Hannity

===

promoted to primary 7/15 partially bc of creepy project 21/core antics, driessen? evil pending

enforcer

capt 917

==

wiki 4 25

According to The Washington Post, Hannity "repeatedly embraces storylines that prove to be inaccurate" and takes positions that change over time.^[22] In the opinion of The New York Times, Hannity is "barreling headfirst into the murky territory between opinion and out-and-out conspiracy theorism".^[21] Hannity often promotes conspiracy theories without explicitly endorsing them, unlike Alex Jones. The New York Times wrote that this "has the effect of nourishing the more wild-eyed beliefs of his fans while providing Hannity a degree of plausible deniability".^[21] The New Yorker wrote in 2019 that Hannity had "[spewed] baseless conspiracy theories with impunity".^[68]

During the Bush years, Hannity "loyally supported the president's policies".^[22] During the Obama administration, Hannity "leaned more heavily on stories he believed were being given short shrift by the 'liberal media' – stories about where Obama was born, and who deserved blame for the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya".^[22] In 2017, The Washington Post wrote that "what Hannity has stood for – at least for the past couple of years – is Trump."^[22]

Donald Trump

Candidacy of Donald Trump

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donald_Trump_%26_Sean_Hannity_%2816677778952%29.jpg)Hannity with Donald Trump in 2015

Hannity is known for his pro-Trump coverage.^[21][22][69] According to The Washington Post, "Hannity's comeback coincided with his early, eager embrace of his fellow New Yorker ... Trump attacked the Gold Star father, and Hannity stood by him. Trump went after a federal judge of Mexican descent, and Hannity backed him. After the *Access Hollywood* tape emerged of Trump making lewd comments about inappropriate sexual behaviour towards women, Hannity continued to defend him: 'King David had 500 concubines, for crying out loud.'"^[22] After the inauguration, the first interview the new president gave to a cable news channel was conducted by Hannity.^[22] Hannity additionally defended the Trump administration's false claim that Trump's inauguration crowd was the biggest ever.^[22]

Hannity has been criticized as being overly favorable to the candidacy of Trump and granting him more airtime than other presidential candidates during the 2016 primaries.^[70] Hannity, for instance, let Trump promote the false claim that Rafael Cruz, father of Trump's rival presidential candidate Ted Cruz, was involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination.^[22] He admitted to favoring Republican candidates, though without indicating a preference for Donald Trump over Ted Cruz.^[71] According to Dylan Byers of CNN, Hannity during interviews "frequently cites areas where he agrees with Trump, or where he thinks Trump was right about something, then asks him to expand on it", and "often ignores or defends Trump from criticism".^[71]

Tensions between Cruz and Hannity appeared to reach a boiling point during a contentious April 2016 radio interview, during which Cruz implied Hannity was a "hardcore Donald Trump supporter" and Hannity responded by accusing Cruz of "throw[ing] this in my face" every time he asked a "legitimate question".^[72] Jim Rutenberg commented in August 2016 that Hannity is "not only Mr. Trump's biggest media booster; he also veers into the role of adviser," citing sources who said Hannity spent months offering suggestions to Trump and his campaign on strategy and messaging. Hannity responded to the report by saying, "I'm not hiding the fact that I want Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States. ... I never claimed to be a journalist."^[73] (In an article published in December 2017, Hannity said "I'm a journalist. But I'm an advocacy journalist, or an opinion journalist.")^[21] Hannity also appeared in a 2016 Trump campaign ad.^[74] Hannity has feuded with several conservatives who oppose Trump, including National Review's Jonah Goldberg,^[75][76] Wall Street Journal foreign affairs columnist Bret Stephens,^[77] and National Review editor Rich Lowry.^[78]

Relationships with Donald Trump, Michael Cohen and other officials

Hannity developed a close relationship with Trump during the election and became even closer during his presidency.^[68] The two men spoke on the phone multiple times a week, discussing Hannity's weekday show, the special counsel investigation, even evaluating White House staff.^{[68][13][79][80}] Hannity shares, The Economist asserts, "Mr. Trump's love of conspiracy theories and hatred of snooty elites".^[81] They speak so often that one Trump adviser has said Hannity "basically has a desk in the place".^[13] On the air, Hannity echoes Trump's attacks on the media and Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.^[82] Trump sometimes quotes Hannity to others or promotes the show to his Twitter followers.^[14] Hannity has encouraged Trump to shut down the government to get funding for a border wall, as well as his declaration of a national emergency over the US–Mexico border.^[14]

