A May 17 New York Times article reported that a group of Republican strategists have proposed a sizable campaign to attack President Obama's character. The article set off a wave of condemnations not just from progressives, but also from Mitt Romney and one of the high-profile conservative donors whom the proposal was pitched to.

On his Fox News show, Sean Hannity acknowledged Romney's rejection of the proposal's tactics, which focus on playing up Obama's relationship with his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Hannity played a clip in which Romney said, “I want to make it very clear: I repudiate that effort.”

After the clip of Romney, Hannity said, “Now, Governor Romney, I have to respectfully disagree with you.” He continued:

Now, I do believe the economy, jobs, national security are by far the most pressing issue [sic] facing the country today. I also feel that every candidate, though, needs to be fully vetted. Now, that's something the mainstream media failed to do back in 2008 with Barack Obama, and I believe that the president's relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a man that influenced him for over 20 years, inspired him, is a very important campaign issue. After all, it is a matter of character.

Hannity is creating an alternate reality in which the “mainstream media failed” to vet Obama in 2008.

For instance, on the subject of Wright -- Hannity's undying obsession -- there was a blizzard of media coverage. Over the course of about two months in the early part of 2008, The New York Times and The Washington Post published dozens of articles and columns that mentioned Wright.

Hannity is wishing for a 2008 that never happened.