He's quite right. It was a very cool house. With many shots of young men and women asleep. What happened after was mere glad-handing.

That being said, I thought that the president handled himself with real distinction.

the longer one listens to chris matthews the stoopider one gets...

The cadets and brass at West Point chose to ignore Rush Limbaugh's call for a military coup. Instead, they virtually embraced Obama as he worked the crowd after his speech.

Gee, I could swear I saw a genuine standing ovation at the end of the speech.

And yes, considering that Matthews can't even be bothered to listen to a full sentence from any of his guests, I'm sure he decided on a narrative ahead of time. You've got to plan ahead if you're going to do quality TV, don't you know.

Does Chris Matthews know that when Bush addressed the cadets at westpoint it was a POPULAR WAR at the time...but now it is an UNPOPULAR WAR, so of course you are not going to get that warm reception...so i disagree with Matthew's observant point of view.

I generally avoid Chris M's show like the plague -- he talks over his guests, I only get to hear what they are saying half of the time, the other half it's his jibberish over their talk. BUT, last night I was out during the Olbermann & Maddow shows, so watched Hardball, and heard there the very best guest that I heard all night (ended up staying up late to watch re-runs of Countdown & Maddow). General Paul Eaton on Hardball had some great home truths for the military/patriotism = GOP crowd. It is on a video clip at the site, and is a must-watch.

As someone who was registered Republican for nearly 20 years (no, I did not vote W a second time or for McCain), having lived in AK during the last election, surrounded by military folk in our subdivision (90%?), I have beat my head against that wall over & over. How to get them to understand that the GOP has not supported our military, they have used them as cannon fodder while lining their own pockets, the Dems have been the supporters of the military, active & vets, for a long time.

General Eaton did not mince his words. It was some rousing stuff for those who are willing to listen.

I should have gone on to say:

1) I love this site, so am not talking smack when I say

2) It would have been nice if the smackdown of the rather pathetic Matthews (why bother?) had been tempered with a shout-out for that incredible bit with General Eaton.

Chris interviewed General Paul Eaton in a later segment who indicated the troops were pleased to interact with Obama. BTW, I think it is important for the commander in chief to look into the faces of those most directly affected by his policies.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/#34233159

With many shots of young men and women asleep.

I watched the whole thing and there was no one sleeping. Don't feed bs with more lies.
I saw a room full of cadets and officers listening intently to a very serious speech regarding their likely deployment.

As for "mere glad handing"--I don't think there was any requirement that cadets move to the front in order to shake the president's hand and take pictures. They clearly liked him and weren't just doing it out of courtesy or because they were stuck standing right next to him.

I'm so sick of this myth that the military doesn't like Obama or Democrats. They obviously appreciate a CiC who puts some thought into his decisions and doesn't treat them as props for political purposes, with all the empty jingoism.

Please. As if the cadets would be allowed to show displeasure or pleasure during the speech of the Commander in Chief. If anyone yelled "you lie" or a "way to go" they would be disciplined. It's a miliary academy. Get back to reality.

While Tweety has his flashes of brilliance, this was much more his style; I heard that comment, also, and that's when I turned off the teevee machine. I don't know why he whould expect that every speech a President gives to military personnel is a cheerleading one--this speech was a public one outlining in broad brush strokes what will be briefed in more detail to all of them as they move into the operational theater. Of course they weren't joking and pumping their fists; they were listening to a decision about them and their troops putting their lives on the line. I have no doubt that they have much more respect for someone who takes that seriously than someone who thinks it's nothing but a big game played with cool toys like the previous administration did.

I watched Bill O'reily after the speech and he told Karl Rove that...(let me paraphrase what he said)..Obama was like a Professor-in-chief lecturing to the cadets. But i think this is a good thing for a president to give a brief history of the past events of the Bush doctrine so that they understand why IRAQ was a mistake and now this war has a clear objective with a closed-ended time frame.

Just because Chris Matthews is excited about the prospects of perpetual war doesn't mean that excitement need carry over to those men and women actually fed into the meat grinder.

It was a somber and serious and sober speech. Cheers would have been inappropriate and just plain weird. The President wasn't there for a pep rally. He was on pretty grim, unavoidable business.

