It's fun watching Sean Hannity melt down

Sean Hannity is a great American success story - success because he has no college education, yet because he knew someone in the right-wing media, and because he's willing to say anything to propagate a right-wing extreme agenda, he gets paid millions. (By the way, if this sounds like envy, think again - I'd much prefer the life I have now than be a multi-million dollar liar.)

Anyway, it's going to be equal parts amusing and frightening to listen to Hannity over the next four years (and hopefully the next eight) while he no doubt does anything he can to undermine President Obama and his attempts to better America, which has suffered mightily under Hannity's object of worship, Dubya.

As C&L so wisely noted a few days ago, since Obama's inauguration, Fox has run what little dignity and air of objectivity it had through the shredder. The "network" is now a veritable 24-hour propaganda network devoted to destroying Obama and his plans for America, consequences be damned. And most of its viewers go forth and mimic the musings of Hannity and Co. as if it's political gospel. (I know a few people like this, and when they say something particularly ridiculous and I ask, "Oh, did you hear that on Hannity's show?" they play dumb and say "Hannity?!? I don't listen to Hannity!")

By the way, I love how Fox now never misses an opportunity to use the word socialist like they've being so clever. Count that as another word (right behind liberal) that progressives need to reclaim. And I LOVE the creepy music in Hannity's little montage above about the stimulus package - it really does sound like one of those old recruiting commercials for the U.S. Marines.

As I said, it's all pretty entertaining. And frightening.

h/t to C&L for the video

Sean Goebbels pimps more Obama lies

Oh, how I get a kick out of listening to Sean Goebbels Hannity getting more and more desperate as the election draws neigh. One of his latest distortions outright lies is saying that Barack Obama would cut "billions of dollars" from the defense budget (see the video above), when in fact, he has stated on numerous occasions that he will "cut billions in wasteful spending."

As a cherry on the Hannity sundae of vomit, he mentions Obama "waving the white flag of surrender." What's a discussion about Obama's Iraq strategy without a mention about his wanting America to surrender? I'm almost tired (almost) of writing it, but it bears repeating - we cannot win in Iraq. I really wish that candidates Obama & Biden would frame this issue correctly, but I'm yet to hear it. If I were Obama, I would say it this way - we already did win the conflict, but we are losing the occupation. What's more, we will never, ever "win" the occupation, because no country in modern human history has ever won one of those. Even if at the present moment, we aren't losing it militarily, we sure are losing it financially. Actually, the two are linked.

How so? Well, the reason that many of our enemies are taking a break from shooting at us is because we are paying them not to. Yes, you read that right - in Anbar Province, we are paying our would-be enemies $300 per month to not shoot at us (it may even be per week - I have to go check, but I know we are paying them). That's no way to "win" a war, or occupation, or whatever our corporate media and the right-wing hacks choose to call it.

Oh, and I've love to see footage of Obama calling Iran "a small country and not a serious threat" and exactly in what context this supposed statement was said. What a load of b.s.

It also amuses me to no end that Hillary Clinton is now a credible argument to not electing Barack Obama, when for the last 20 years, hacks like Hannity have torn the Clintons down at every available opportunity, but now we are to believe him that Hillary is a sparkling testament to Obama's character? I have no problems with Hillary Clinton, especially what she said about Obama during a heated primary campaign, and no one else should, either. Anyway, this is what Hannity had to say about Hillary during the same clip above:

[To former Clinton White House special counsel Lanny Davis] Now, there's a very famous person, a good friend of yours, her name is Hillary, and she said that his positions on national security issues, quote, "are naive, dangerous, and irresponsible." I actually agree with her. I agree with your friend. She was right. Why - convince me why she's wrong.

You never have to dig very far to find an effective contradiction to Hannity's propaganda. In 1980, George H.W. Bush called Ronald Reagan's economic proposals "Voo Doo Economics," yet he accepted Reagan's invitation to join him on the ticket. Bush went on to serve Reagan for eight years. Primary punches should be viewed for what they are - slug fests to get the nomination, where hyperbole rules and candidates often play fast and loose with the truth at worst, or ratchet up the rhetoric at best, in order to get their party's nomination.