According to reports by the Los Angeles Times and New York magazine, Hannity frequently talks to Trump by telephone after Hannity's weekday broadcasts,^[80][83][14] and Hannity is one of several dozen cleared callers whose calls to the White House public switchboard can be connected directly to the president.^[83]

Hannity stirred controversy in April 2018 when it was revealed that he shared a lawyer, Michael Cohen, with Trump. In a breach of journalistic ethics, Hannity had failed to disclose that Cohen was his lawyer while at the same time taking to the Fox airwaves to defend Cohen and criticize those who investigated him.^{[84][85][86][87}]

On April 9, 2018, federal agents from the U.S. Attorney's office served a search warrant on the office and residence of Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney.^[88] On the air, Hannity defended Cohen and criticized the federal action, calling it "highly questionable" and "an unprecedented abuse of power".^[89] On April 16, 2018, in a court hearing, Cohen's lawyers told the judge that Cohen had ten clients in 2017–2018 but did "traditional legal tasks" for only three: Trump, Elliott Broidy, and a "prominent person" who did not wish to be named for fear of being "embarrassed".^[90][91][92] The federal judge ordered the revelation of the third client, whom Cohen's lawyers named as Hannity.^[90] Although Hannity has covered Cohen on his show, he did not disclose that he had consulted with Cohen.^[93]

Fox News released a statement on April 16, 2018, attributed to Hannity: "Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective. I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third party."^[94] Also, NBC News quoted Hannity as saying: "We definitely had attorney–client privilege because I asked him for that,"^[95] while Hannity said on his radio show that he "might have handed him ten bucks" for the attorney-client privilege.^[94][90] Lastly, Hannity tweeted that his discussions with Cohen were "almost exclusively" about real estate.^[96]

The following day, news reports revealed that Hannity had shared another lawyer with Trump, Jay Sekulow. Sekulow had written a cease-and-desist letter to KFAQ on Hannity's behalf in May 2017, and later represented Trump in connection with the Mueller investigation.^[97][98]

In August 2018, Hannity allowed Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani, another personal lawyer for Trump, to host Hannity's radio show; the duo proceeded to defend Trump and promote arguments made by the Trump administration.^[99]

In June 2019, Hannity expressed outrage at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's comment that she would like to see Trump "in prison". Hannity declared: "Based on no actual crimes, she wants a political opponent locked up in prison? That happens in banana republics – beyond despicable behavior." Aaron Rupar of Vox criticized Hannity for "obvious hypocrisy", noting that Hannity himself had said in January 2018 regarding Hillary Clinton: "I think Hillary should be in jail. Lock her up."^[100] Aaron Blake of The Washington Post described Hannity's comment as "a pretty obvious bit of gaslighting", noting Hannity's loyalty to Trump, whose campaign rallies have featured chants of "Lock her up", and also Hannity's comments that Trump was free to investigate Clinton.^[101]

Hannity played the most important role in persuading Trump to pardon the convicted murderer and war criminal Clint Lorance.^[102]

After Trump lost the 2020 election, Hannity sent a number of text messages offering advice to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, including a message apparently suggesting a joint "NC Real estate" venture with him.^[103][74]

In October 2023, a staffer on his show emailed Republican lawmakers asking why they weren't supporting Representative Jim Jordan, Donald Trump's choice for House Speaker to replace Representative Kevin McCarthy.^[104][105]

Conspiracy theories

2016 election and Seth Rich

==

http://www.alternet.org/media/sean-hannity-practically-daring-fox-news-executives-fire-him-point

... five months ago, Fox News unceremoniously canned Bill O'Reilly, the centerpiece of the network's programming for two decades. The revelation that O’Reilly was a sexual predator triggered an advertiser boycott that forced the network’s hand. The longtime “king of cable news” was dethroned, reduced to peddling a podcast on his personal website.

But tonight, after teasing the announcement throughout his Fox show, Sean Hannity told his audience that he will host his longtime colleague O’Reilly for a cozy interview on tomorrow night's broadcast. Hannity had urged O’Reilly to return to Fox during an interview on his radio show last week; if all goes according to Hannity’s plan, for one night at least, he will get his wish. Hannity said tonight that O’Reilly will talk about "news of the day and his new book"; if the interview is anything like O'Reilly's appearance on Hannity’s radio show, he will use the platform to attack his critics, including women who reported he sexually harassed them. Other networks have made a similarly odious decision to give space to the former Fox host.

