Hannity again mischaracterized Obama's "air-raiding civilians" comment
SUMMARY: On Hannity's America, Sean Hannity stated that it is "amazing" how the Iraq war "has become so politicized" and attacked Sen. Barack Obama, claiming that "one of the worst things ... we could ever have happen is have people like Barack Obama say that our troops are air-raiding villages and killing civilians." But in Obama's August 13 comments to which Hannity was referring, Obama was talking about Afghanistan when he said, "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there."
On the September 30 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America, during an interview with former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Tito Ortiz, host Sean Hannity stated that it is "amazing" how the Iraq war "has become so politicized." He attacked Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), claiming that "one of the worst things ... we could ever have happen is have people like Barack Obama say that our troops are air-raiding villages and killing civilians." Hannity also attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for saying "that the surge has failed, the war is lost" and claimed that Obama and Reid "need to go over there [to Iraq] themselves and start talking to these guys." Ortiz responded, "[E]xactly. They need to go there themselves, because I've been there, and I don't know about these raids they're talking about, 'cause I never heard anything about that from anybody at all." Contrary to Hannity's suggestion, however, Obama was talking about Afghanistan -- not Iraq -- when he said on August 13, "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there." Additionally, both Obama and Reid have visited Iraq.
As Media Matters for America has documented, Hannity has previously attacked and mischaracterized Obama's August 13 remarks. On the August 15 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Hannity falsely suggested that Obama "attack[ed] our troops as murderers," and on the August 21 show, claimed that Obama's comments were "not true." In fact, U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan -- and accounts of resulting civilian casualties -- have been widely reported in the media and have reportedly provoked criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a British commander stationed there. Additionally, as the Associated Press reported in a "Fact Check" responding to conservative attacks on Obama, "Western forces have been killing [Afghan] civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents."
According to a January 5, 2006, Chicago Tribune article, Obama visited Iraq in January 2006 as part of a congressional delegation that was "scheduled to meet with U.S. troops this weekend in Baghdad before traveling to other parts of the country." Reid visited Iraq in April 2005, according to The Washington Post, where he "was confined to heavily fortified zones in and around Baghdad and prohibited from visiting some of the most troubled areas where the insurgency is particularly strong." At an April 19, 2007, press conference, Reid stated that "the [Iraq] war is lost," adding: "The war can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically, and the president needs to come to that realization."
From the September 30 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America:
HANNITY: How did you develop this love for the troops? 'Cause you went on a USO tour in July --
ORTIZ: Yes.
HANNITY: -- and it resulted in a lot of these soldiers signing an American flag, and every time you go into the ring, you wear that flag, you bring that out there with you. You know --
ORTIZ: Well, actually --
HANNITY: -- how did you develop this passion?
ORTIZ: Well, actually, I just got back from Iraq about a week and a half ago, and I received the flag from these troops that really said that, you know, every one of your fights, you walk out with an American flag. And, of course, on the other side, I have Mexican flag, 'cause I'm Mexican-American, of course, and I gotta show both sides of my heritage and support them both. But these guys gave me an American flag by saying, "You know, we all signed it and would you possibly walk out with this for your next fight?" And I said, "You know what? I'll even do better than that. I'm going to dedicate this fight to you guys and have it -- raise it high and be proud of being an American."
HANNITY: You know what? I'm glad to hear you say that. It's amazing, isn't it, how this war has become so politicized? You know, I think one of the worst things --
ORTIZ: Big time.
HANNITY: -- we could ever have happen is have people like Barack Obama say that our troops are air-raiding villages and killing civilians, or Harry Reid say that the surge has failed, the war is lost. I mean, they need to go over there themselves and start talking to these guys.
ORTIZ: They need -- exactly. They need to go there themselves, because I've been there, and I don't know about these raids they're talking about, 'cause I never heard anything about that from anybody at all. It seemed like the war was kind of slow, but the big things were the IEDs that explode on most of our troops that -- it's just terrorists that are just out on the street. They don't know who are the enemy.
Hannitys America
An hour of total FOX propaganda.
My goodness, has support for this war eroded so much that heavyweight right wing pundits are reduced to booking people like former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Tito Ortiz to discuss foreign policy?
How can Hannity go on and on for years about how the opinions of Hollywood celebrities are worthless but stoop to this?
Johnny, exceptions are made for uninformed or crazy celebrities. I believe I posted here before about a Laura Ingraham radio show I listened to one morning. She went on a very long angry rant about the Dixie Chicks or Sean Penn or whoever, telling them to shut up about politics and sing/act.
I think it was the very next day that she had Mel Gibson call in to explain stem cell research, and how it created little tiny babies to be killed.Unreal.
Well, as long as Obama was talking about the US Army "just" killing civilians in Afghanistan, it's ok.
Of which he said we shouldn't be doing these things. Unless you believe that no civilians were killed in Afghanistan, or that we should be deliberately killing civilians,I'm not sure what your objection is.
This is very similar to one of Hannity's favorites- he quotes John Kerry as saying we shouldn't be going into civilians houses at night and terrorizing them.Hannity gets very upset about this and I have to ask;
Does he thin we should be doing these things, or is he just upset that everybody else isn't pretending these things don't happen in war?
