Confronted with the truth, Hannity refused to back down from debunked mouse, LA-Vegas rail falsehoods
SUMMARY: On Fox News, Sean Hannity repeated the false GOP talking points that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directs that funds be spent to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse in San Francisco and on a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas. In fact, as Rep. Joe Sestak noted in response to Hannity, the bill does not contain any language directing funds to the salt marsh harvest mouse or its San Francisco wetlands habitat, nor does the bill include a provision directing that funds be spent on a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas.
During the February 24 broadcast of his Fox News program, host Sean Hannity repeated the false Republican talking points that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directs that funds be spent to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse in San Francisco and on a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas. In response to Hannity's false claims, Hannity's guest, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) noted, "Sean, that -- those words are absolutely not in the bill, and you know it. You may be reading them off the Internet, but those words are not in the bill."
After Sestak challenged Hannity to "try to name" an earmark in the bill, Hannity responded: "The salt harvest marsh mouse that gets $30 million. The railway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas: that is a pork project." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, the bill does not contain any language directing funds to the salt marsh harvest mouse or its San Francisco wetlands habitat, a fact that the House Republican leadership aide who reportedly originated the claim has reportedly acknowledged. Nor does the bill include, as Media Matters has noted, a provision directing that $8 billion in funds be spent on a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas.
After writing that "there isn't any such money in the bill" for the mouse, The Plum Line blogger Greg Sargent reported on February 12 that the "marsh harvest mouse" claim originated in an email from a "House Republican leadership staffer" who, when contacted by Sargent, "conceded that the claim by conservative media that the mouse money is currently in the bill is a misstatement." San Jose Mercury News staff writer Paul Rogers subsequently reported on February 13 that Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), originated the claim and said that "[t]here is no language in the bill that says this money will go to this project."
Moreover, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace has said that the claim that the bill had funding to protect the mouse has been "supposedly ... debunked."
As Media Matters has noted, the mouse falsehood has been repeated several times on Fox News, including on Hannity. Furthermore, other media outlets such as The New York Times, Fox Business Network, The Washington Times, and CNN have advanced the same falsehood.
Furthermore, contrary to Hannity's false claim -- which has been pushed by House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) -- that the economic recovery bill directs that funds be spent on a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas, the bill does not direct high-speed rail funds to any specific high-speed rail project. Furthermore, any funding would be allocated by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman.
The bill states that $8 billion shall remain available for the "Secretary of Transportation" for "projects that support the development of intercity high speed rail service" and that the secretary shall "submit to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a strategic plan that describes how the Secretary will use the funding provided under this heading to improve and deploy high speed passenger rail systems." The Joint Explanatory Statement of the Conference Report on H.R. 1 further states of the high-speed rail program: "The conferees have provided the Secretary flexibility in allocating resources between the programs to advance the goal of deploying intercity high speed rail systems in the United States."
From the February 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: And that was President Obama, delivering his remarks to a joint session of Congress just a bit ago. And joining us now to give us his thoughts on the president's speech is Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak [PA] is with us.
You know, Congressman Sestak, I'm getting a little frustrated. He said in last week's $1 trillion-plus with interest, you know, massive spending bill -- he said there were no pet projects in it. We all know that's not true.
I have a list of the $410 billion omnibus spending bill. I have a list -- I'll start reading them to you, if you like -- of nothing but part of the 9,000 earmarks. How can you say with a straight face that this is not irresponsible spending when it's full of earmarks? Last week's bill; this week's bill being debated. Explain that to me. You're a Democrat. Help me out.
SESTAK: Absolutely. Sean, first off, you try to name me one -- one in the recovery bill of an earmark. Now, with a --
HANNITY: Got it.
SESTAK: -- 9,000 earmarks in this omnibus --
HANNITY: I got it.
SESTAK: -- bill -- just one moment.
HANNITY: Answer.
SESTAK: There were -- OK. If --
HANNITY: One.
SESTAK: -- you could, just answer this: Is -- there's 9,000 --
HANNITY: The salt harvest marsh mouse that gets $30 million. The railway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas: that is a pork project. That is reckless spending.