But O’Reilly getting the red carpet treatment from a program on the network that fired him should be taken not as a sign of the former host’s strength, but of Hannity’s suicidal willingness to go to war with his own network. Whether on Fox or on the radio, Hannity is now regularly collaborating with someone his network cast off in disgrace.

Hannity has spent the time since O’Reilly left the network engaged in thinly-veiled hostilities with Fox. From his pointed criticism of the network’s treatment of his former producer Bill Shine, who was forced out for his reported role in overseeing the network’s deplorable culture of sexual harassment, to the feverish Seth Rich conspiracy theories that drew criticism from his own colleagues, to his attacks on his Fox colleagues for being insufficiently supportive of President Donald Trump, Hannity has been a problem child. Seemingly incapable of reining him in, the network pointedly announced last month the hiring of a conservative pundit specifically for Hannity’s show -- Tomi Lahren, who lacks basic competence, but makes up for it with loyalty to the president.

Hannity’s unhinged behavior threatens to have a real impact on his bottom line. Advertisers have started dropping Hannity. Thanks in part to Media Matters’ Stop Hannity advertiser education effort, advertisers are learning that financially supporting his political chicanery and Trump’s political interests is bad for business. We’ve seen this story unfold in the past, with O’Reilly and Glenn Beck before him.

Hannity’s apparent decision to add O’Reilly to his stable of guests is a disaster for Fox. The move gives ad buyers who were already concerned that Fox couldn’t control Hannity a new reason for alarm. It gives advertisers who previously abandoned O’Reilly’s show a reason to fear that their ads elsewhere on the network could end up promoting him. And it gives British regulators -- who were already reviewing Fox as part of Rupert Murdoch’s $15 billion bid to purchase Sky -- a reason to worry about the network’s corporate governance and commitment to changing its seedy culture.

Fox knows all this, so it seems more likely that the network was blindsided by a host who’s out of its control than that it is willingly complicit in his effort to promote his former colleague. And Hannity knows it too. He just doesn’t care.

This may be the beginning of Fox’s nightmare -- the last remaining member of its former dream team, openly revolting and daring the network to fire him and let him take his audience somewhere else. It won’t end until Hannity gets his way, or is sent on his way.

==

no link

https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/08/30/hannity-gets-his-stories-internet-fever-swamps-ana-navarro-story/217810

Hannity gets his stories from the internet fever swamps: The Ana Navarro story

Research ››› August 30, 2017 6:14 PM EDT ››› CRISTINA LóPEZ G.

During his Fox News show on August 29, host Sean Hannity elevated a smear campaign targeting Republican CNN contributor Ana Navarro. Hannity’s smears came from a report citing publicly available information showing Navarro has donated to Democratic candidates, which pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec distributed on Twitter under the hashtag #AnaGate to rally his followers to harass the contributor. This is not the first time Hannity has elevated a narrative that comes from pro-Trump trolls and fringe far-right message boards.

Right-wing trolls are harassing Republican CNN contributor Ana Navarro for donating to Democrats

Right-wing trolls are waging a harassment campaign against CNN contributor Ana Navarro. Using the #AnaGate hashtag, right-wing trolls and other Twitter users are harassing Republican CNN contributor Ana Navarro, criticizing her for having donated to Democrats, including Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). [Twitter, #AnaGate, accessed 8/30/17]

Pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec introduced the #AnaGate narrative. On August 24, pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec -- who formerly identified as a member of the “alt-right” -- reported in a Medium post that Navarro had donated to Democrats and organized fundraisers, citing publicly available campaign documents. Posobiec also took to Periscope to brainstorm potential hashtags for what he deemed a “scandal,” coming up with #AnaGate. Posobiec recently bragged that a retweet of his defense of President Donald Trump's outrageous Charlottesville comments by Trump amounted to an "endorsement," telling the The Boston Globe that "Trump’s 'retweet of me was almost like an endorsement … in a very broad sense,' Posobiec said during an interview with the Globe at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where he requested to meet. 'It was almost like he was validating what we, the alt-media, are doing.'" [Media Matters, 5/11/17; Medium, 8/24/17; Periscope, 8/24/17; The Boston Globe, 8/28/17]