To Obama's credit, he hasn't used all of the crap thrown by Mitt Romney, Rudy 9iu1ian1 and and Mike Huckabee about McCain during the GOP primaries. Why? Because primary rhetoric often has very little street cred during the general election.

h/t to Media Matters for the video

Hannity pwned by wrong vid - too funny!

This one is from a few days ago, but I loved it too much to not share. Hannity had on Newt Gingrich a few days ago to distort Obama's energy policy proposals, and someone (who is no doubt either now looking for employment or who is Hannity's coffee gopher) cued up the wrong video.

It's always a good day (and a timeless clip) when Hannity is made to look like the jackass he truly is.

By the way, more on Newt's blatant lies and distortions about Obama's energy policy in a bit.

Dissecting & debunking the Obama smears

I have to admit, it's pretty hard to listen to the audio (above) from two of the world's biggest liars and not become pretty enraged. But, that's how they play - when the truth doesn't fit their paradigm and ideology (and it often doesn't), then just lie, lie, lie. They must say to themselves, "Hey, if McCain can't get elected on his record (which he can't, in all likelihood, but we'll never find out with jackasses like these two around, among others), then we'll just make shit up, and if we repeat it over and over and over again, then people will soon believe it to be true! Hey, cool!" (See the lie about Al Gore saying he "invented the Internet" for a Hall of Fame reference.)

The right's been doing this for the better part of '08 about Obama - the madrassa smear, the Pledge of Allegiance myth, you name it - the litany of lies keeps coming and coming. It's like Hannity and Limbaugh are two addicts, and lies are their crack. (Oops - sorry Rush, I swear I wasn't referring to your OxyContin addiction, really! Am I the only one who thinks it's funny that a drug addict who used to put down other drug addicts before he got caught is named Rush?!? Just wondering.)

From Media Matters:

From the July 29 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: So how did Senator Barack Obama's oversea trip resonate with voters? A brand-new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that only Democrats were impressed, with 53 percent calling the trip positive. Republicans overwhelmingly reject -- overwhelmingly rejected the trip, while 41 percent of independents held no opinion at all. The poll also reveals voters are twice as likely to classify media coverage of Obama as unfairly positive rather than unfairly negative, and in the case of McCain, the opposite is the truth, with many more seeing coverage of him as negative.

Joining us now, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Mike Gallagher, former [House Minority Leader Dick] Gephardt [D-MO] campaign manager Steve Elmendorf, and Washington Times columnist Tony Blankley.

Mike, you and I talk about this often on the radio. No big surprises here, especially in light of him, you know, abandoning the troop visit because the cameras weren't around -- allowed and the campaign wasn't allowed. I think this is a net negative for him in the end. Your thoughts?

GALLAGHER: Oh, it has to be. I mean, it's -- it's stunning that he's not -- doesn't have a commanding lead right now in the polls. But even with the fawning media coverage, the kernels of truth slip out.

From the July 29 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: You say that he's stunned by the truth. What is the truth as you see it? Why -- are -- are you suggesting that Barack Obama does not value the service of our men and women in uniform?

DAVIS: No, I'm sure he does. And I'm sure that the men and women in our uniform would've valued the -- the visit that he had indicated early on that he was gonna make, you know, when he -- when he arrived in Landstuhl. I don't know what the truth is, because out of the Obama campaign themselves and Mr. Gibbs in particular, there have been probably 11 separate excuses for why they didn't visit the troops. Now, if they don't know why they didn't visit the troops, I'm sure as heck not gonna figure it out.

Above is video from a recent Hannity & Colmes, with Hannity repeating on camera the same lies he said on his radio show.

Where's the proof, you say? How about NBC's Andrea Mitchell, a reporter who historically hasn't always been very friendly to Obama - she was there, with Obama, unlike Limbaugh and Hannity.

Mitchell's take: "There was any intention, let me make this absolutely clear, the press was never going to go on the trip [to visit the troops in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center].

Oops! I certainly hope people remember this, two months from now, when McCain (or, more likely, 527s and other surrogates who are backing McCain, begin repeating the accusation over and over and over, as if it's a fact that Obama wouldn't visit the troops because cameras couldn't come.) It's not a fact, never has been, and never will be.

