Sean Hannity of Fox News--His Analysis of Obama

That's why I prefer, "Keeping them honest".

Hannity has shown time after time that he has zero journalistic integrity.  The only reason he stays on air is because his viewers don't believe in journalistic integrity - they want him to be an attack dog and don't care if he has to lie to do it.  And that brings in tons of advertising dollars for the station and for him.

Perhaps some day his real journalist colleagues will get fed up with him and force his ouster.

I'd say that this is an excellent analysis of Hannity, David.

And this surprises whom?  I've seen/heard HUNDREDS of examples of Hannity/Limbaugh/O'Reilly/Coulter... all teh above and then some, doing this over the past 15 - 20 years.  Certainly more typical of them than out of the ordinary.

Carla,

You mean you don't know that the Iron Curtain and communism fell because Gorbachev was terrified by Regan simply uttering, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down!" 

Fox news IS fair and balanced,

Hannity is a commentator/personality/entertainer....do you understand the difference Carla? You know like Larry king on CNN, or like when Glenn Beck had his show on CNN.

Right,  Dan, and Palin left her job as governor just because of her family values....

Hannity lied.  Stop condoning deceit.

"Stop condoning deceit."

I fight deceit with every pro skeptic article I post and just about every time I respond to a post of yours David.

So, Dan, if this is true, why don't you ever speak out against the lies coming from Fox?

Dan, if you can't tell that Hannity lied from reading that reference then ...

Dan, you have a long history of ignoring anything that doesn't support your ideology.  You also have a long history of being incapable of logical analysis (we all know how careful you are about cutting and pasting entire blog articles and making believe they are "science," though you're not as careful about hiding how little you understand about what you have copied).

Perhaps that is why so many people immediately were able to identify you in my typology, despite my making no mention of any particular person.  Perhaps that is why no one takes anything you say seriously.

And yet again, in this post in which Sean Hannity is shown to have lied (following his established pattern of lying), you attempt to change the subject to distract from the fact that you absolutely and unequivocally condone slander, complete rejection of journalistic integrity, willful lying to the public, and dissemination of falsehood with the intent of harming the United States.

Despicable.

"Fox news IS fair and balanced,"

And are you?  Then why have you refused to post my climate change article on your climate change group?  Or do you only post articles that support your predefined ideological view of the world?

That really shows what kind of person you are.  You'll find that I not only post all views on my groups, but I go out of my way to feature posts with positions in opposition to my views.

Given that you 1) have absolutely no intellectual integrity, and 2) don't post anything of intellectual value, I have decided to disconnect from you.

Enjoy your oblivion.

"So, Dan, if this is true,"

If what is true Carla?

"Dan, if you can't tell that Hannity lied from reading that reference then ..."

O.K. ?????

I disconnected from you Dan because you have no intellectual integrity and condone lying, which explains a lot.

I see no reason to continue to give you the benefit of my Gather feed, nor expose my network of friends to your low intellectual ethics.

You mean were not friends anymore?

Boohoo, sniff, sniff.

Or maybe it's because I call B.S. on your B.S.

Dan, glad to see you took my advice and changed your icon. You Repubs really like to use that word "trickle" don't you?

Dan, If you can't tell that Hannity lied then you need to let someone else make all your money decisions.

I swear that Sean Hannity goes to sleep and wake up with Barack Obama on his mind.  I believe he actually has a crush on President Obama.  If you tune in to his radio program he speaks of nothing but Obama.

Sean get over your crush.  The President is not going to play footsie with you in the stall in the White House bathroom.

Mr. Hannity and Mr. Limbaugh just can't get over the fact that their influence was throttled during the 2008 election cycle.  They did everything in their power to paint our 44th "Duly Elected President" as a Muslim, Socialist, Dictator, Non-Citizen, Monkey-Like, Magic Negro who "Pals Around With Terrorists?"