SESTAK: Sean, that -- those words are absolutely not in the bill, and you know it.
HANNITY: What --
SESTAK: You may be reading them off --
HANNITY: -- the stimulus --
SESTAK: -- the Internet, but those words are not in the bill.
HANNITY: Yeah, of course, because you hide it. But we know where the money's going. It's just like, for example, all-terrain --
SESTAK: Now, Sean, those words --
HANNITY: I'll give you another one.
SESTAK: Sean, if I could.
HANNITY: All-terrain vehicles --
SESTAK: Now, wait a minute, Sean, you're reading off an Internet type of thing.
HANNITY: I'm actually reading the bill.
SESTAK: You've got to read the actual bill, and I've read every word.
HANNITY: You know --
SESTAK: Now let's talk about the 9,000 earmarks.
HANNITY: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You know and I know that Nancy Pelosi's district, that these marshlands to help save the mouse, that's where that money's going. This railway for Harry Reid, these all-terrain vehicle trails, they're in the bill, Congressman. We're spending $1.3 trillion of our kids' money. Why?
SESTAK: Sean, I just don't want to mislead the public. Those words are not in the bill. Number two: We're --
HANNITY: But the money is earmarked for it.
SESTAK: No, there are not, Sean. Number two --
HANNITY: You sound like Bill Clinton.
SESTAK: No, I'm just telling you what the facts are, 'cause I've read every word of the bill.
HANNITY: "I did not have sex with that woman." They -- that is where the money is going, Congressman. Be straight with the American people.
SESTAK: No, I'm just telling you what the facts are, 'cause I've read every word of the bill.
HANNITY: "I did not have sex with that woman."
Wow, Hannity really went for the Bill Clinton panic button on this one. He's like a cockroach when the lights go on, completly involuntary, primitive reflex.
My goodness, poor Sestak had to refute and reject Hannity's advances 5 times before Hannity resorted to sex talk!
Now, Col. that was really low. What have you got against our polyped friends that you'd compare them to this slime ball?
"Be straight with the American people?" From S'Hannity? Priceless.
sounds like the Ann Coulter response when presented with the facts " I was just joking '.
i concur
Of course. Unfortunately, the GOP has invested three decades in the myth that Government doesn't work, and that all government spending is bad (except defense). A prime example of this delusion is Michael Steele's idiotic pronouncement that the Government never created a job.
PBS had a program recently about the light rail in Charlotte, NC. It was a Republican mayor who pushed for it, and his party RAILED on him for even suggesting it. Of course, it was built and is incredibly beneficial for the city, its residents, and visitors, but the Republicans are still sure that public transit is a sign of the Anti-Christ (or something like that)
just look across the big pond and see what the europeans have done, and how incredibly beneficial it is ( and was during a big war )
but the Republicans are still sure that public transit is a sign of the Anti-Christ
Or rather, they are sure it's a sign that poor people (i.e. minorities) may be able travel into their neighborhoods.
You all are so much fun. I know Col. will jump in and correct me.
With the Col's permission, I'd like to say, you're so much fun. Me likem public transit, but if you like public tranit better, hop on board.
You're right. But don't forget that it doesn't provide "jobs," only "work." Building, operating, and maintaining the railroad does not provide real jobs.
You're being facetious.
Moi?
I think there is some concern from some of us as to where it is built first. Vegas-LA is a good choice, the ridership should be high enough and well heeled enough to make it at least a break even proposition. Now, if it becomes another Amtrak, with eternal subsidies, there is a problem.
A group of Casino owners, california businessmen and Disney have been discussing this for sometime. The deal was dead I heard though, because Nevada and California and all the beauracrats inbetween threw up too many obsticles thinking that the rich Casinos would do anything for the rail line...which wasn't true.