Follow

Jack Posobiec ? @JackPosobiec

BUSTED: Ana Navarro Bankrolled Indicted Democrat Bob Menendez! Will CNN denounce? https://medium.com/@JackPosobiec/busted-ana-navarro-bankrolled-indicted-democrat-bob-menendez-c5dc48ce40db …

6:25 PM - Aug 24, 2017

Photo published for BUSTED: Ana Navarro Bankrolled Indicted Democrat Bob Menendez

BUSTED: Ana Navarro Bankrolled Indicted Democrat Bob Menendez

“CNN should be sued for false advertising” — Roger Stone, on Ana Navarro

medium.com

990 990 Replies   8,178 8,178 Retweets   9,844 9,844 likes

Posobiec cited Roger Stone, who has a record of making misogynistic and racist remarks about Navarro. In his Medium post, Posobiec turned to Infowars regular Roger Stone for comment on Navarro. Stone has a history of making racist and misogynistic remarks about the CNN contributor, calling her “Entitled Diva Bitch” on Twitter and referring to her Latino background by saying “black beans and rice didn’t miss her.” [Medium, 8/24/17; Media Matters, 2/22/16]

Conservative media amplified Posobiec’s narrative. Both Laura Ingraham’s online outlet LifeZette and Breitbart.com amplified the story Posobiec had reported, criticizing Navarro’s anti-Trump stance. [LifeZette, 8/28/17; Breitbart, 8/29/17]

Navarro has been a consistently critical voice against Trump among conservatives.Navarro has consistently been critical of President Donald Trump while continuing to support the Republican party.[Media Matters, 1/29/17, 5/15/17, 6/29/17, 7/2/17]

Sean Hannity elevated Posobiec’s narrative on his Fox show

Fox host Sean Hannity gave Posobiec’s smear narrative against Navarro a platform during his show.During the August 29 monologue of his show Hannity, Fox host Sean Hannity parroted “a report” that “so-called Republican Eva (sic) Navarro donated a lot of money to prominent Democrats”. From the August 29 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): And CNN's so-called Republican commentator Eva (sic) Navarro responded to a tweet from President Trump about leaving for Texas and writing, quote, “As if the people of Texas aren’t already enduring enough suffering… .” Now, what’s interesting about that, we learned today from a report that CNN’s so-called Republican Navarro, well, she’s donated a lot of money to prominent Democrats. What Republican would donate to the likes of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other left-wingers that are out there and people on the left? It sounds like a fake Republican at the fake news network. More proof that the left is completely unhinged. And it is  why we have now actually diagnosed them, considering they want to diagnose everybody else, and we call it the Trump derangement syndrome. [Fox News, Hannity, 8/29/17]

Posobiec gleefully tweeted about his narrative receiving prime-time validation.

Follow

Jack Posobiec ? @JackPosobiec

Hannity is on too #AnaGate

4:33 AM - Aug 30, 2017 · Washington, DC

12 12 Replies   73 73 Retweets   257 257 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

[Twitter, 8/30/17]

Follow

Jack Posobiec ? @JackPosobiec

We primetime now https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/status/902714104703578112 …

3:06 AM - Aug 30, 2017

13 13 Replies   102 102 Retweets   305 305 likes

Hannity has increasingly become a mouthpiece for the pro-Trump fever swamps on the internet

Hannity consistently used his platform to elevate the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.In late May, Hannity devoted considerable airtime to the conspiracy theory that Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered in the summer of 2016, had provided WikiLeaks with the DNC emails that many experts have concluded were hacked by Russian authorities. Despite his own network retracting the story and the Rich family pleading for the gross exploitation of their son’s murder to stop, Hannity relentlessly pushed the story -- which was born in pro-Trump message boards and did not stand up to scrutiny -- in an effort to quash reports of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election. [Media Matters, 5/30/17]

Hannity has pushed false claims from pro-Trump outlets. Hannity pushed on Twitter a false Gateway Pundit story that claimed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had requested campaign donations from Russia. After the misleading story was debunked by McCain’s Senate office, Hannity deleted his tweet and got defensive over criticisms that he was spreading false information. [Media Matters, 2/23/17]

Hannity has parroted claims originating from the message boards that the counterprotestors opposing neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA, were paid actors. Hannity used his radio show to promote the conspiracy theory that “antifa agitators” who opposed the neo-Nazi and white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, VA, were actually actors hired by a publicity firm. [Media Matters, 8/17/17]

==

While too many reporters fall for Trump's lies about taxes, Hannity is clear: Trump should cut taxes for millionaires like him. Sean Hannity wants Trump to cut taxes so that the super rich (like him) can buy boats and helicopters. Meanwhile, America is faced with record inequality that is only growing.