Their efforts failed and they have yet to come to grips with it.  Talking about a whiner!!  I thought Sarah Palin was bad, but Sean Hannity tops even her.

Sean, your influence has diminished and you are no longer a factor in American politics.  Go attend your irrevelant "Tea Parties", then ride off into the Sunset, never to be heard from again.

You sir aren't a GREAT AMERICAN.

Thanks Don.

Another one of the reasons I don't bother watching Fox or (Fixed) News I rather stick to NPR, BBC or other legit news sources.

Excellent choices, Brian, and my favorites too.

There are some legitimate news people on Fox.  I think Chris Wallace does a good job.  And sometimes Shepard Smith when he gets fed up with all the b.s.

I agree.  Chris Wallace does have credibiltiy even though I hate nepotism within the News ranks.

Shepard Smith has always been my favorite Fox News people.  He is the closest definition to being Fair and Balanced.  I love how he covered Hurricane Katrina.

I read an entire transcript of the interview, and Carla this isn't an unfair interpretation of it.  Obama kept avoiding answering any questions outright.  I thought it was a ridiculous interview.

And exactly HOW is this unfair to point out the cropping of pertinent data from a quote?

From Fox News' transcript of Obama's July 7 interview with Garrett, with the portions of Obama's answer Hannity omitted in bold:

GARRETT: In your speech this morning, you said the Cold War reached its conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years. Mr. President, are the Russian sensitivities so fragile that you can't say the Cold War was won? The West won it? And it was led by a combination of Democratic and Republican American presidents?

OBAMA: Well, listen, the -- I think that you just cut out Lech Walesa and the Poles. You just cut out Havel and the Czechs. There were a whole bunch of people throughout Eastern Europe who showed enormous courage.

And I think that it is very important in this part of the world to acknowledge the degree to which people struggled for their own freedom. I'm very proud of the traditions of Democratic and Republican presidents to lift the Iron Curtain.

But, you know, we don't have to diminish other people in order to recognize our role in that history.

"...this isn't an unfair interpretation of it."

Really, Marilyn?  You've consciously persuaded yourself that Hannity's version present's the President's response fairly?  You're THAT determined to accept Hannity's insanity as a fair presentation of political reality?

How sad.  That explains a LOT!

This is what is so objectionable about someone like Hannity.  Although some people can recognize him and others as 'entertainers' (which is sad enough), there are Americans like Marilyn who actually see him as a provider of 'news' and 'information'.  It is these folks who are most impressionable and open to propaganda. 

Hi Carla.

I'd like to to thank you for posting this article to our group,  Barack Obama's Presidential Appointments, Bills and Policies. (Join Our Group and Post Your Articles. We Love Opposing Points of Views)

It is now our latest FEATURED post.

Your friend.

Lloyd

 

Carla G. :

This is an excellent post -- Amazing and Awesome is that I always agree with what you post on Politics.

Excuse me for being an Atheist or for using foul language. But I deeply admire your sound views. this is not being "Liberal" but having a kind heart and sound mind and a Hope for Humanity and Understanding.

John P. Avlon of "The Daily Beast" wrote this about Audra Shay and other Aggressive Republicans :

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-10/the-gops-young-hatemonger/

Collectively her comments are products of an increasingly common GOP mind-set I call Obama Derangement Syndrome, the right-wingers' version of a virulent strain of obsessive presidential hatred that many liberals exhibited during the Bush years. Symptoms include comparing the president to Hitler and ascribing to him every evil and unconstitutional intention imaginable. It is accompanied by the belief that such a partisan fever is patriotic.

Milenials.com  

Vicente Duque

Thanks for your kind words, Vicente. The hatred that I've seen from people about Obama is really frightening. My brother is one of the worst. He has bought into the paranoia that the right-wingers have been spreading.

