Fox's Brainless "Brainroom" Attacks Obama For Birthday Fundraiser

On his Fox News show tonight, Sean Hannity attacked President Obama for hosting a birthday fundraiser, claiming that Obama was "turning his back on the American people" at a time when the nation is struggling with debt and a slow economy.

During the segment, Hannity aired a graphic prepared by the "Fox News Brainroom" that claimed Obama had headlined 37 "re-election fundraisers" "to date," while President George W. Bush had only headlined three fundraisers "as of June 2003."

First of all, the numbers shown for Bush are simply untrue.

In June 2003 -- shortly after Bush had declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, but with fierce fighting still going on in the country -- Bush headlined re-election fundraisers on June 17, June 20, and June 23. Bush then capped off the month with two fundraisers on June 27.

Note to Fox's "Brainroom": That's five fundraisers in June 2003 alone. And these are just the events in which Bush made a speech that was posted on his White House website.

Here's a clip of Hannity's attack on Obama:

There is also the question as to why Fox did not look at Bush and Obama fundraisers for a comparable time period. Perhaps this explains it: The Washington Post reported on August 3, 2003, that Bush landed the day before at his Texas ranch "for a month of fun and fundraising" (retrieved via Nexis). The Post also reported that "[b]etween them, Bush and Cheney plan to travel to 13 of their own fundraisers during August, and each plans to make a fundraising stop for another Republican candidate."

The Post added:

A CBS News tally shows this is Bush's 26th presidential trip to Crawford. He has spent all or part of 166 days at the ranch or en route -- the equivalent of 5-1/2 months. When Bush's trips to Camp David and Kennebunkport, Maine, are added, according to the CBS figures, Bush has spent 250 full or partial days at his getaway spots -- 27 percent of his presidency so far.

In August 2003, 35 Americans were killed in Iraq and another 181 were wounded.