==

Tomi Lahren, Sean Hannity, and Fox News

Fox News has hired Tomi Lahren. That may not seem surprising on its face if you know anything about Lahren,

https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/08/30/trump-sycophant-tomi-lahren-joins-fox-news-after-taking-cues-sean-hannity/217811

who used to work at Glenn Beck's outlet and also at a Trump Super PAC. But there was one notable thing about her hire: Fox News announced that Lahren will primarily appear only on Hannity's Fox News show. This reveals that Fox executives are complicit in turning Hannity's show into a propagandist cesspool.

==

During his Fox News show on August 29, host Sean Hannity elevated a smear campaign targeting Republican CNN contributor Ana Navarro. Hannity’s smears came from a report citing publicly available information showing Navarro has donated to Democratic candidates, which pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec distributed on Twitter under the hashtag #AnaGate to rally his followers to harass the contributor. This is not the first time Hannity has elevated a narrative that comes from pro-Trump trolls and fringe far-right message boards.

Right-wing trolls are waging a harassment campaign against CNN contributor Ana Navarro. Using the #AnaGate hashtag, right-wing trolls and other Twitter users are harassing Republican CNN contributor Ana Navarro, criticizing her for having donated to Democrats, including Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). Twitter, #AnaGate, accessed [8/30/17]

Pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec introduced the #AnaGate narrative. On August 24, pro-Trump troll Jack Posobiec -- who formerly identified as a member of the “alt-right” -- reported in a Medium post that Navarro had donated to Democrats and organized fundraisers, citing publicly available campaign documents. Posobiec also took to Periscope to brainstorm potential hashtags for what he deemed a “scandal,” coming up with #AnaGate. Posobiec recently bragged that a retweet of his defense of President Donald Trump's outrageous Charlottesville comments by Trump amounted to an "endorsement," telling the The Boston Globe that "Trump’s 'retweet of me was almost like an endorsement … in a very broad sense,' Posobiec said during an interview with the Globe at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where he requested to meet. 'It was almost like he was validating what we, the alt-media, are doing.'" *Media Matters*, [5/11/17; Medium, 8/24/17; Periscope, 8/24/17; The Boston Globe, 8/28/17]

BUSTED: Ana Navarro Bankrolled Indicted Democrat Bob Menendez! Will CNN denounce? https://t.co/fx5RTNxnUc

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) August 25, 2017

We primetime now https://t.co/OY9E30qCRp

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) August 30, 2017

Twitter, [8/24/17]

Posobiec cited Roger Stone, who has a record of making misogynistic and racist remarks about Navarro. In his Medium post, Posobiec turned to Infowars regular Roger Stone for comment on Navarro. Stone has a history of making racist and misogynistic remarks about the CNN contributor, calling her “Entitled Diva Bitch” on Twitter and referring to her Latino background by saying “black beans and rice didn’t miss her.” Medium, [8/24/17; Media Matters, 2/22/16]

Conservative media amplified Posobiec’s narrative. Both Laura Ingraham’s online outlet LifeZette and Breitbart.com amplified the story Posobiec had reported, criticizing Navarro’s anti-Trump stance. LifeZette, [8/28/17; Breitbart, 8/29/17]

Navarro has been a consistently critical voice against Trump among conservatives. Navarro has consistently been critical of President Donald Trump while continuing to support the Republican party. *Media Matters*, [1/29/17, 5/15/17, 6/29/17, 7/2/17]

Sean Hannity elevated Posobiec’s narrative on his Fox show

Fox host Sean Hannity gave Posobiec’s smear narrative against Navarro a platform during his show.During the August 29 monologue of his show Hannity, Fox host Sean Hannity parroted “a report” that “so-called Republican Eva (sic) Navarro donated a lot of money to prominent Democrats”. From the August 29 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

[vid]