Carla, you nailed it.  It is all about hate.  What astonishes me about the whole thing is that these are self-professed xtians who spout about love and forgiveness and all that claptrap, and they absolutely subscribe to Faux Noise to receive their daily dose of "hated and superiority.  I think, really, it is the outcome of 8 years of "fear training" from the Bush fear-mongering-machine.  There are, indeed, side effects. 

Frankly, I think folks got addicted to the "distrust-angst-fear game."  And now, they need that rush of negative energy that they get by dissing somebody else.  They can feel superior without ever having done anything to earn that feeling of superiority. 

Pretty damned sad.  And they can't let it go, and they can't get over it.  That is the pure-hate beauty of propaganda.  It is exactly what they did in the 30's in Germany.  They prepped the people to allow the regime to kill hundreds of thousands of humans-all based on hate and illusions.

The sad thing is, they can't even see it to refute it-even when given word by word contradictions that clearly show (as in this article) how Faux Noise is twisting the facts and reporting in error to slant their views toward hatred and intolerance.

All I can say is that I am glad I am not Christian~~that I am so NOT impressed by so many of the people who claim to understand the words of their leader, Jesus.   They just show up as "professional haters."

I have no time for that.  Or for them.

Blessed be your life today, Carla.

Wilka

Wilka/Kathy-It is a common tactic on the part of the Republican party to use fear to control people. Bush used it all the time. That's how we ended up in Iraq (those weapons of mass destruction might destroy us).  

They also believe that having an enemy is important as it unites people. If it's not Iraq it's Obama or the Democrats. They have to have the "bad" guys to fight against. And if you can tie them in with the Devil/Satan or call them the Anti-Christ so much the better.

Carla, the unfortunate reality is Obama is using the same 9/11 fear card to justify his increased military activites in Afghanistan, moving war into Pakistan, and our continued activity in Iraq, as well as using it to justify a 23% increase in mercenary soldiers we employ to fight our wars in these places. There is no good and bad guy in this. Obama is following the Bush pattern exactly on track.

... let me correct that... There are not good guy(s) in this. Both Bush and Obama used fear to manipulate through propaganda.

Robert, we should have been focused on Afghanistan in the first place because of Osama bin Laden. We have started withdrawing from Iraq, so even though we're still there (and you as well as I know that if Obama had taken all of the troops out of Iraq as soon as he was in office that he would have been criticized and attacked) we're in the process of getting out. The fact is that we shouldn't have been there in the first place and Obama was against it when Bush pushed for it. As for Pakistan, I don't think that anyone can say right now what will happen there unless you have a crystal ball somewhere.

I disagree Carla, we never should have focused on Afghanistan. The only reason we're there is because of the pipeline. Osama bin-Laden isn't there now, and the people who did 9/11 aren't there. Just because the Taliban once shielded bin-Laden is not an excuse to be occupying and bombing, and littering the country with depleted uranium eight years later. It's not about the "Taliban are bad guys." We didn't have a problem with them when they were our friends who were going to allow UNOCAL to build the pipeline, and we didn't have a problem with the fundamentalists in general in Afghanistan when we foamented their rebellion against the pro-Soviet government in the 80's when we came down on their side of not allowing the teaching of girls to read. As long as we have been in Afghanistan has the dynamic changed? Not beyond the extent of us installing a UNOCAL consultant (Karzai) to run the place, which is limited to Kabul, and the rest of the country is run by the same war/druglords as it always was. Is there anything Obama's doing there that suggests that that will change? No.

Our withdrawal from Iraq is a token gesture. And moving out of the cities is no gesture. It's the same old game there. We built the largest embassy in the world there and permanent bases, and Obama isn't about to leave.

As for Pakistan, we don't need a crystal ball to see that our bombing into yet another sovereign country is creating more and more hatred of us that manifests as terrorism.

Obama is exactly where GW Bush would be if he had a third term. There is no apology or excuse for that. Same game. Fact of the matter is, the Democratic controlled Congress just gave Obama another 106 billion to fight these "wars" in sovereign countries which never attacked us.

