First, I am sad to say that this post marks the end of my absurd productivity of the last few days (at least until Monday). This is a first draft, one review post. I've never done one of these before, so if the quality stinks...that's why. I just wanted to leave everybody with something for the weekend. But what better way to go out than explaining why as a dittohead I hated Sean Hannity!
It's hard for the mind to fathom how one can be a fan of Rush but not a fan of Sean. If anything Sean is like Rush on steroids! Or as I prefer to describe it from my current perspective, Sean is like the Red Bull of Evil to Rush's Diet Coke of Evil.
I'll start with a little back story. The first time I ever listened to Sean was during Gulf War II: The Revenge. I happened to leave my radio tuned to AM Six-Hatred...er Hundred, and Sean was on. This was the point during the war when the SCLM (or as I referred to them at the time "the media") started saying Iraq was a quagmire. "We've been there almost 8 hours, and we're STILL not in Baghdad! Katie bar the door, there's trouble coming to town!"
Whether this was true or not didn't matter. What mattered was that Sean said it was a lie. I was hooked. "I believe every word you say, Sean...because it is EXACTLY what I want to hear." Very powerful effect. I fact...that may be why you are reading this very diary... [Cue Twilight Zone Music] Okay, okay...replace the fuse in your mind and we'll continue.
So Sean goes right on pitching the glorious success that was the "Combat Operations" phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I still think it was a pretty massive success, militarily speaking. Not for the Iraqis maybe, but hey, when did we ever really give a damn about them, right?
Side note: Am I the only one who thought it was a bad omen when the Iraqis could only bring down that Saddam statue with massive amounts of American help? I was watching it live on FOX thinking "Hurry up and get this damn thing done so we can all get on with our lives!" Strangely, I'm still saying that today but for different reasons.
The statue's down, 30 or 40 Iraqis took to the streets to celebrate riding Saddam's head barefoot and clapping with their shoes. Don your flight suits and hang the "Mission Accomplished" banner, `cuz this war is O-ver! Unfortunately someone forgot to tell me I should stop listening to Sean. And that's when you realize Sean's biggest weakness...he can't stop being an a-hole.
Remember, I'm a conservative at this point, and I'm thinking "this guy can't be for real. No one is this conservative...or obnoxious." When he started describing loyal opposition as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy," I nearly gagged. Using the textbook definition of treason to describe those who disagree with you...that seemed bad.
Another great moment in punditry came when Sean claimed Democrats were endorsing the torture of children by opposing the war. Seriously! My dittohead business partner and I still laugh about it. During one of his beat-down segments with some poor, outgunned Democrat he had an exchange that went something like:
Hannity: "Saddam Hussein was torturing children. You opposed the war. Therefore you support the torture of children. Why do you support the torture of children!
Guest: "Um...I don't think..."
Hannity: "Answer the question! You're not answering the question!
Guest: "I'm trying to..."
Hannity: "ANSWER THE QUESTION! WHY DO YOU TORTURE CHILDREN!!!"
Coulter: "She's avoiding the question, Sean."
Cameron: "I don't think she's going to answer you, Sean."
Hume: "It's a simple question."
Colmes: "Why won't you answer his question?"
Guest: "HEY! I thought you were supposed to be on my side?"
Colmes: "No, the show doesn't work that way."
Hannity: [Throws hands up in disgust] "See...this is why you can't talk to liberals. They won't answer even a simple question.
And scene. Thanks to the `advisorjim players' for their participation. Bear in mind that this scene was fictional, but indicative of what drove me away from the right wing. It's not Sean's content that most dittohead's hate. It's his presentation. He's obnoxious, even to Republicans, and deep down you're just embarrassed that this guy makes such bad arguments right in front of God and everybody. He usually has 3 facts in his mind at any moment. If he can't address your point with one of those three facts, then he turns into a 2-year old.
Arguing with Sean Hannity is highly reminiscent of playing Star Wars when you were a kid. You'd say "I got you! You have to fall down!" And Sean would say "Nu-uh! I've got a super-secret laser shield that you can't get through so NEH!" By the way, Sean's `Super-Secret Laser Shield' is, of course, Rush Limbaugh. Without Rush, Sean never would have gotten his start. Now he's his own animal, and it was interesting to watch him operate when Rush was in rehab. Another story...another day.
IMHO, Hannity is not someone we should spend a great deal of time worrying about. Were it not for my dislike of Sean Hannity I probably never would have listened to Al Franken's audio book. And if THAT doesn't happen, I'm probably still spewing crap like "If we ever get out of this Clinton Recession..." Fortunately I did, I did, and I'm not. Since Sean's one of the trigger mechanisms for my eventual conversion we should probably be encouraging him. Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for all the kind support.