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): And CNN's so-called Republican commentator Eva (sic) Navarro responded to a tweet from President Trump about leaving for Texas and writing, quote, “As if the people of Texas aren’t already enduring enough suffering… .” Now, what’s interesting about that, we learned today from a report that CNN’s so-called Republican Navarro, well, she’s donated a lot of money to prominent Democrats. What Republican would donate to the likes of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other left-wingers that are out there and people on the left? It sounds like a fake Republican at the fake news network. More proof that the left is completely unhinged. And it is  why we have now actually diagnosed them, considering they want to diagnose everybody else, and we call it the Trump derangement syndrome. Fox News, *Hannity*, [8/29/17]

Posobiec gleefully tweeted about his narrative receiving prime-time validation.

 Twitter, [8/30/17]Hannity is on too #AnaGate

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) August 30, 2017

Hannity has increasingly become a mouthpiece for the pro-Trump fever swamps on the internet

Hannity consistently used his platform to elevate the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. In late May, Hannity devoted considerable airtime to the conspiracy theory that Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered in the summer of 2016, had provided WikiLeaks with the DNC emails that many experts have concluded were hacked by Russian authorities. Despite his own network retracting the story and the Rich family pleading for the gross exploitation of their son’s murder to stop, Hannity relentlessly pushed the story -- which was born in pro-Trump message boards and did not stand up to scrutiny -- in an effort to quash reports of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election. *Media Matters*, [5/30/17]

Hannity has pushed false claims from pro-Trump outlets. Hannity pushed on Twitter a false Gateway Pundit story that claimed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had requested campaign donations from Russia. After the misleading story was debunked by McCain’s Senate office, Hannity deleted his tweet and got defensive over criticisms that he was spreading false information. *Media Matters*, [2/23/17]

Hannity has parroted claims originating from the message boards that the counterprotestors opposing neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA, were paid actors. Hannity used his radio show to promote the conspiracy theory that “antifa agitators” who opposed the neo-Nazi and white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, VA, were actually actors hired by a publicity firm. *Media Matters*, [8/17/17]

Cristina López G. is a senior researcher at Media Matters with a focus in Hispanic media and Latino representation

==

http://www.alternet.org/media/sean-hannity-vacation-or-fired

... So far, at least seven different advertisers have agreed to stop buying ads on his TV show, including Cars.com, USAA and Crowne Plaza Hotels.

Hannity has been under fire after his insistence on pushing false claims about the Seth Rich murder, despite the fact that Fox News had retracted its own story about the supposed conspiracy to cover up Rich’s death, and despite the fact that Rich’s parents have publicly begged Hannity and other right-wing news outlets to stop spreading misinformation about their late son.

Hannity agreed to stop talking about the Rich conspiracy theory on Tuesday night, but by Wednesday morning he was having an angry meltdown on Twitter about “liberal fascists” and George Soros conspiring to silence him.

Fox News denied there was anything unusual about his vacation. “Like the rest of the country, Sean Hannity is taking a vacation for Memorial Day weekend and will be back on Tuesday. Those who suggest otherwise are going to look foolish,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Brad Reed is a writer living in Boston. His work has previously appeared in the American Prospect Online,

http://www.alternet.org/media/fox-news-ratings-down

hen Fox News architect Roger Ailes died last Thursday, one of the common threads through the coverage of his career was the ratings success he produced at the conservative news channel.

“Roger Ailes, who built Fox News into a powerhouse, dies at 77,” read the CNN headline. The Associated Press agreed: “He helped start Fox News in 1996 and built it into a conservative news beacon and cable ratings powerhouse.”

While Ailes was heavily (and deservedly) criticized over both the political legacy he left behind and the reports of serial sexual harassment that defined the end of his career, there was heated agreement within the press that Ailes was a television marketing master whose ratings success was untouched — and that the Ailes model would outlive even his own presence as at the network. (He was forced out last July as reports of harassment snowballed.)

All of which made Fox News’ ratings performance on the night Ailes died even more shocking: On Thursday, Fox News came in last place among the three cable news channels among viewers between the ages of 25 and 54. And it wasn’t a fluke.

In a development that has sparked murmurs throughout the cable news business, Fox News in recent weeks has regularly finished in last place among advertising-friendly viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, or “demo” viewers, as they’re known in the industry. (In terms of total viewers, Fox News does better, thanks to its large stable of viewers over the age of 54.)

