicated proxy war” that could go on for over a year.
Here is Matthews’s inspired introduction to the show, saying the intervention is anti-democratic:
Before we get into another war, shouldn’t we have a vote or something? We Americans enjoy our traditions…. We had another tradition. Remember, it’s called democracy. It’s called giving the people, yes the people out there beyond Washington and New York, the final say in whether we get involved in a war or not. You know, I’m talking about the people who aren’t on the Sunday TV shows, who don’t hold the big megaphones of power, who don’t get to blow the bugles of war.
Who voted to send weapons to the rebels fighting the government in Syria? Did you? I didn’t. Who voted to commit an act of war against a government with whom we do have diplomatic relations, a government we recognize as the legitimate government of Syria? Did the Senate we elected vote do this? did the Hosue of Representatives vote?
The bigshots say we should pay no mind to what the people in the country think. Bill Clinton even said the other day that presidents shouldn’t bow to the pollsters. But forget the pollsters. What are they telling us about what the people think?
Is it important or not that just one in five Americans wants us in the business of arming rebels in the Mid East. Is that important or not?
Are the people considered so out of it that we just go skipping off to Syria with guns, ammo, and whatever else. Do the people think, what they think matters? Is that how it works today. Again, back to where I started.We have traditions in this country, and I like the one where the people have to be convinced of getting into a war. Excuse me for living, before we get into a war. We should decide that up front. You get a better idea of how to run a country that way…
People are going to get killed, that’s what guns are used for in a war, and nobody gets to vote.
“Bill Clinton even said the other day that presidents shouldn’t bow to the pollsters.”
Snort. The man has audacity, that’s for sure.
Clinton is not only telling Obama to ignore the wishes of a majority of Americans as expressed overwhelmingly against involvement in Syria, he wants [that total wuss Obama] to ignore what the majority of Syrians want [ the CIA estimated that 75% of Syrians support Assad] see also poll last year in Guardian here.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/17/syrians-support-assad-western-propaganda. Some Democrat
LOL. Next thing we know, Matthews will be off the air, like Phil Donohue. Just another Mick who bucked the Zionists, while bringing in a bunch of cash for them:
Clinton pays a lot of attention to polls. He was quite aware that his numbers were in serious trouble over the Lewinsky scandal and he was facing the real possibility of impeachment. So, what does he do? Start a war against Serbia to distract everyone’s attention.
The day Chris Matthews starts putting enough informational ‘dots’ up on the board so people can actually start connecting the dots is the day I will have more than the iota of respect for him.
Matthews needs to nail the connections between the Israeli Lobby/the Neocons/Israel between the war in Iraq they hoaxed us into, the war in Iran they are TRYING to hoax us into, and the this whole charade with Syria.
Matthews needs to have guests on like Glenn Greenwald and Jerome Scahill together with a THIRD lonely Neocon like William Kristol or McCain or Graham and let the bloodbath begin
It is the Chris Matthews and Mike Russells/David Gregorys and Rachel Maddows who have failed this country – they are the REASON Americans are so ignorant about what is going on in our names