But, in a way, the McCain camp (with the help of State TV, Faux News) have scored a small victory, because of course this is all that the press is talking about now, not the very successful trip that Obama had overseas.

It's okay though, because McCain is looking more and more desperate as the days wear on.

Again, Media Matters has much more on this latest Obama smear that's patently absurd, and worst of all, completely false.

Mika Brzezinski must be mixing medications

When I saw the footage above, my first thought was that Mika Brzezinski must have done some morning blow* before appearing on Morning Joe.

C&L covered this pretty extensively yesterday, and I don't have much to add, other than to say that Brzezinski's observations are, to be charitable, a wild departure from reality, and the truth. Yesterday, while reading viewer e-mail regarding Obama's resignation from the Trinity Unity Church of Christ (and most of the letters were not happy with the media's coverage), Brzezinski let loose with this whopper:

"Okay, umm... first of all, I think we covered the Hagee story as much, umm... the Reverend Wright situation injected itself into the news cycle for sure, but having said that, don't you think that there is a difference or is there not, especially given the fact that he resigned from his church."

She should have said, "Excuse me," for passing all of that hot air.

Not only MSNBC (Keith Olbermann aside), but all the spokes in our corporate media wheel treated the Jeremiah Wright story like it was a national emergency for weeks on end. Anyone who thinks otherwise (including Brzezinski) is either lying, has Alzheimer's (or a horrific memory), or is a rabid Republican. It's also a good time to remember just how badly distorted Wright's sermons were, too, and how those distortions got started - the uneducated Sean Hannity and the GOP shill himself, troll Matt Drudge.

Anyway, you don't even have to be an avid viewer and reader of news to know that McCain's ties to controversial people in the clergy like John Hagee and Rod Parsley has received passing mentions at best in most instances.

Quite frankly, I'm bored and sick to death with these insipid "minister stories" - they don't affect me in any way, nor do they affect the American electorate. They merely serve as a distraction to bigger and much more significant issues - the war(s), the economy and just how badly many people are suffering in this country (and in Iraq!) right now.

* - It's a joke, people. Calm down. I don't know if Brzezinski does blow, but I'm pretty sure she's a moron.

Coulter on H&C, whining about McSame

I dare you to try and get through most of this claptrap without pulling your hair out - it's Ann Coulter whining and complaining and John McCain being "a Democrat" and saying how "I'll probably just vote for Ronald Reagan" because she doesn't want to give Clinton or Obama "a mandate," as if her vote will do that for either candidate.

I got a laugh out of Sean Hannity betting Coulter a dinner, too; hit on her off the air, Sean - your show is nauseating enough. At least if those two were to ever unite, one of them would have a college education. Then again, having a college education doesn't necessarily make you smart, either; listening to her call Obama a "dime store Mein Kampf" proves that point without necessity for further elaboration.

This is what's so disgusting about Fox News - the hosts can't easily get away with calling Obama a racist, so they just have on hacks like Coulter to spew their talking points for them. Pretty pathetic.

I guess this is another reason everyone on Fox Noise Channel hates media outlets like Media Matters - because in six months, when Coulter tries to deny that she ever called Obama a racist, all anyone has to do is look up the footage.

h/t Media Matters for the footage

TSA declares war on pierced nipples

Let the outrage begin on this one. A woman was prevented from getting on a flight because of nipple rings. Hey - don't blame me - I don't fabricate the news, I just comment on it, but this one really is stranger than fiction.

The woman's nipple ring and nipple stud kept setting of medal detectors, and when agents ran a portable metal detector over her chest, her mammary metal again set off the detectors. She then volunteered to show them to a female TSA agent in private, and was told that they would have to be removed or she would not be permitted on the flight. Unable to remove one of them, she had to use a pair of pliers.

Are you F*&%ing kidding me?

It's important to note that I am not without sympathy for TSA Agents; they have a very tough and important job, and it cannot be easy. They are under great pressure every day to be perfect, every time, all the time. Recent tests and drills reveal that in a number of airports, they are far from that. And dealing with surly passengers who have been waiting in long lines can't be a picnic, either.