Any project of this magnitude would have a big government component because there are land rights issues and a million other things. Maybe the stimulus will loosen things up on that front. But that's all it takes to make the grade as a Republican talking point...it's a project that will probably happen now because of the stimulus bill and the new philosophy from the White House....therefore, it is a line-item in the stimulus bill to pay for a train from Vegas to Disneyworld. If I hear that one more time I'm going to scream.
"eternal subsidies"
You are familiar with the concept "moral hazard?" [ Moral hazard is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. source: wikipedia]
You can do math, right? I drive on highways, roads, bridges and tunnels that are subsidized. I fly on airlines that are subsidized (those airports weren't free and fuel taxes and airport fees don't cover all costs). I ride BART (which is subsidized), and ferries across SF Bay (which are subsidized) and buses across the Bay Bridge (which are subsidized), CalTrain from SF to Silicon Valley (which is subsidized). I really prefer commuting while using my laptop & cell phone instead of driving. It's a delight to ride a ferry enjoying coffee in the morning and a glass of wine at night.
A bit of analysis shows that some types of "public" transportation subsidies are more cost effective than subsidizing the building of roads and bridges. You have merely shifted the burden, hence, moral hazard.
We pay road taxes and if that ain't enough, raise the fees. I have no problem with a given geographic area taxing themselves for local mass transit, I do have a problem with grossly underpriced fares. I don't have a problem with Federal Government lending a hand in a project that spans state lines in providing aid in construction related activities, on-going operation and maintenance is different. Years ago, a Stockbroker in SF wanted me to invest a certain sum of money, which he said was his parking fees for a year. If he wanted to ride mass transit and pay the equivalent amount in fare, I have no problem with that. The problem I see (and I don't live in a large metropolitan area) is that the locals from those areas seem to want all of us to subsidize a lifestyle that provides very little benefit for a great majority of us that prefer the rural lifestyle, paying gas taxes, road tolls, etc. Why should I contribute (as an example) to the fare of someone living in LA that is going to Vegas for a weekend to blow a wad of cash anyway? The same could be said for many of the corridors under consideration.
I don't want to get into a specific discussion about Amtrak, as it is too far afield for this thread. But I would like to make the point that it can be very sound public policy to subsidize public tyransportation, and heftily. Economists have long since demonstrated that if rail had the level of subsidies that cars and trucks have -- in the form of, for example, a publicly financed highway and bridge system, and the concomitant public financing of the negative environmental consequences of cars and trucks they create -- rail beats cars and trucks as an economic proposition hands down. It's not even close.
The French, for example, have a truly fabulous rail system which, despite its heavy subsidization, more than pays for itself relative to cars and trucks as a socio-economic proposition. In the larger cities it even beats cars in terms of convenience. Yes, it annoyingly goes on strike from time to time (though very rarely in a wildcat and sustained fashion). But anyone who has lived in Paris, for example, knows that someone who would take the fact of an occasional grève as a probative reason for chucking -- or even scaling back -- the public transportations system the French now have is either an economic fool or an ideological knave.
The moral of the story? Subsidy is not at all a bad word when it comes to public transportation. And the attempt to dismiss public transportation out of hand because it may not "pay its own way" in the incredibly narrow sense of that phrase when it is used in this particular context, is not a very useful contribution to the public policy discussion.
Either Sean Hannity is really stupid or he's really sly and clever. All he does is pick up fabricated talking points and then shout them into the echo chamber that is the gullible media we have here in America.
I personally don't see anything wrong with high speed rail or conservation of wetlands, only in neo-conservative la la land is this considered a waste of money because after all, they don't believe in man-made climate change or conserving the environment.
Alien. I'll say he is basicly a RIGHT WING DUMB A--. All anyone needs to know about him is that he will do anything, say anything, no matter how untrue, to advance and defend his prescious FAR RIGHT WING IDEOLOGY. Personally, I'm enjoying watching him squirm, rant and rave, and scream since his heros have lost power last November. Change is coming and they cant handle it.
He's like all of the professional media liars - he's in it for the MONEY.
foghorn,amen to that.
exactly. He makes a lot more as a "political pundit" than as "sportscaster."
