MSNBC Host Apologizes to Vets for 'Hero' Comment

The conservative blogosphere apparently got through to Chris Hayes: After sparking outrage Sunday when he said he felt uncomfortable calling fallen soldiers "heroes," the MSNBC host has apologized. The Huffington Post has his statement in full. Highlights:

• "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."

• Hayes pointed out that the same is true of most US citizens, and noted that it's easy for us "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 ... I ended up ... 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."

Click for Hayes' full statement. (More veterans stories.)