I also don't fault the agents for the regulations; after all, they aren't making policy, they are merely doing what they are told. But, I DO fault TSA Agents for being, at times, obnoxious, unfriendly, and at times openly hostile to passengers. (I say this from personal experience, by the way - on multiple occasions, I've had to resist the overwhelming temptation to tell various agents to go f--- themselves. There's a way to be courteous, yet firm, but many churlish, rube TSA agents could use a refresher course in charm school.

For instance, I'm assuming that somewhere, there's a regulation(s) banning nipple metal on planes. As stupid as that is, fine (but more on that in a minute). But, for this woman to have agents laughing at her, as she's crying and upset? Talk about losing your dignity. Ever since September 11, fliers in this country have no rights, period. The prevailing attitude is "do what we say, shut up, and if you don't like it, you're not flying." And that's totally unacceptable, especially considering how much taxpayer money went toward bailing out these same airlines following 9-11 (but corporate welfare is a topic for another post).

What galls me most is the regulation(s) banning jewelry. The TSA, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, is doing a piss poor job of keeping us safe. Time and time again since 9-11, journalists routinely have been able to sneak contraband aboard planes. Call me crazy, but maybe if agents weren't busy enforcing stupid regulations like the one above and also taking my saline solution before I get on a plane. It's time for people to start calling TSA what it is - another department run amok by this administration. Of course, many talking heads in this administration (and their neocon supporters in the mass media) are always quick to puff out their chests and say, "But there hasn't been attack since 9-11."

Fair enough, but that doesn't mean we are safer. Again, statistics, studies and tests have demonstrated that critical items are getting through, time and time again. Invariably, whenever news of this is made public, people like Sean Hannity get on TV, crying and whining that these reports are "giving terrorists ideas on how to get items on planes."

It never ceases to amaze me that morons like Hannity who make their living in the media totally misunderstand the role of the free press in our society.

Hannity's unbiased take on passports

Take a listen to Sean Hannity's take on the passport breach of Sen. Barack Obama's file - it's pretty entertaining.

This is pretty predictable stuff, but I thought I'd share it with you for a few reasons.

First, of course Hannity will cite a report from the Washington Times, one of the most notoriously slanted and biased newspapers in the nation. If you've never done any reading about that paper, click this link - it's pretty fascinating stuff. To call the times a "daily newspaper" is being extremely generous. It's more like a daily National Enquirer for the Republican Party. You want controversial religious leaders? Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Washington Times, certainly qualifies, so I find it pretty ironic that Hannity would even go near that paper, but Hannity's probably too stupid to realize the irony anyway. (Or at the very least, he probably thinks his viewers are too stupid to care, and he'd be right. But, getting into a guessing game of what goes on in Sean Hannity's head is a game I don't really have the stomach for, so I'll stop.)

I also found this footage pretty entertaining because Hannity tries to bait and lead Newt Gingrich into trashing Obama for having his passport file breached, which is beyond absurd. I have to give credit to Gingrich for his answer though; he brushed off Hannity's partisan remarks, and he's also spot on when saying the government has the responsibility to keep our files private. It's pretty entertaining watching Hannity backtrack when Gingrich doesn't sop up his slop with a biscuit.

I've got plenty more on the Jeremiah Wright story in a bit, too, including some pretty damning revelations that are getting NO play in the mainstream media.

Olbermann slams Hannity for Rudy butt kissing

Since in a while I haven't posted any Keith Olbermann clips in quite a while, this seems like a good place to begin - the other night's Worst Person in the World - none other than college drop-out Sean Hannity, the biggest Giuliani suck-up of them all. Not like we needed any more proof, but Insanity is as partisan as it gets. Even for a talking-head political pundit, it's more than over-the-top to be introducing America's Profiteer at one of his fund raisers.