Unlike a sportscaster, he gets to talk about his own imaginary scores.
You're absolutely right, Foghorn.
He IS in it for the money.
After all, when it comes right down to it, that IS FAR RIGHT WING IDEOLOGY.
Facts don't interest Hannity. Riling up lowbrow conservatives is the only point of his show. Great write-up in (ugh) The American Conservatie yesterday-- hopefully this opinion will take root.
So you all are saying there no Earmarks (In US politics an earmark is a congressional provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects or that directs specific exemptions from taxes or mandated fees.) Or Pork Barrle Spending (In United States politics, the term pork barrel refers to the appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents, such as those in marginal seats or campaign contributors.) in this bill?
Footnote - Terms from Wikipedia - a location you all seem to accept.
Actually, no, I don't think anyone on here is saying that. What we are saying is that there isn't anything in the stimulus bill to save a salt marsh mouse, and build a high speed transit rail from Disneyland to Vegas.
I'm sure that there are many other examples in the bill that one could point, you know, actual real examples, that might be debatable as to whether or not they're "pork". But one man's pork, is another man's stimulus.
In other words, ya got bupkis. Thanks for clearin' that up.
Time for the mannity to sell ya some more gold from his "good friends down at Sanford Gold and Bullion."
Clearly, you'll buy any gop-slop nonsense the guy shovels at ya, little fella.
You seem to be equating "earmark" and "pork barrel" spending. Sestak says himself in the text provided that there are earmarks. The phrase "intended primarily to benefit particular constituents" is what's causing you problems. The intention is to stimulate the economy, not to reward specific members of Congress.
For my part, I'm not saying that. But I will say that a great many conservatives and Republicans seem to be attacking the bill -- as Hannity and Bobby Jindal have -- based on things that are not in it (such as the Las Vegas-Disneyland railway). I'm wondering why not attack the bill on the wasteful spending that is in it? Maybe it's because the spending isn't wasteful... when governor Jindal cited the U.S. Government's purchase of a new fleet of efficient cars, for instance. 'cause we wouldn't want the government driving fuel-efficient cars while at the same time the money they spent on them goes to automakers and auto workers, who in turn invest and spend the money again, right?
I don't think anyone said or wrote that. Hannity kept liying and when Rep. Sestak tried to get to that:
SESTAK: Now let's talk about the 9,000 earmarks.
Hannity had other things on his mind:
HANNITY: "I did not have sex with that woman."
So you all are saying there no Earmarks ... Or Pork Barrle Spending... in this bill?
... Wikipedia - a location you all seem to accept.
Great post, Mark, assuming we spot you those two completely made up statements. Your arguments would really look a lot stronger if you didn't insist on putting so much fiction into them.
Fiction, where is the fiction? Col, I gave you all the definition of Earmark and Pork and told you were I found it.
Just wondering where you all stand, is there or is there not any pork or earmarks in the Stimulas Bill? Second, now since Obama has said over and over again that this bill has no Pork or earmarks, where do you stand? Either you admit there is earmarks and pork and stand with the President, or you say there is Earmarks and Pork and agree the President is mis-leading the public.
I was only referring to the "you all say" and "you all seem to accept" generalizations.
"pork" is very subjective, as has been discussed at length at this site. You have more of a point with "earmarks", although that one's open to interpretation, and is a little overused as a buzzword.
HaHaHa! I was wondering who'd be the 1st today!
You stay classy, Straw Man.
Awsome job on the terms,..Mark.......and they are very much correct......so...where is the pork and where is the earmarks?????
Pork is in your Congressional District, earmarks in mine.
Sean, my little ignorant dope.
If these things are "in the bill" as you say that they are, please tell us what page they are on, what paragraph, and where it notes actually in the bill that the money for the mouse is there, or that the money for the railway from LA to Vegas is in there. If it's in the bill, this shouldn't be a very hard task. Something tells me though, that you won't be able to find it.
In the absence of proof, I will confirm you an idiot, yet again.