Marilyn M. Jul 11, 2009, 2:33pm EDT

I read an entire transcript of the interview, and Carla this isn't an unfair interpretation of it.  Obama kept avoiding answering any questions outright.  I thought it was a ridiculous interview.

Marilyn: Even if you felt Obama avoided answering questions outright, how is it still fair to totally misrepresent what Obama said? The part where Obama said credit is owed to both republican and democratic presidents, was edited out; then hannity made it look like Obama didn't give any credit to our role in helping to end the cold war- and told him maybe he should study up on history before his next trip abroad. That's not misrepresentation to you?

It isn't fair, nor is it ethical, Ellen. It seems that Obama is more "fair and balanced" than Fox.

One hopes that some day the real journalists will rebel against the Hannity's who have no compunction of intentionally lying to push an ideological agenda.

Come on journalists.  Stand up for your profession!

David, if they do, they are out of a job.  It is really that simple.  The phrase "meet the new boss, same as the old boss?"  They are now being told how to slant their stories.  We need some good independent (not conglomerate-owned) media.  And the only way to cost-effectively do that is to blog your editorials.  The Rupert Murdocks of the world are beginning to run things.

A good place to get some info regarding propaganda (Marilyn?) would be here:  http://www.propagandacritic.com/

Read it and get the tools out of the shed to tear it up and see how it works--and it DOES work.

Wilka

 

Wilka - I'm afraid the American people are to be blame.  We need to demand professionalism.

Interesting site you linked.  Perhaps a series of well-placed critical analyses will stimulate action.

David, I just found the Al Franken book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" and I am literally laughing so hard I have to stop to wipe tears from my eyes.  This is one honestly funny man. 

Wilka

I've always wondered about the whole "fair and balanced" thing. They take numerous opportunities to remind their viewers how "fair and balanced" they are. If they're so fair and balanced, wouldn't someone be able to determine that for themselves? do they need to be told constantly? I know there's plenty of other news that is skewed one way or the other, but I think fox is the worst

Great Point Ellen.  There's no need to remind everyone over and over again that you are "Fair and Balanced".   Sounds as if they are trying to convince us and themselves of that fact.

I think we can better determine if they are or or not.  After watching FOX News for sometime it's obvious to me that they are NOT "Fair" and definately NOT "Balanced".

Ellen, watch out for people who constantly have to tell you that they are "honest" "not lying to you" or "fair and balanced" because chances are they are not. Those people who are don't have to constantly remind you or try to convince you. They just ARE.
 
Have you ever heard that quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: What you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you say."

Fox's actions speak louder than their protestations about being "fair and balanced." The problem is that if you say something enough times, people (gullible ones) start to believe it.

Yea, it's like if they tell people enough times; they'll start to believe it.

I'd never heard that quote carla, but 100% true; and my other comment was in response to llyod, we must have been posting at the same time.

I think you're right. :-)

"I've always wondered about the whole "fair and balanced" thing."

This is like someone telling you she is pretty, or wise, or talented, or popular, or nice. If she believed any of those things were true, she would know that you would notice without her prompt.

Everyone knows that media edits everything.  Known fact.  I spent my time with the local newspaper doing just that.  The key to editing is not changing the context.  Hannity didn't change the context. 

"Hannity didn't change the context."

Marilyn... STOP!  Please.  You're embarrassing yourself. I'm embarrassed for you.

Hannity edited that, and then he used it to read the President a lecture, telling him to do what he'd actually done - deliberately making the President look bad.  Hannity led his believers to think the President HAD ignored every one of those European leaders, told them the President should read history.

Marilyn... Hannity deliberately lied to cast the President in that position.  It was shameful, and for you to defend it is shameful.

I read the entire interview and I watched this.  I stand by what I said. 

Marilyn, I am not surprised. You have always defended Fox and you have always spoken against Obama. I would not expect anything else from you.