If you missed it: KO's take on Libby pardon

If you think I'm done with the Libby pardon, think again. Not even close. Yes, I'm calling it a pardon, even though the White House is not. I know that two year's probation and the $250,000 fine is an incredible hardship, but I'm sure Libby will, ahem, "survive." I wonder if Halliburton has an opening? One phone call from our favorite Dick will land him a job just about anywhere in the right-wing industrial complex that our creep veep controls. I let out a yelp when I saw that Libby wrote out a check for $250,000 last week to pay his fine. Hmm. Wondering where that generosity came from? But, I digress.

I meant to post this last week, but with the holiday, I forgot. It's still as powerful now as it was when Keith Olbermann delivered it last week.

As usual, Olbermann nails the Libby pardon just as he has so many other Bush missteps in the past few years; it's just too bad that Olbermann wasn't around from about 2002 on - I wonder if all of the things he exposes and offers biting commentary on about this administration would have made just enough of a difference in the 2004 election. We'll never know, but hopefully he'll make a huge difference this year and next.

For those who feel that Olbermann is the left's equivalent of Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, I'd say you don't listen to any of them. I have, and Olbermann is the only one who deals with the facts, not hatred, intolerance or demagoguery. Okay, he does take off on O'Lielly quite a bit, but I overlook that, because that's long overdue, and deserved.

Scooter Libby gets 30 months

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for his role in the Valerie Plame Affair. Two words: Justice Served.

But, will justice be served?

I don't think so, though. At the very latest, President Bush will pardon him on his way out of office - a final FU to all of his political opponents.

I hope Bush DOES have the balls to pardon Libby - the sooner the better. Because when he does, it will be the cherry on top of the corruption sundae Bush and Cheney have been feeding us for the last 6+ years.

Having said that, I feel absolutely no sympathy for Libby whatsoever. He's an educated man, fully capable of making rational decisions, despite his lawyer and his wife painting him to be a victim caught up in blowing Plame's cover.

I'll have to listen to Sean Hannity later today - Libby's wife was on after he was found guilty, and she played the part of grieving victim to perfection. I'm sure Hannity won't disappoint this time, either.

Top Photo From AP

Hannity & Hitchens engage in a REASONABLE debate. Wow.

I'm just coming out of sleep deprivation hell, and I have so much to write about, I didn't even know where to begin. But, a debate about religion between Christopher Hitchens and Sean Hannity seems about as good of a place as any to start.

I'll say this about Hitchens - the man has cajones. Whether you agree or disagree with him, it does take lots of courage to be so anti-God in the United States today. I certainly don't share all of his views, but I find him thought provoking, and that alone is reason enough to listen.

This video piece is noteworthy for another reason - the docility of Sean Hannity. Could it be that he's changing? Yea, right. But, clearly he knows Hitchens isn't a man who can be easily brought to heel, and Hannity doesn't really try. That's not something one sees too often in Hannity. For that matter, Hannity, whether on this show or on Hannity and Colmes, rarely has anyone as a guest who can't be subdued with rhetoric and shouting.

MSNBC bids Imus adieu

Look at that punim. Don Imus has reason to be cranky today. Yesterday, he was abruptly fired by MSNBC, ending an 11-year relationship with the network. The fate of his radio program is still in question. For now, CBS is maintaining that he'll be suspended without pay for two weeks. So far, that's the extent of his punishment.

I'm already tired of this story, to be honest, but I'd be remiss to leave out a few things. First, a good parody...



Stephen never disappoints.



Michael Smerconish brings up some interesting points here - he is right that people in our society walk around just waiting to be offended, but he's way off base with regard to the Rutgers women's basketball team. Words DO have meaning, and consequences. Yes, he was looking for a cheap laugh, by using racially hateful and insensitive comments.

Smerconish is normally a conservative I respect and listen to, because of his noted lack of hateful comments; he's level-headed and reasonable. But, he's got the Imus case all wrong.



I'm anticipating that this will be the first and last time in my life that I will agree with Laura Ingraham about anything, but I give her credit for reacting the way she did in this clip. The footage runs out, but evidently, she didn't return for the next segment.

It's hard to overstate how much I despise the insipid Hannity, and the footage above is precisely why the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson getting involved in this controversy clouds this issue. It gives conservative jackals fodder for the hypocrisy cannon, and distracts from what Imus said or what this whole story is about in the first place.