“For first time this century, they aren’t in first place,” noted MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough last week. “In fact, for the first time this century, they are in third place.” Added CNN’s Brian Stelter, “This is an extraordinary moment in the cable news race.”

And yes, a lot of this is President Donald Trump’s fault.

Ever since Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9, which seemed to then unleash an unending stream of breaking-news bombshells that rattled White House windows day after day, Fox News has seen its mighty ratings prowess threatened by MSNBC and CNN.

Basically, the ongoing and ever-expanding list of scandals involving the Trump administration — many revolving around Russia — has depressed Fox News viewers while simultaneously spiking interest at CNN and MSNBC, driving Fox into the ratings basement.

Are we witnessing a sea change in cable news? Or is this simply an extended blip that’s drawing back the curtain and revealing Fox News’ programming flaws — flaws that could be, at least in part, the result of endless personnel turmoil at the network for the last year.

Whether it’s permanent or temporary, the current ratings malaise certainly raises larger questions for Fox News as it confronts a key transition period and figures out how to cover the Trump administration. So far, its “defend everything Trump does while complaining about liberal media bias” strategy doesn’t seem to be paying off.

Keep in mind, last year Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly were posting blockbuster numbers at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. for Fox News. Today, they’re both gone and their replacement shows are struggling. Tucker Carlson Tonight is having trouble at 8 p.m., and The Five’s move to 9 p.m. has been, by Fox News standards, a ratings disappointment.

Carlson’s decline at 8 p.m. must be especially troubling for Fox News executives since it’s a valuable time slot the network absolutely dominated for more than a decade with O’Reilly at the helm.

Nothing Carlson has tried in recent weeks amid the Trump scandal season has worked. Tucker has tried downplaying or ignoring the pile-up of bad news for Trump. And he’s also tried claiming the scandal coverage is all “hysteria.”

Keep in mind, O’Reilly had posted some staggering numbers earlier this year for Fox News at 8 p.m. — numbers that, as of now, Carlson can only dream of equaling. (O’Reilly averaged nearly 4 million viewers during the first quarter of 2017; Carlson is routinely coming in 30-40 percent under those numbers.)

Carlson has also repeatedly finished behind CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 in the 25-54 demo, and twice last week landed in third place behind both Cooper and MSNBC’s All in with Chris Hayes.

Overall, The Rachel Maddow Show at 9 p.m. has emerged as a ratings juggernaut for MSNBC this year, and especially this month.

Meanwhile, MSNBC’s The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell has toppedHannityseveral times at 10 p.m. – both in the key demo and in overall ratings. That’s the same Sean Hannity who, in the post-O’Reilly era, was supposed to be the network’s most powerful and influential attraction. Hannity’s “the alpha anchor right now,” Bloomberg suggested after O’Reilly’s departure.

But that hasn’t worked out.

What’s so shocking about Fox News’ ratings woes is how swift the downward movement has been. “Through the first six months of 2016, FNC is enjoying the highest-rated year in its history in total day and primetime viewership,” The Wrap reported last June.

One month later, in July 2016, Fox News’ implosion started when then-anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes for sexual harassment. Since then, numerous key players have been publicly forced out at Fox, while others have walked away from the network.

I can’t say I’m shocked by Fox News’ current ratings slump. Earlier this month, in the wake of O’Reilly’s forced departure, which was then followed by the forced departure of the channel’s co-president, I noted that Fox was poised for some tough times: “I also think the drip, drip, drip of on-air changes and off-camera firings and departures could unquestionably alter the dynamics for the long-running ratings winner.”

That internal turmoil, coupled with Trump’s scandal-plagued presidency, which shows no signs of abating,could signal a new ratings era in cable news

==

http://www.alternet.org/media/5-hannity-conspiracies-predate-fox-news-retraction-seth-rich-story

http://www.alternet.org/media/sean-hannity-calls-himself-victim-evidence-emerges-seth-rich-was-not-wikileaks-source

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/foxs-seth-rich-conspiracy-has-collapsed-but-right-wing-outlets-keep-pushing-it/

Earlier this week, a private investigatornamed Rod Wheeler—whose last big case was promoting ahoax about a national underground network of lesbian gangs—announced that he had evidence that the late Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered last year in Washington, D.C., was in contact with WikiLeaks and transferred them over 40,000 DNC emails. That year WikiLeaks released hacked emails from DNC employees.