"I read the entire interview and I watched this.  I stand by what I said. "

Consider that this might be why no one takes anything you say seriously, Marilyn.

Marilyn,

Welcome aboard,

David doesn't think anyone takes me seriously either! LOL! It's one of his favorite personal attacks. LOL!

'Like the child who tells another child "nobody like you" "so there"

No Dan. You make light of too much crude and accept it. Personally I couldn't care less but when you attempt to convence me then I get to see the real you and from what I can see it ain't good.

Marilyn, I'm not going to get into the name-calling or character assassination.  And I'm well aware of how an interviewer can do a half hour interview, then show snippets out of context which distort the responses in the interview.  If you review what Hannity reported, that's not editing.  That is deliberate distortion.   He left out Obama's words, then used the left out words as if his own viewpoint!  That's beyond deception by editing.

Thank you, John B.

Well said, John.

John, that's your opinioin, not mine.

Marilyn, that is not an opinion, it's what actually happened. And if you really read the transcript you would know that. It is deliberate deception and lying.

I learned long ago that the more you try to change another's opinion the more you solidify it.  Until they have walked the walked and are ready to accept being open to another viewpoint, you might as well not bother to say anything.  Won't work! But it does make for long posts on Gather.  ;-)

Hi Elsie! Great to hear from you!

Thanks, Carla.  I just spent the week in CT visiting the kids.  Had a great time in spite of 4 days of rain.  I purposely stayed away from the computer.  Needed a brain rest.  ;-)

Good for you, Elsie. I was off Gather for about a week or two having started a new job. Sometimes it is good to stay away awhile. Hope you enjoyed your trip to CT.

 

Ellen B said : 

I've always wondered about the whole "fair and balanced" thing. They take numerous opportunities to remind their viewers how "fair and balanced" they are. If they're so fair and balanced, wouldn't someone be able to determine that for themselves? do they need to be told constantly? I know there's plenty of other news that is skewed one way or the other, but I think fox is the worst

 

They are so fair and balanced that if a Mexican Drunk driver hits or kills someone with a car that makes the most important news for several days  with lots of comments and commentators.

But if Shawna Forde ( Executive Director of the American Minutemen Defense ) kills a little girl, 9 years old, Brisenia Flores and her father Raul in a Home Invasion, then that is not Newsworthy and Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly will never mention that story.

Mike Huckabee pandered a lot to the Minutemen for his Presidential Campaign and wrote letters of praise to Jim Gilchrist, Co founder of Minutemen and protector of Shawna until the bitter end. Mike Huckabee fawned over the Minutemen, like Tom Tancredo, both frequent contributors of Fox News.

Lou Dobbs and Fox News have presented Jim Gilchrist and the Minutemen as heros, many times .... Now they are Silent, The Forum is Mute, as the Romans used to say .... when someone said something extremely grave and dangerous.

When the Minutemen cowardly threaten Kindergardens, fully armed  with pistols and other weapons, and other elementary schools, then Lou Dobbs and Fox News are perfectly silent, the "Forum Magnum" is Mute. But Glenn Beck has plenty of Idiotic Blather on other topics.

"Patriotism is the Last Refuge of the Scoundrel" - Samuel Johnson

Raciality.com  

Vicente Duque

Well said, Vicente! And Johnson was right-on with this quote.

After Clinton's White House affair, a person could not watch Fox News for 5 minutes without Monica Lewinsky's name being mentioned at least once, and that went on for a whole year. People were so sick of it. But once Bush gained control of the White House, Fox NEVER once mentioned any of the criminal activities occurring in his administration for the entire 8 years.

micky d. talk about haters...one can read your comments and almost feel the venom. 

Thank goodness for groups like Media Matters.  Thanks for this article, highlighting yet another example of how media outlets like Fox are exactly the opposite of 'fair and balanced', Carla.

Yes, if you haven't signed up with them, do so. They'll notify you of these things on a regular basis. They're a great watchdog group.