These two morons have a history of making highly racial and insensitive remarks themselves, so for them to come to the "aid" of Rutgers basketball players is absurd, and the height of hypocrisy.

What annoys me even more is the fact that Repubes are trying to make political hay out of the Imus remarks, when they really should keep their mouths shut. Take a look at this footage...



Terry Jeffrey, editor-at-large of Human Events magazine, probably says the most idiotic and contradictory statements I've heard on television in quite a long time.

"Don Imus represents the decline in standards in American broadcasting"?!? Surly you jest, Mr. Jeffrey.

Apparently Jeffrey's never heard broadcasts of Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Tom DeLay, etc.? Talk about selective outrage. I'm choking on righteous indignation. Jeffrey almost (almost!) sounds like the right's idiotic answer to this whole mess vis à vis Sharpton and Jackson on the left.

As Keith Olbermann rightfully pointed out tonight on his show, where's the outrage over the "racist right's" comments. A recent sampling:

• Rush Limbaugh calling Barack Obama [and Halle Berry] "Halfrican American"

• Michael Savage saying the Voting Rights Act means "a chad in every crackhouse"

• Neil Boortz saying Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), an African-American Congresswoman, "looks like a ghetto slut"

• How about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay comparing Democrats to Nazis? (Scroll down a few messages and you'll hear audio of it.)

These are just a few examples. I don't have enough time or energy to cite them all, but that's a pretty good "worst of" list.

Jeffrey winds up this clip with a breathtaking bomb:

"I think this type of programming underestimates the intelligence for the potential audience it has."

I'll remember that the next time I hear Rush Limbaugh comparing Democrats who oppose funding a destructive, idiotic war to Stalin, while Vice President Dick Cheney plays the role of Ed McMahon, nodding in agreement and braying like a donkey. (I blogged about this last weekend.)

By the way, and I know I've mentioned this before, but when you have five minutes to kill, drop by the Human Events Website - it really is a kick.

Here's a press conference that the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team held yesterday...



Elegantly said, and well put. It will be very interesting to hear what comes of the meeting between Imus and the team. I give those girls a lot of credit for even agreeing to meet with him; it's going to be a pretty uncomfortable meeting all around, but mostly for Imus. It should be.



Here's Al Sharpton on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. I agree with just about everything Sharpton is says, but it's tough to get past the messenger. He's got such a checkered past, it's tough to look past his credibility problem. But, he's right about Imus.

I'll say it one more time, and then I'm movin' on, because I've had enough of this story already, but I hate it that Sharpton's even involved in this matter, because it's just fodder for the right's cannon of hate and intolerance.

I find it profoundly sad that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are spokesmen for African-Americans today in any capacity. Seriously, it undermines the issue whenever these two idiots show up and preen before the cameras and sound as if they've never done anything wrong in their lives.

Anyway, one down, one to go - time for Imus to go from CBS, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

I do wonder, getting back to Terry Jeffrey's comments, if this will be another excuse for Republicans to try and arrogantly push their morality on the rest of us. The FCC has done it before, and they'll undoubtedly try again. I really hope this isn't another Janet Jackson moment.

I-Man puts the "i" in intolerant

Take a look at cocaine-addict Don Imus spreading some "love" about the Rutgers University basketball team yesterday morning. A major uproar ensued, and this morning, he had to apologize...



I'll give the "I-Man" (does that stand for intolerant?) a microscopic amount of credit for formally apologizing, but that's about it. It's patently absurd that a man who has been in broadcasting this long with an audience the size of his (I'll never understand either one) would make a comment like that.

Knowing the tempestuousness of Imus, I'm sure he was TOLD to read an apology. I sincerely doubt that he decided out of the goodness of his long-suffering heart to make an apology. Listen to the video again - I think he truly believes that he's being genuinely funny. Maybe at a Klan rally, but that's about it.

Do us all a favor, Imus - go back on the blow and just retire - go to your Arizona ranch and wither away in the desert, only to be gnawed at by buzzards.

Imus has no place in broadcasting. Then again, the American people are treated to the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Insanity, who say equally hateful things and never or rarely get called out, so I can at least understand Imus thought he could get away with it.