Hannity knows it's not in there, but everytime he repeats this B.S there are thousands of ignorant voters out there that will believe him
and this is what bothers me the most:
that after the last 8 years of republican "leadership" (6 of them controlling all three segments of the federal gov't), massively screwing the country over, time and time again, there are enough people out there who still watch/listen to the likes of mr. hannity to keep him in sponsors.
what planet "stupid" do these people reside in? i understand hannity completely, he's in it to make a buck, and i don't blame him in the least. nor, do i blame his sponsors or station, they also are in it to make a buck. ultimately, it comes down to the viewers/listeners; at some point, in the past 8 years, you'd think enough of them would have glommed on to the fact that they were being treated like rubes, by both hannity and the republican party he shills for. you would be wrong, apparently.
touche.
Nice math, too.
Apparently "9,000 earmarks" is the new Replutocrat talking point. If there really are that many, why does IdiotBoy Hannity have to resort to a fake example?
The gops keep the slop simple for the mannity and he keeps it simple for his sheep.
Best not to confuse any of 'em with the facts.
Gop slop. I like that.
Makes good mule feed.
You make a good point, m, but I gotta' disagree with you. It just doesn't take an overabundance of brain cells to parot the same inane lies over and over and over again. All it takes is sufficient greed and a complete lack of a conscience. Notice Insannity's inability to adapt his lies to changing circumstances. He becomes louder and shriller when challenged on his propogandistic fictions, and simply shouts over his opponent. Not a lot of gray matter required for that tactic. Insannity manages to pull off being dishonest and as dumb as a post at the same time.
Pretty immpressive, when you think about it.
Sean is being unduly maligned. He is only being the good little shill he was hired for. Each morally challenged "journalist" in the MSM received a Play Book from their handlers in the GOP. This book, in the form of a three-ring vinyl binder, gives Hannity and the rest a long list of lies to be repeated, non-stop, no matter what. Even some Republicans have backed away from these falsehoods, but the Play Book is clear: "No matter what the truth is on a particular matter, just keep repeating the lie over and over. We are depending on you to do the good work of sabotaging our enemy." (Page 20 or 21) And, on the last page, this admonishment: "We, the members of the GOP, cannot go on television or appear in print every day, but YOU can, Sean. Your fans listen to you every day and will believe whatever you tell them. In so many ways, Sean, you and Bill, Rush, Mike, and others are the backbone of the party. You must stand tall and be proud of what you accomplish in our name. Be patient, Sean. When the rewards are handed out, you'll get yours."
These guys are too funny! I agree with Paul Krugman the Republican Party is the party of Beavis and Butthead: "
The full gamut of punditry had little praise for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's rebuttal speech Tuesday night. Notably, Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman, responding to the flak Jindal gave high-speed rail and volcano-monitoring, has labeled the GOP 'the party of Beavis and Butthead':
Hannity = Hilarity
Because he's a joke
I'm amazed that people still think we're giving billions to save a mouse in San Francisco! thats just laughable!
You shouldn't be amazed. Large percentages of people believed (and some probably still do believe), that Saddam was behind 9/11, or that we actually found those pesky WMD's, or that no one could have fathomed that planes could be used to fly into buildings, or that Obama is really a muslim, etc., etc.
Thanks for being complicit in the ever-continuing dumbing down of America, Seannie.
the sad part is Sara.....so many people that get their information from the Axis of Evil (Hannity, Beck, O'Rielly.....Limbuagh is just an ass) believe all this crap....and its those ignorant people that keep getting these repbulicans elected!!!!!!
I'm surprised you did not mention "hate" or "horse".
Hannity, like Limbaugh, gets his talking points from the RNC and repeats them endlessly.
Fair and balanced doesn't mean truth.
Apparently, the RNC is now getting its talking points from Limbaugh...
I have often pondered that chicken-egg relationship on this forum. Does FatBoy get his talking points from the RNC, or does he write their talking points for them? It is definitely a symbiotic relationship... maybe it flows both ways? Maybe FatBoy and Karl Rove brainstorm over the phone?
Maybe?
