** Cross-posted at Perrspectives **
On Sunday night, Sean Hannity will unveil his latest smear campaign against Al Gore. Hoping to portray the Oscar and Nobel-nominated Gore as a "Gulfstream Liberal," the Hannity's America hit segment will try to paint the former Vice President as a private jet flying, carbon-burning, global warming machine.
And Sean Hannity should know. After all, when it comes to hypocrisy over extravagant travel on private aircraft, Hannity is the master of hot air.
In 2004, Hannity racked up the private jet frequent flyer miles during his journeys shilling on behalf of President Bush and the GOP. An October 20, 2004 Hannity face-off against Michael Moore cost Utah Valley State College almost $50,000 in travel expenses for the Fox New host, including $35,000 for the private Hawker jet service. Hannity flew in the lap luxury not only from New York to his Utah gig, but afterwards to Arizona where he broadcast his show during a Kerry-Bush presidential debate. As Hannity himself noted:
"Private planes are expensive. The fuel is expensive. I have two jobs so I do charter planes sometimes on my own, and I know what they cost. But (UVSC officials) said they wanted me to come and they wanted to pay my travel. And I wanted to be there to meet the students."
Understandably anxious about the perception of student fees from a public college supporting his exorbitant lifestyle, Hannity's handlers arranged for Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. to donate $10,000 and a Utah-based firm coughed up $5,000 to help offset the expenses.
Hannity's sensitivity on the subject were well-founded. Hannity, after all, had just days before cancelled an appearance at Washington University over the very issue of private air travel. Not because the school wouldn't provide him with a private plane, but because they did not offer him the right private jet. As the University's paper Student Life put it, "Since he can't fly in style, Sean Hannity says he won't come to St. Louis at all." Typically, Fox values maven Hannity lied about the episosde:
Hannity cited personal reasons for his cancellation, said law student Ruth Hollander after speaking with the right-wing pundit over the phone yesterday. Hannity, Hollander said, requested a private jet to fly him to St. Louis for the speech, but then rejected "several" different jets offered by a private donor. He told Hollander about a "bad experience" with the prominent company that had manufactured all the jets offered for his trip.
"[Hannity's agent] said he thought we should say that because of the short time frame involved, it didn't work out," said Hollander. "I said I didn't think that was the truth, and...I really felt we had met all of our commitments and we were going to be honest when asked."
In advance of Sunday night's Hannity hatchet job, Al Gore's office provided ThinkProgress with a statement. Among other points, it noted:
"In his private life, Gore tries to reduce his emissions as much as possible. He drives a hybrid, flies commercially whenever he can, and purchases green power. In the few instances where work has demanded that he travel privately, he purchases carbon offsets for the emissions."
Fox News and Sean Hannity, of course, won't let facts get in the way of their anti-Gore, global warming Lysenkoism. (Rudy Giuliani's extravagant travel habits are apparently just fine with him.) Hannity, who decried John Kerry for leading "a lifestyle that I don't live" and included himself among "us common people," said on Friday of Gore, "if they're not willing to lead by example, I think that's hypocritical."
After all, Sean Hannity should know.