My suggestion, Mr. Betrayus, is that Obama, wanting to be considered a serious candidate, should make sure he does not word his statements in a way that implies the ONLY thing we are doing in Afghanistan is killing civilians.
OK, Dex, I see your point. The end of the statement ("which is causing enormous pressure") could be read to imply that this is what was already happening, the only thing.I read it more as a hypothetical result of not having enough troops, or a warning that this could be the only thing we're doing there if the problems weren't addressed.
Two sets of eyes, we read two different things, so that supports your position that Obama might want to be more careful with his words.
Fair enough. Although we may differ on some political positions, I think we could agree that it's extremely important for the armed forces to know that we (Dems) question the leader, and not the soldier (with a few exceptions.)
Pardon the butt-in -- but, the bottom line is... Hannity is an idiot who will do anything to deflect criticism from Bush and his followers. Obama could have the perfect statement or argument... it just doesn't matter. The problem is an idiot/liar like Hannity.
Don't feel too bad. I read it as a jab towards Hannity, who expected Ortiz to comment on troops that he hadn't even met: Ortiz went to Iraq, Obama was talking about air raids in Afghanistan. That was so blatant a bait-and -switch, I'm surprised that Ortiz didn't pick it up.
Also, I find it difficult to agree with posters who say that it's getting ridiculous, because Hannity is now interviewing C-level celebrities about "patriotism". Hannity started out at that level. We need modifiers now: especially ridiculous, insanely ridiculous, tangentially ridiculous. Seriously, people, pull out your thesauri.
By the way, you saw it right. Ortiz is C-level. He's not D-level only because he could beat the crap out of William Hung.
So Obama's comments were "mischaracterized" but Limbaugh's comments and O'Reilly's comments were not? Come on Media Matters. What's with the double standard?
Uh yeah. Where do you see that Obama called the troops murderers?
The thing is, Media Matters does this really weird thing--totally unheard-of in most media, and showing a clear liberal bias: they provide the CONTEXT of the statements so you can evaluate what the real intent was, and provide DOCUMENTATION for why statements are true or untrue.
I've read the context of what Limbaugh and O'Reilly were saying, and it did not indicate that their comments were mischaracterized. I read the documentation supporting Obama's remarks and found them valid, so Hannity's complaining about them was in fact a mischaracterization.
As just a basic matter of responsibility, if there's a difference of opinion, you have to resolve it by going back to source material to find concrete evidence for each position and to evaluate their relative merits.
"It's amazing, isn't it, how this war has become so politicized?"
I'm sure to some talking heads it's also amazing that the sun rises in the east every morning, that mammals are warm-blooded, and that rocks sink (even very small rocks).
It's amazing, isn't it, how the right has had the most politically-bent administration in modern times, how they have turned everything into pro-America or anti-America, how they question the patriotism of anyone who questions the administration, and now they have the gall to "be amazed" that the war in Iraq has somehow brought out political motivations.
This administration wouldn't let the Surgeon General speak at the Special Olympics because of the association with the Kennedy clan. This administration was asking contractors in Iraq about their position on Roe v. Wade. This administration was checking the political parties of appointments to U.S. Attorneys. This administration was giving daily press passes to "loyal Bushies." This administration was using the Department of Justice to pursue "voter fraud" cases against Democrats.
And somehow it's the Democrats who are being unamerican and who are politicizing everything. It truly is amazing.
It is confusing. Let me put it in a nutshell that might have been found in the Garden of Eden over there in Iraq.....We the Democrats are bad, born that way, sorry, too bad, dems da breaks.
Conversation in the head of the Guiliannity beast:
Rudi: Nine eleven.
Sean: Embolden the enemy, undermine the troops.
Rudi: Nine-
Sean: Embolden the enem-
Rudi: Eleven
Sean: Embolden the enemy, undermine the troops
Rudi: Nine-Eleven!
Sean: Obama bombing sovereign nation.
Rudi: Nine-oh-Eleven-oh
Sean: Embolden, undermine.
Rudi: I like dressing like a girl.
Sean: Nugent, loin cloth.
You missed the part where Rudi picks up his cell phone to whisper Nine - Eleven in his wife's ear.
ahhh yeah... sweet nothin's
Did you see the clip on The Daily Show about "9-11 Tourette's"? ;-)
Ahh!! No, unfortunately I missed it. Can't believe I missed another DS.
I can only imagine how true it was, though.
Yeah, too the bad the war has become so politicized. Sean Hannity has had NOTHING to do with that, right? All those millions of dollars are paid to him for his much sought after commentary as a highly educated and respected expert in the field of...what? Running a soundboard?
Yeah, Sean, modern politics are what they are BECAUSE of the divisive efforts of you and your kind.
RINO, do you see how Sean parsed part of Obama's words and used it to make it sound like Obama said something else? THAT'S called editing the audio prior to posting, which is what you claimed MMFA did on Limbaugh. Can you see the difference now?
Sean Hannity is dumber than mustache hair. He could actually increase his IQ by filling his head with sand.
Sen. Barack Obama could care less what this ego-maniac blowhard says about him. Besides, most Americans never heard of Sean Hannity. College campuses don't invite him to speak at their commencement because he is a college drop out.
Sean is the king of Smear TV. He does not want any Democrat in the White House. He will do what it takes-money, lies, deception-to stop the Democrats.