So dispite a lack of evidence to support it and several eyes that say there's nothing there, the items are still up in the air for you? Are you still waiting for the definitive word on Iraq WMD, yellow cake resources, and the number of terrorists in Sadam's Iraq.
Are you serious?? I guess I have to spell it out... I don't believe there is anything in the bill about either, Hannity pushed a bad position and lost,eos. I figured since some people are taking hardline stances for their respective sides my solution was about as amicable as possible.... why so serious?
I'm what ever I choose to be. I don't need your permission to do this. I don't feel much need to afirm your call.
Many trolls can look at an argument, one side refferenced and sourced, the other side unsupported and disproved without much effort. The troll will call both sides worth consideration.
Your post struck me as of this type, and I find myself with currently, not much patience for the rhetorical tactic.
Having followed your path today, and having read your posts, I'm pretty secure in calling you a troll.
Have a nice day.
What happens if extra money is spent on the Vegas-LA bullet train to built overpasses to save a desert mouse??????
No, they'll just have to reroute through Rock Ridge. Time to work up a number 6.
I like this one, don't say it too loud we'll be reading about it in the papers in a couple days...
Let me know if it comes up. I claim copyright to the above and demand recompense if used.
First of all, Mr. Hannity, I live in Las Vegas and trust me, if there was a high-speed rail line being between Southern California, Disneyland, and Las Vegas, we would know it. Besides, everybody knows that Las Vegas IS Disneyland! Hey! Secondly, go to the nearest elementary school in your area and have a 2nd grader, READ the Stimulus Bill. Then have, if not the same 2nd grader, a 3rd grader, explain it to you and have a 4th grader take notes for you. Honestly, how do you get to work in the morning without being run down by a car or unassisted?
Perhaps someone in the studio disconnected his IFB* so the producer couldn't cue him with words he could put in his mouth.
* IFB is a special intercom circuit that consists of a program feed sent to an earpiece worn by the meat puppet.
Repeating false GOP talking points is normal for Sean. Congressman Joe Sestak is well aware of who he's dealing with. I was hoping Sestak would called Sean out on his association with Texas fraud Robert Allen Stanford. That would have been the highlight of the show. Sean calls himself a 'christian' but that would be a shock to those who know him. A real christian wouldn't lie and do business with a con artist like Stanford.
Maybe Hannity should be taking a paycut, seeing as how Newscorp lost almost $6.5 billion in the final quarter of 2008 alone, and is now only worth $8.4 billion. How long will it be before Rupert will be at 1600, down on his knees, begging for a bailout?
Murdoch begging for a bailout...Hannity and Bill0 will be there telling the Prez how they love him. These are whores who will do anything for money. My proof: they speak.
Hannity lies so freely, it's hard to believe his claim that he's a Christian.
Also, he constantly derides Clinton for his infidelity, yet he kisses the feet of shameless adulterers like Gingrich, Guiliani, McCain, Fraud Thompson.
Hannity is a phony. If he's an example of a good Christian, then I'm really glad to be an Atheist.
Tony, amen to that. HANNITY will attack DEMOCRATS for things like ethics violations, infidelity, while giving REPUBLICANS a pass for the same things. Him and ANNTHRAX COULTER claim to be CHRISTIAN, but they sure don't practice what they preach.
This exchange reminds me of a discussion I once had with a priest. He insisted God was real because there was no proof that He wasn't real, to which I said, "By that standard, every mythical creature ever concocted by a fanciful mind is also real." He replied, "If God wishes it so, then it is."
Isn't magical thinking just...magical?
Randy
He and Limbaugh have the same rule. Once something leaves your mouth, no matter how silly, no matter the facts, you simply don't back away from it. Not sure, but my guess is it has something to do with little man syndrome (figuratively speaking in Limbaughs case of course as his buttocks are so mammoth that Cheney has been rumored to vacation there...sorry for the imagery).
That might just explain the cyst on Rush's ass that allowed him to avaoid service in Viet Nam: Cheney "accidently" discharged his shot gun into that mountainous, quivering sack of cottage cheese.