I saw Mathews say that lat night, and honestly that made me switch to a rerun of Law and Order SVU. Funny thing about Chris Mathews, when he appears on Real time with Bill Maher he's completely different.I like Olbermann and Maddow, but let's be honest they're ALL a bunch of gas bags who have about as much place pontificating on matters of war as I have. I don't put much stock in what is said on ANY of those cable news shows.

Right before he interviewed Gen. Eaton Tweety tried to walk that remark back, saying something to the effect of it being a "poor choice of words" that some had gone out of their way to deliberately misunderstand. So his producer must have gottten in his ear immediately and told him how stupid he sounded.

The only MSNBC show I watch regularly is Maddow, where my intelligence isn't offended. Olbermann has his moments and his heart is always in the right place. The rest of the "progressive" shows there aren't worth watching, and I would watch Glenn Beck before I would watch Tweety Birdbrain. When he led their discussions over the politics of the campaign last year, I would hit the mute when he opened his mouth.

What a brainless asshole. He makes O'Reilly look like a member of the human race.

Thanks so much for this, Steve. First thing I heard last night after the speech was this idiot mouthing off. The same ones who express "skepticism" and take cheap shots at Obama's plans were enablers of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld for years.

Until we get the courage to go after the roots of this mania in Arabia (which will be about the time the oil runs out) this is what we're left with. Yapping heads starting with Matthews and heading right all seem to have forgotten bin Laden's saying the inspiration for his campaign was Reagan's turning tail and running after the Marine barracks was bombed in Lebanon in 1983. We owe something to Afghanistan for eight years of ineffectually tearing up the country, same as we have a debt to Iraq.

Sorry, unrelated topic, but apparently Republicans are pushing back against Franken for making them look bad on the anti-rape vote:

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_13907860?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Poor babies are offended that Franken had the audacity to stand up for rape victims at the expense of defense contractors. The nerve!

Coming from a West Point family myself I find Matthews' comments to be extremely odious and beneath contempt.

wister @ 11:22 is correct. I can assure you that Tweety Turd does not know of what he speaks. Perhaps he would like to enlighten us on his boot camp experience and explain how he managed to stay awake in the evenings at times. Been there. Done that. Damn near fell asleep standing in formation more than once.

Even Kathryn Lopez at the National Review called Matthews out on this comment. What more needs to be said?

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzdhYTY0MDRiYTBlYjVkOTAwMjE2YWM5OGU5OTg1MDA=

The on-screen blurb on my Comcast cable system for Hardball describes him as "Forever-wired," which is politer than saying "The hummingbird-on-crack Chris Matthews."

there was a point in obama's speech -- he was stating something to the effect that the freedom of americans is inextricably connected to the freedom of peoples around the world -- and a small spatter of applause started (i was listening on radio) ... in 2 seconds the applause grew thunderous, as if the young folks were waiting for the opportunity...

i would imagine the cadets are supportive of obama not only as president, but personally as well. these aint dim-witted teabaggers, these are some smart kids...

I just have a feeling that after concluding his speech, Obama would like to add something like...and now I'll let the talking heads spin what I've said into something entirely wrong.

Didn't watch last night, but the guy who works in the office next to me did. He's a West Point graduate and a true conservative. He said he felt bad that a good number of cadets appeared to be sleeping, but quickly added that those cadets are up at 5 a.m. and are running around all day long. He wasn't surprised at all that some were dozing off, and didn't see it as any sort of commentary other than those cadets are really tired after a long day.

Anyone have a list dead and injured of the West Point cadets from the classes Bush spoke to when he declared near-victory in Afghanistan?

I noticed that during the speech some of the Cadets appeared to be exhausted. I'm guessing that the President's appearance didn't get them out of their regular duties.

I agree with Matthews (!) that the older military guys seemed to be skeptical. I must wonder how Little bush would have been received under these circumstances. I'm betting that the reception would have been a bit "warmer." It does appear that the Cadets weren't ordered to cheer.

Chris Matthews seemed to be a hand-puppet again last night. He really should have given credit to Pat Buchannan for the paraphrasing of his thoughts, since Buchannan said virtually the same thing prior to the President's speech. I've watched Matthews do this on more than one occasion. One of his guests gives him an idea to latch onto, and it's in his delivery for the rest of the night.