Nice job, stupid.

100 GIs guard McCain in "safer" Baghdad

The tally is in - three Blackhawk helicopters, 100 soldiers and a three minute drive outside the Green Zone? Boy, that sounds like one accurate, unbiased viewpoint about the situation in Baghdad, Senator McCain.

It's pretty brave of McCain go to strolling through a downtown Baghdad market with 100 soldiers and three helicopters overhead. I wonder aloud how many troops' lives he put in danger for his photo op? Helicopters are have been shot down with startling regularity in the last year or so.

With balls this big, maybe this guy deserves to be president. I dunno - is anyone paying attention to this? If people aren't, they should be. McCain is beyond contempt - he really must hold most Americans in pretty low regard to try and get away with pulling a stunt like this.

I hate to say "I told you so," because McCain being heavily guarded during a Baghdad visit wasn't too hard to guess, but it's also not a surprise at all to hear McCain talk about how safe Baghdad is with a hundred or so soldiers and helicopters buzzing overhead.

Let's just go ask the six dead Americans who died over the weekend in Iraq - I wonder how safe they feel, Senator? Oops - I guess I hate America for saying that, right? Thank God we have people like Sean Hannity to Deliver Us From Evil.

If a man lives long enough, he'll live to hear everything that can come out of a politician's mouth.

Fox News idiocy example no. 1,955,430

I know I've touched on this one already, but I wanted to bring you Keith Olbermann's take on Hannity's use of a blatant anti-Democratic Party Chyron, which in no uncertain terms says that "Democrats are legislating defeat in Iraq."

As usual, Olbermann is spot on, and I love his response. Just imagine if CNN had done something like that, but against Repubes. Can you imagine the outrage? Wait, we've had a similar example - some dolt at CNN, when the network was broadcasting a live speech of Dick Cheney, put an "X" over the vice president's face. This person was later fired.

No word on who's going to be promoted, er, "fired" at Fox for airing such an idiotic "mistake" during Insanity's show.

For those of you who think it's a "mistake," there have been too many of these "mistakes" to be mere coincidence...

Disgraced Congressman Mark Foley is a Democrat, huh?

This is a screen shot from Sean Hannity's show. Outrageous and absurd. Keith Olbermann's take in the video above is about right.

Fox News: Where the right is Right and the left is rife with a bunch of pussy, communist-loving liberal hypocrites who want to cut and run, tax and spend and who hate you, America and everything in it and who side with the terrorists and love Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and Al Gore's electric bill and CLINTON DID IT and Hillary is the devil and oh yea - Clinton did it - it's all Clinton's fault, yea that one always works uh oh Bush is in trouble well what about Sandy Berger? More on Berger in a minute.

This about sums up Fox...

Hannity: putting the Faux in Fox News

Sean Hannity might be the first person in history to do a political television show without even following the news. Wait, that can't be possible, can it? Or, maybe he's just knowingly lying, like so many members of the Bush Administration.

Anyway, you only need to go about 15 seconds into the video clip above to know what something has gone horribly, horribly wrong with Hannity's research department. In fact, the last person in charge of finding facts before a broadcast, Hannity himself, was relieved of those duties, oh, something like six years ago.

The president has NOT OFFERED his aides to testify under oath under any circumstances, you moron.

And for those of you who think it was an honest mistake by Hannity? Let's look at a few other "mistakes" by Fersatz News...

Mark Foley, a Democrat? Ha.

This one's over the top, even for these people. I don't know if this has been Photoshopped, and that kind of points to what Fersatz News has always been - a total right-wing network. The fact that this is even remotely believable should outrage all Americans.

If it were up to the Republican Party, Debate about any military matters would be a battlefield casualty. Along those lines, if Debate served in Iraq, would he have to serve three tours of duty? Would Debate, if he was wounded on the battlefield, have to come home and stay in a moldy, Roach Motel at Walter Reed? Hey, maybe Debate wouldn't have to serve in this war, like every other prominent Republican war-monger in this administration shirked duty in Vietnam. Ahh, if that happened, Dick would be awfully proud of you, Debate!