HANNITY: "Yeah, of course, because you hide it. But we know where the money's going. It's just like, for example, all-terrain --"
Translation, I have an anti-tiger whistle. I know it works - have you ever seen a tiger around here?
AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I cant think of a thing.......
Well, Vannity said unemployment in 1976 was 12% in the last week or two. That is of value to people with enough to touch that dial when they encounter an ignorant fraud. The rest of you, keep on keepin' on!
Well, Vannity said unemployment in 1976 was 12% in the last week or two. That is of value to people with enough to touch that dial when they encounter an ignorant fraud. The rest of you, keep on keepin' on!
Come on folk...........cut Saun some slack....to you realize how hard it is to teach him something new to say.....not to mention, the time and effort it requires?????
Is it possible that Hannity really, truly believes that the two earmarks he mentioned are in the stimulus bill? Probably not; he's an entertainer seeking ratings points, rather than a journalist or a scholar. If that's the case, he's both a hypocrite and dangerous. But what if he really, truly does believe that these two earmarks are in the stimulus bill? Then he's a moron and shouldn't be permitted to drive, let alone appear on primetime television.
why in the hell does ANY politician treat the douchebags at Fox news as if they're human?
What was Sestak thinking, being polite and deferential?? "if I could just......but, but.....pleeeeease, Mr Hannity sir?...."
WTF? Fox's policy is and always has been OPENLY and irrationally hostile to anyone that doesn't lick the boot of the GOP!
What would be wrong with just repeating "You're a LIAR! You have sex with kids!"---over and over again until they cut you off? I mean, *they* just make stuff up, why not give them a taste of their own strawman argument?
Fox news is literally a fascist organization. not in the Rush Limbaugh sense of the word, which he uses to describe anyone he doesn't like, at the same time diminishing the impact of the word.
they are ACTUAL fascists, who will not rest until no one ever opposes their will, and they can direct national policy from Roger Ailes' desk.
The fact that the Dems have been such pussies towards them to date speaks volumes to the conjugal nature of the relationship between Dems, Fox, and Repuglicans.
it's useless to parse their words, or hold up "logic" as if it's some sort of talisman. They consider themselves to be AT WAR with YOU. it might be prudent if progressives started acting accordingly. To engage them on their own terms is to LOSE, every time. exposing their lies isn't enough--THEY, themselves, must be exposed as the frauds that they are........and it might be a good idea to avoid trying to do so on their network (effing DUH)
Let's make one QUICK correction from a post below...The light rail project here in Charlotte, NC is a COMPLETE waste of taxpayer dollars. While Pete Gorman, the Mecklenberg City Scools Superintendent, is in the process of laying off hundreds of teachers because of having to hand back over money to the county here! This, in a school system that is underperforming. The average spent per child is over $12,000. The same $12,000 can be spent at a private school, such as Charlotte Latin locally, where they have achieved a 100% graduation rate. Throwing more money at problems do not make them go away. Next, the spendulus with the "Buy American" note will do NOTHING for the US economy but make things worse. How musch Caterpillar and John Deere equipment will the Russians and Chinese buy from the US moving forward when we refuse to purchase their steel? I sell steel and this will not bring up the price per lb or benefit us even marginally. Wake up America. Government cannot be responsible with your grandchildrens tax dollars, much less ours.
So many distortions, so little time.
The light rail in Charlotte is a success.
Giving worthy things, like educating our students, is a good thing. Private schools don't have to educate the kids that cost a lot to educate. They don't have to provide for all kinds of electives that the public schools offer, to the benefit of the public school kids and the detriment of the private school kids. They don't have to provide transportation for the kids. They don't have to hire real teachers, and pay them real salaries.
And with the economy struggling, the only money that can help is government money. If all things were equal, we would not want to go deeper into debt. But not all things are hunky-dory, and so we have to spend that money. Spending money on infrastructure, and unemployment checks, and government employees, and tax cuts for lower middle class folks, will stimulate the economy.
Sane people know this.