White House soiree: Boortz, Hannity, Gallagher, Medved and Ingraham were reportedly invited to meet with Bush in the Oval Office

In a September 16 posting on his weblog, nationally syndicated radio host Neal Boortz wrote that he had been invited to "the West Wing of the White House" for a "30-minute meeting with the President in the Oval Office [which] turned into 90 minutes." Boortz added that the "other invitees were [conservative radio hosts] Sean Hannity, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved and Laura Ingraham." As the weblog Think Progress noted, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in a September 17 posting on its website that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has been invited to the meeting but could not attend.

Below, are examples of some noteworthy comments, previously documented by Media Matters for America, from each of the recent guests who reportedly visited the White House:

Neal Boortz

• On the August 3 edition of his radio show, Boortz asked his audience, "[H]ow incompetent, how ignorant, how worthless is an adult that can't earn more than the minimum wage?" Boortz continued: "You have to really, really, really be a pretty pathetic human being to not be able to earn more than ... the minimum wage."
• On the July 19 edition of his radio show, Boortz claimed that "at its core," Islam is a "violent, violent religion," and called "this Muhammad guy ... just a phony rag-picker." Boortz asserted that "[i]t is perfectly legitimate, perhaps even praiseworthy, to recognize Islam as a religion of vicious, violent, bloodthirsty cretins."
• On the June 6 edition of his radio program, Boortz stated that "[s]o many" of the victims of Hurricane Katrina "have turned out to be complete bums, just debris."
• While discussing protests in Los Angeles against proposed immigration restrictions, Boortz, on the March 27 edition of his radio program, suggested the U.S. government should "store 11 million Hispanics," who entered the country illegally, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans before deporting them to their home countries.

Sean Hannity

• On the August 29 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Hannity sought to encourage Republican voters and candidates to ensure a Republican victory in the November midterm elections, proclaiming that "there are things in life worth fighting and dying for, and one of 'em is making sure" that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) "doesn't become the speaker."
• On the August 22 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, while previewing a discussion about Republican gains in a recent poll, Hannity asserted that "some people are saying" that a Democratic victory in the November elections would be a "victory for the terrorists."
• On the May 3 edition of his radio show, Hannity compared voting for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) to voting for Hamas or Hezbollah. When a caller questioned the prospect of democracy spreading in the Middle East by noting that people are "vot[ing] for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas on the West Bank," Hannity replied, "Well, you could vote for Hillary Clinton tomorrow, too, for crying out loud."

Mike Gallagher

• Appearing on the February 8 edition of Fox News' DaySide, Gallagher called the funeral for Coretta Scott King "one of the most despicable displays of ugly political partisanship that we have ever seen" and claimed that liberals "think a memorial service is an opportunity to eviscerate Republicans and condemn this current administration."
• While substitute hosting the December 22, 2004, edition of Hannity & Colmes, Gallagher compared giving blankets to illegal immigrants to "offering a burglar the right tools to break into somebody's house."
• While substitute hosting the June 28, 2004, edition of Hannity & Colmes, Gallagher asserted that a Bush-Cheney '04 video (which attacked Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry and juxtaposed footage of Democratic Party leaders with footage of Hitler) "brilliantly put together side by side Al Gore's raging maniacal rant next to Adolf Hitler."

Laura Ingraham

• On the July 19 broadcast of her nationally syndicated radio show, Ingraham stated that Hearst Newspapers columnist Helen Thomas -- who is of Lebanese descent -- "represents Hezbollah in the White House press room." Ingraham's comment came after she played an audio clip of a White House press secretary Tony Snow during a July 18 press briefing saying, "Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view," in response to an assertion by Thomas that the United States had not made an effort to stop Israel's recent attacks on Lebanon and that the "perception of the United States" was that the government supports "collective punishment against all of Lebanon and Palestine."
• On the May 1 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Ingraham claimed the "supposed mainstream media" are "making the same bet that [Sen.] Ted Kennedy [D-MA] is making" by supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Ingraham maintained that just as Kennedy supports granting a path to citizenship because it will "redound to the Democrats' benefit," presumably through votes, the media -- which she claimed "tilts to the left" -- support citizenship because it will bring "new viewers, new listeners, new customers to the more liberal viewpoint" to which the media purportedly cater.
• On the March 21 broadcast of NBC's Today, Ingraham decried NBC News for "report[ing] only on the IEDs [improvised explosive devices], only on the killings ... only on the reprisals" in Iraq, and for "reporting from hotel balconies" instead of in the field. Following the explosion of a car bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 29 that killed two members of a CBS News crew and severely wounded a third, Ingraham defended her remarks. On the May 31 broadcast of her nationally syndicated radio program, Ingraham stated that when she "brought up the hotel balconies, that was coming right off a Richard Engel report from a hotel balcony about the latest IEDs going off." She added that "[a]ll the guys [troops] I talked to in Iraq were tired of it, and I was speaking for them." Noting Woodruff's injuries in Iraq, Ingraham later stated that although "our hearts and prayers go out" to the "brave" journalists in Iraq "who are on the ground, getting the facts out," "I will not change my view that giving context in this reporting is important." She continued: "[Y]ou have to see the forest through the trees, here. The insurgents not only know how to play to the press, they manipulate -- let's make that very clear."
• On the April 11, 2005, edition of Hannity & Colmes, Ingraham stated that Democratic Sens. Kerry, Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) are "on the side of" North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il because of their opposition to John R. Bolton, President Bush's nominee as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (Bush subsequently gave Bolton a recess appointment, which lasts through the current session of Congress).

Michael Medved

• On the August 2 edition of CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Medved dismissed as "ridiculous" Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel's call to "professionally shun[] Mel Gibson and refus[e] to work with him even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line" for recently making anti-Semitic remarks. Medved declared that Emanuel is "[filmmaker] Michael Moore's agent, and Michael Moore has done far more damage to the Jewish community, particularly regarding the issue of Israel, than anything Mel Gibson has ever done."

From the September 16 posting on Boortz's weblog Nealz Nuze:

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

Last Wednesday afternoon I got an excited phone call from Belinda [Skelton, producer]. The White House had called and wanted me to be present for a meeting with the President in the Oval Office on Friday morning.

So, here I am, in the middle of Arizona, about 90 miles north of the Mexican border, with nothing but hiking and workout clothes, and I having to figure out a way to get to Washington DC by Thursday night.

I arrived at the West Wing of the White House at the appointed hour. The other invitees were Sean Hannity, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved and Laura Ingraham. What was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting with the President in the Oval Office turned into 90 minutes. Though the meeting was completely off the record, there is much that can be shared about the visit.

All of this to tell you that I have extended my vacation for two days to make up for the two days lost on that trip back to the East Coast. I'll be live with you on Wednesday.

The desert awaits! No rattlesnake problems as of yet. Professional courtesy, I suspect.