Photos from Crooks and Liars

Hannity gets embarrassed

Just as predicted - Repubes are melting down because Democrats in the House did the courageous thing last week by voting for the funding of the troops in Iraq that President Bush wants, but also adding a deadline for when the troops must withdraw.

College drop-out Hannity picked the wrong witness to lead in this clip, and it's awesome. Just a couple of quick points, because thinking about how utterly absurd Hannity is exhausts me.

How funny is it for Hannity to bring up money? We're what, $500 billion into the Iraq War now? If you're going to be outraged, and you should be, direct your outrage to the appropriate people, and that would be the Bush Administration and all of the people who sold us this war because Saddam was an "immediate threat" and a "clear and present danger to the United States." Liars.

Half a trillion dollars, and all we got was this lousy civil war. Hmm. There's a t-shirt in there somewhere.

It's also asinine for Hannity to be talking about Democrats doing some arm twisting and deal making to get the votes on the war funding bill. Repubes did that in the House for years (12, to be exact) to get things passed. I have many memories of Tom DeLay keeping votes open for hours while he went around the floor, intimidating people to vote with the Republicans. But, should we be surprised that someone like Hannity has selective memory? We should not.

Pork barrel spending is a valid criticism, but criticize both parties. Judas John McCain, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and President Bush crying foul about pork now is hypocrisy's finest hour.

One has to dig about as deep as a mud puddle to find examples of Republican excess.

Since I live in Pennsylvania, I'm very familiar with pork. If you've never heard of former Representative Bud Shuster, click on his link and read about all of the b.s. money he brought to Pennsylvania, specifically millions brought to his home district for highways. (Too bad he couldn't deliver for all of Pennsylvania, because we still have horrifically bad roads.)

My all-time favorite is Alaska Senator Ted Stevens of "Internet Tubes" fame, who once threatened to resign from the Senate (could we ever get THAT lucky?) if funding was stripped away from a proposed $315 million Gravina Island Bridge, a.k.a. The Bridge to Nowhere. You've got to read about it to believe it. Also check out the Knik Arm Bridge, which may run as high as $1.5 billion. The one good thing about global warming? Maybe it will thaw out some of the frozen, idiotic brains in our northern most state.

Pork barrel spending must end if we are ever going to get our budgets under control, but to blame Democrats for the problem is absurd.

Oh, and those bridges? They still might be built. Repubes took the very, very courageous step of stripping out the funding for both bridges, but not lowering the amount of money going to Alaska in general. Ooooh! Former Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski vowed full funding for both bridges. It remains to be seen if new Alaska Governor Sarah Heath Palin will keep the bridges funded.

Your tax pork at work.

2 outta 3 ain't bad, Olbermann

Take a listen to Insanity and Glenn Beck - Olbermann rightly slams them both in a recent installment of his Worst Person in the World segment.

Sean Hannity is so 20th century. No matter what President Bush says or does, and what political gutters his administration crawls through, Hannity always has his Clinton Cue Cards ready. Not only does he never miss a chance to mention Clinton, but he also never misses an opportunity to utter outright lies, too. Before the left had Media Matters, Keith Olbermann and Al Franken, there were precious few who even bothered to check on the right on its lies and smears. But, it's a whole new ballgame now. I think there's a short circuit inside Hannity's head, which doesn't allow him to reason that someone just might go back and check on the lies coming out his mouth on an hourly basis.

As for Glenn Beck's comments, I'll let them stand without comment. What could I possibly add that would further illustrate the absurdity and stupidity of his comments?

Olbermann just misses the trifecta, though. What, did Rush Limpbaugh and Billy have the day off? I'm sure either one said something completely hateful and stupid on the day these other two did. C'mon Keith, get with it.

You big tease.

Eighth paper axes Coulter

I just read this in Talking Points Memo - an eighth newspaper has axed Ann Coulter's column, and the president of her syndicate is declining media interviews. Is this really a big deal? Nah. As long as Faux News Network exhists, along with her chief brown noser Sean Hannity, she'll always have work.

Update (20 minutes later):
Whoops - I just read that it's up to nine papers.