On tonight's episode of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity hosted Anjem Choudary, a British activist understood to be a fringe Muslim radical. Hannity hosted Choudary for two full segments, ostensibly to determine how Egyptian society would change if a Muslim caliphate emerged in the wake of civil unrest. Hannity introduced the first segment by saying, “Now, the turbulence witnessed on the streets of Cairo today shocked much of the international community, and it has helped remind us all that the critical question now facing the rest of the world is, who will fill the power vacuum when Mubarak officially steps down? Will democracy take shape, or will a radical Islamic caliphate soon form?”

After arguing with Choudary throughout the first segment, he began his second segment with footage of Choudary from CNN's Parker Spitzer:

NIC ROBERTSON (CNN correspondent): Let me be clear here. You're saying there are two camps. One headed by Barack Obama, and the other's headed by Osama bin Laden. Just for our audience here so we're all very clear, which one of those camps are you in?

CHOUDARY: I'm in the camp of the Muslims. At the current time that is headed by Sheik Osama bin Laden.

So, Choudary is on record as placing himself “in the camp” of Osama bin Laden. Why, in that case, would Hannity devote so much of his show to a shouting match with him? Between the two segments, Hannity devoted over 15 minutes of air time to his exchange with Choudary, someone Hannity knew at the outset to be so radical as to support Osama bin Laden. This isn't anything new for Hannity, who has hosted fringe figures like members of the New Black Panther Party and the Ku Klux Klan.

Did Hannity or anyone at Fox News really expect Choudary to contribute anything meaningful to the public conversation about unrest in Egypt?

Doubtful. Choudary's theatrics and far-out views are not a secret. In January 2010, British journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote at length about Choudary's fringe activism and lack of credentials within the British Muslim community:

First, he announced his plan to march through Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire, carrying 500 coffins to symbolise the thousands of Muslims killed “by the oppressive US and UK regimes” in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, he is sending letters to the grieving families of fallen British soldiers, telling them he has “no sympathy whatsoever” for their plight, urging them instead to become Muslims to “save” themselves “from the hellfire”.

Is there anything Anjem “Andy” Choudary won't do for the sake of a cheap headline? As Inayat Bunglawala wrote on Cif almost a year ago, Choudary and his gang deploy “a simple formula -- hold up some offensive placards designed to get people's backs up and call a local reporter to come along and capture some footage -- that has reliably generated acres of media coverage for them in recent years”.

Our sensationalist and irresponsible media has, in fact, been deeply complicit in the rise and rise of this fanatic, devoting quite disproportionate and counter-productive coverage to his various rantings. Is Choudary an Islamic scholar whose views merit attention or consideration? No. Has he studied under leading Islamic scholars? Nope. Does he have any Islamic qualifications or credentials? None whatsoever. So what gives him the right to pontificate on Islam, British Muslims or “the hellfire”? Or proclaim himself a “sharia judge”? Will he even manage to round up enough misfits to carry the 500 coffins with him? I doubt it -- Choudary and co couldn't even persuade enough people to join a “march for sharia” that they had proudly planned to hold in central London in late October, and, at the very last minute, had to humiliatingly withdraw from their own rally. Pathetic, eh? [The Guardian, 1/4/10]

Hasan's comments apply just as well to tonight's episode of Hannity, which was itself sensationalist and irresponsible.