Hannity has tried to link Obama to so many "radicals" even he can't keep them straight
March 01, 2010 11:53 pm ET by Greg Lewis
Sean Hannity's Möbius strip of Obama's "radical
associations" just
came all the way around tonight when he wondered why nobody asked Obama during the presidential campaign
if he spent time with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Here's Hannity on March 1, 2010 [emphasis added]:
HANNITY: I never got a question answered during the campaign about whether or not in Chicago we know that the president hung out with radicals... No one ever asked if he hung out with Louis Farrakhan. Is that a fair question?
Sean, there was at least one person during the campaign asking if Obama hung
out with Louis Farrakhan: You.
In early 2008, when the Democratic primary was in full swing, Hannity twice suggested that Obama
might have been "associated" with Farrakhan. In both instances,
Hannity ignored that Obama had responded
to Farrakhan's endorsement by him by condemning the minister. In
a speech, Obama
pointed out he had been "a consistent denunciator" of Farrakhan, in a separate statement,
he said that he "strongly condemn[ed] the anti-Semitic statements made by
Minister Farrakhan."
A few months later, on the April 18, 2008, edition
of his now-defunct Fox News show Hannity's
America, Hannity again approached the issue of Obama's supposed
associations with
Farrakhan. Hannity did a segment on Obama's attendance at the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, DC,
which was organized by Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Obama had commented
on his experience at the rally in a 1995 Chicago
Reader article,
and Hannity ran "shocking" excerpts on his show of what Obama said,
such as this:
HANNITY: But Obama's reaction to the march gets even more shocking. He is quoted as saying, quote: "Cursing out white folks is not going to get the job done. Anti-Semitic and anti-Asian statements are not going to lift us up. We've got some hard nuts-and-bolts organizing and planning to do. We've got communities to build."
That sounds like Obama was actually repudiating Farrakhan's message. Shocking, indeed.
Meanwhile, Fox News contributor Bob Beckel was as unconcerned about the
Farrakhan nonissue in 2008 as he was earlier this evening. Here's Beckel's indifference in
2008:
HANNITY: How about fundamental fairness? Would it matter to you, Bob Beckel, if, in fact -- because the church that Barack Obama goes to honored the Minister Louis Farrakhan. Honored him.
BECKEL: I don't care what it did.
HANNITY: A man that refers to the white man as the skunk of the planet Earth and Judaism is a gutter religion. Should that -- should he be asked about that?
BECKEL: Who cares? [Hannity & Colmes, 2/25/2008]
And from tonight:
HANNITY: No one ever asked if he hung out with Louis Farrakhan. Is that a fair question?
[...]BECKEL: Let's not forget, [Obama] also hung out with Che Guevera, and with Castro, and with Mao just before he died. A bunch of them.
HANNITY: Wait, Wright went to -- with Farrakhan to Libya to meet the dictator Gadhafi. [...] Well they were friends and this was at a time when America was at the height of its hostilities with Libya.
BECKEL: What's the point?
HANNITY: Well, Farrakhan is back in the news. [Hannity, 3/1/2010]
Nobody mocks Hannity right to his face quite like Bob Beckel.
As it turned out the magazine was, as I recall, was one published by Obama's church and that issue honored maybe 20 or so Chicago community leaders for their civic work. On the cover were head shots of all the honorees, yearbook style. On one side of the page was Obama's headshot and on the other side, among the rest of the photos, was Farrakhan's. No connection whatsoever in the pictures like Hannity had suggested. Hannity is an unrepentant liar...
But another thing occurred to me...while we all regard Louis Farrakhan as a national figure, he is first a local, Chicago, community figure. If Barack Obama did any work in the Chicago community he would have necessarily crossed paths with Farrakhan. That didn't mean he was close to Farrakhan...and no evidence was ever produced that they were close. But Hannity relentlessly tied him to Farrakhan as though they were close friends and allies, when in fact Obama publicly repudiated Farrakhan despite Farrakhan's endorsement. Hannity is a liar...
I know , it doesn't matter to sane people, but I'm just pre-empting the predictable Hannitard spin.
According to Wikipedia, she's also a former hooters girl and NBA/NFL cheerleader, too. I have no idea what she brings to the table as far as an intellectual debate. Maybe Hannity can explain his associations with so many gorgeous women on his show every night, even if they have nothing to offer (as far as a brain).
For all of the smearing the wingnuts do of outspoken "leftist" celebrities, they give a lot of weight to the semi-famous on the right.