The video is funny, but really, it was a bit unfair. While handing over Czechoslovakia was stupid, and was obviously a result of the idiotic policy of appeasement, the entire concept of appeasing an aggressor was the problem. Thus, the poor interviewee, who clearly didn't know the "gotcha" answer to the question Matthews was looking for, did have it right to some extent.
Chamberlain had, of course, been at odds with Churchill's view for some time by this time, and Munich was just the next step in the process.
Bush's point was dead-on in making the reference. I believe what Matthews was trying to do was to distinguish the Chamberlain policy of appeasement from the Democrats' desire to appease terrorists -- and Matthews thought that pointing out the extreme of Chamberlain's actions at Munich would do just that.
However, there is not really a conceptual difference. Chamberlain gives away Czechoslovakia, Carter attempts to negotiate some other bargain with Hamas, Obama says he will sit down with Ahmedeninajad with no preconditions.
It isn't as though sitting down with with these crazies is going to get them to say, "Oh, we were wrong about pushing Israel into the sea" or "Sorry, our mistake, Israel isn't a rotting corpse" or "Sorry we supplied weapons to kill Americans in Iraq".
The act of appeasement occurred when Chamberlain pursued a policy that led to Munich. Not the Munich fiasco itself. In this regard, the interviewee, had it right.
To be fair, Matthews' incessant shouting "What did Chamberlain do?" would probably be disconcerting for anyone, and it suggests that Chamberlain only made one mistake. If you have to pick a single mistake of Chamberlain's, it was his pursuit of a policy of appeasement -- one which led to Munich, not necessarily the Munich deal itself. The guy was basically ambushed by Matthews -- typical, unfortunately, when Matthews doesn't like the interviewee's position. |