The cadets were sitting at attention, i.e., on the front 4 inches of their seats in a braced position. It is hard to look excited in such a posture and deviation from that posture would be disciplined. Other military personnel exhibited every possible expression and posture. Senior officers looked sober and attentive. What else would you expect from West Point?

He went to maybe the enemy camp tonight to make his case."

Obama spoke from an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan? Or the Fox News Studio? Who knew? Looked like West Point, must have been a funny camera angle. Mr. Matthews, you are a giant waste of skin.

Matthews probably thinks Cadets and Midshipmen don't care about the Army-Navy game, either, because they don't paint their bodies and aren't (visibly) drunk.

Sheesh. The Cadets were behaving the way they ALWAYS do; with discipline and respect.

Oh, and, uh...BEAT NAVY!

Mattews had a frantic bromance with Commander Codpiece, remember? BTW, the withdrawal date is a "target" like companies have, not an absolute ho-matter-what deadline, true?

According to Chris Matthews, if you don't do a cowboy strut in a flightsuit across the deck of an aircraft carrier with rock music blasting in the background, and tell OBL to "bring it on," you'll bore the troops to sleep.

Much better to tell them to STFU and quit complaing about not having armored vehicles and armored vests. To do that you have to have a big chin, and shoot people in the face.

What Matthews meant was that the President is going to root for Navy in next week's Army-Navy football game.

Regarding the obervation that some of the cadets seemed exhausted-- they probably were. USMA cadets have a rigorous schedule. They likely were athletes who had been at practice just before the speech.

After Bush's stupidity in not finishing off al-Qaida when they were on the ropes, and occupying Afghanistan for years, we have a responsibilty to our Afghan allies, such as they are; but no fighting men are going to be enthusiastic about putting their lives on the line to clean up Bush's folly, no matter how much lipstick you put on the pig. There are no significant national security issues involved: al-Qaida has moved, terrorist cells can be based anywhere (the 9/11 terrorists were based in the US), and the Taliban are wifebeaters, not international terrorists.

Chris might say the occassional stupid thing, but "enemy camp" wasn't one of them. I think he was spot on and am glad he had the courage to state it. I was shocked at the overall response of the cadets and the older brass. Clearly suspicious and hostile of Obama. And yes, there were a number of sleeping cadets (which says more about their schedules then Obama's oratory). Simply put, the military is openly hostile to the left, and Obama, rightly or wrongly,represents the left. The more I watch this unfold, the more I realize how utterly divided this Country is. Truly extraordinary.

Hello? December? Anyone who was ever in college remember something significant that started happening long about late November, early Deceber? Final exams? Cramming? Ringing any bells?

Well, take the exhaustion you experienced cramming for finals, add in getting out of bed at 5:00 a.m. every day, followed by formation, P.T. a day's worth of classes, and then more P.T. Oh, and while we're at it, imagine you were required to take a bunch of bitchin' engineering, math and hard science courses which you were required to pass for your degree even though your aptitude for such things was such that you'd have avoided them like the plague had you gone to a regular school. How many of you took thermodynamics in college?

Yeah, set all them down in an auditorium at night without anything to do except listen and some of them are going to doze off.

Granted, someone in the White House should have known about that before they scheduled the speech . . .

Chris can't handle the somber and sober news (this is unusual for a President to be so pragmatic)-- and as such, he projects this unease and ambivalence onto the crowd entire.

It could be some are indeed feeling this, but to assert this as fact, as a Truism of sorts writ large is illustrative of his and lack of reflection and insight and awareness.. such an erroneous leap and conclusion --all based simply on his own visceral response.

And he gets paid so much to assert the same.

The dumbing down continues..thank Goodness for the likes of Olbermann and Maddow!

What use will NBC have for Matthews when they are no longer owned by GE?

Yes!! Gas-bag tweety just apologized on his show. Now, if he'll just go away. Like Lou Dobbs. No wonder Andrea Mitchell didn't have him on her show this morning....I though for sure he'd be there promoting and creating an echo of his lame ideas.