West Point - The Enemy Camp?

I sent this out today, it has the advertisers addresses listed at the bottom, if anyone wants to also send something.

Dear MSNBC "Hardball" Advertisers:

As a patriotic American citizen, it becomes at times necessary to take positive action to individually do what one can; in order to help support America's troops, who fastidiously guard our God-given and constitutional rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

In recent days, certain statements have been broadcast by Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's "Hardball;" a program of which each of you is an advertiser. As advertisers during that particular program, you constructively support the content of whatever he says, willingly or not.

During the aftermath of the Muslim extremist terrorist attack by Major Hasan, Chris Matthews defended Major Hasan's contact with an al Qaeda recruiter in Yemen. Matthews posed the rhetorical question, "That's not a crime to call al Qaeda, is it? Is It?" We wonder if Major Hasan was calling to say, "Hi," which does not seem to be a crime. But that's not the point, is it?

Then, Matthews made a new comment following President Obama's speech at West Point, a comment even more disgusting than the one above. Although Matthews later speculated that "maybe he used the wrong words," his new comment was reprehensible enough to trigger action by this citizen. Frankly, both comments were anti-American, and despicable. For millions, they caused revulsion and physical nausea. We seriously doubt that you want those thoughts and feelings associated with your products and services.

Although we would fight to the death to support Matthews right to free speech, if necessary; of course that does not mean that the content of his speech is worthy of support, by anyone, including you. It is the duty of American citizens to tolerate offensive speech, in order to keep secure the right to free speech. Matthews has the right to say whatever he wants, but the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a megaphone. And you, advertisers, are paying for his megaphone. Not a problem, if you agree with him. That is what we want to know.

Perhaps it was naive to think that MSNBC would have taken action, following such comments. And while redemption is always possible, there are no empty words of apology that would be convincing. Matthews' comments lay bare his deep-seated contempt for the military -- the same military that protects his right to make such comments.

Without action that shows a sincere attempt to change one's ways, any apology truly rings hollow; and in this case, is obviously, gratingly political. It reminds us of that scene in "Saving Private Ryan," where the German soldier starts trying to sing "The Star Spangled Banner," to save his skin. Later, after he is let-go; he is again found on enemy lines, trying to kill Americans again.
Matthews' gut-wrenching (and startlingly revealing) statement regarding Presdident Obama's speech at West Point is as follows: “I saw if not resentment, skepticism. I didn’t see a lot of warmth in that crowd out there, uh, the president chose to address tonight. And I think that is interesting. He went to maybe the enemy camp tonight to make his case.”

Apparently the West Point speech by President Obama did not cause a tingle to go up Matthews' leg.

Advertisers, West Point is NOT the enemy camp. And there are no good reasons for a U.S. Army Major to place telephone calls to al Qaeda recruiters, whether a crime, or not. And supporting such viewpoints with advertising dollars is likely not your intent, but here we are, with your ads continuing to run during his program. We think you should pull the ads immediately, but of course, that is your decision.

Perhaps it is literally impossible to stop the broadcast of commercials in one day, but as a citizen and as a consumer; it is impossible to continue to support the purchase of your products and services, if you continue to support Chris Matthews and "Hardball" with your advertising. Believe me, we are DVR recording the program to see who continues to support this program and this host, and to help us decide where our dollars are best spent.

May God guide you in your future advertising decisions, may He bless the national treasure that is West Point and our military, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Sincerely,
TampaPatriot813@aol.com

Thanks to another great and patriot Mom and AsAMom Member.

Please Join the Fight:
Email addresses:
FidelityCorporateAffairs@fmr.com, investorrelations@ralcorp.com, bulletin@aarp.org, sramaswa@gpcus.jnj.com, media@walgreens.com, info.source@zurichna.com, pr@ups.com, jeff.kindler@pfizer.com, shareholders.im@pg.com, Laura.T.Bryant@ehi.com, tom.wilkinson@gm.com, sawso@usn.salvationarmy.org, mariel.vondrathen@siemens.com

Who they are:
Fidelity Investments, Corporate Affairs: FidelityCorporateAffairs@fmr.com
Post Cereal, Investor Relations: investorrelations@ralcorp.com
AARP: bulletin@aarp.org
Johnson and Johnson (Tylenol): sramaswa@gpcus.jnj.com
Walgreens: media@walgreens.com
Zurich Financial Services (Help Point): info.source@zurichna.com
UPS: pr@ups.com
Pfizer (Centrum): jeff.kindler@pfizer.com
Proctor and Gamble (Olay): shareholders.im@pg.com
Enterprise Holdings (National Car Rental): Laura.T.Bryant@ehi.com
General Motors (Cadillac): tom.wilkinson@gm.com
CSC Brands (Prego): www.campbellsoupcompany.com/ContactUs.aspx
Salvation Army: sawso@usn.salvationarmy.org
Siemens: mariel.vondrathen@siemens.com