Fox’s local Washington, D.C. affiliate ran the story with an interview with Wheeler, despite the fact that Rich’s family had asked him not to speak with the media and rejected his findings as not credible.

Wheeler said that he didn’t actually see any emails or even Rich’s computer, but simply heard about this bombshell evidence from an anonymous federal investigator.

Then Wheeler admitted that he never spoke to the investigator.

“I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News,” Wheeler said in an interview with CNN.

The FBI similarly rejected Wheeler’s claims, with one law enforcement official telling NBC News that Rich’s laptop “never contained any emails related to WikiLeaks.”

He eventually “backtracked” in an interview with Fox DC, stating that his previous statements were a “miscommunication.” (Rich’s family has called on Fox to retract the original story).

Even as the story collapsed, conspiracy theorists ran with it—especially Fox News, where hosts like Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs trumpeted Wheeler’s work as proof that Russia was not behind the DNC hack and that the Democratic Party is complicit in murder.

As we’ve noted, Wheeler is both a vocal Trump supporter and a Fox News analyst and his “investigation” was paid for by a fellow Fox News pundit.

Days after Wheeler conceded that he had absolutely no evidence to back up his story, conservative outlets are still obsessed with it.

Last night, Hannity hosted Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, and the two pushed the baseless claim that Rich was murdered over his purported links with WikiLeaks. Hannity never found the time to mention that Wheeler, who was his guest on Tuesday, had retracted.

Alex Jones of InfoWars was similarly confident of the merits of Wheeler’s since-recanted account.

Jones, the far-right broadcaster notorious for pushing dozens of bizarre conspiracy theories, initially suggested that Wheeler “got in the laptop” that Rich was using.

Yesterday Jones radio host Doug Hagmann, who also falsely claimed that Wheeler had evidence that Rich was in touch with WikiLeaks.

Jones declared that “we have federal investigators and others saying they’ve seen the emails,” and Hagmann cited Wheeler’s hoax story as proof that Russia never hacked the DNC: “There was no hacking. It was merely a transfer of data from, in my professional opinion from what I’ve seen, the DNC staffer, Seth Rich, he took that information from the DNC and given it, via his connections, his contacts, to [Julian] Assange.”

“The FBI has and the D.C. police have the forensic evidence to tie WikiLeaks to Seth Rich,” Hagmann claimed.

At no point did either Jones or Hagmann mention that Wheeler retracted his remarks, but Hagmann did find the time to hail Wheeler as “a great investigator” and attack Wheeler’s critics as the “enemies of the truth.”

“Rod Wheeler did speak with a federal source who said, ‘I had eyes on the computer, I can verify as a matter of fact that this was connected to WikiLeaks,’” he said.

Actually, Wheeler told Newsweek that he did not speak with the investigator: “In a message to Newsweek on Tuesday, Wheeler said the Fox News report was misleading and that his information was secondhand from that ‘federal investigator.’ ‘I’ve never, ever seen Seth Rich’s computer, nor have I talked with the federal investigator,’ he wrote in a message.”

None of this, it seems, will make it on to InfoWars.

Tags: Alex JonesJay SekulowSean Hannity

==

==

In a Politico article detailing how President-elect Donald Trump’s“horde of enforcers” -- Breitbart.com listed prominently among them -- are scaring Republican lawmakers away from criticizing him, a Breitbart editor said Republicans are right to fear the right-wing website, which was previously run by Trump senior counselor Stephen Bannon. This admission from Breitbart that the outlet plans to support Trump, rather than objectively cover his incoming administration, further demonstrates that the website is not editorially independent enough to warrant permanent Capitol Hill press credentials.

Breitbart applied for permanent Capitol Hill press credentials in November. Media Matters has objected to the request, urging members of the Standing Committee of the Senate Press Gallery in an open letter to reject the request based on Breitbart’s disqualifying inability to demonstrate editorial independence from the Trump team as required by the committee's rules. Breitbart fails this standard in several ways, as several former members of the committee have acknowledged. In a December 21 Politico report headlined “Trump posse browbeats Hill Republicans,” Breitbart further demonstrates why the site must be disqualified from obtaining a permanent press pass by admitting that it will go after Trump’s Republican critics.

From the Politico article (emphasis added):

In early December, Rep. Bill Flores made what seemed like an obvious observation to a roomful of conservatives at a conference in Washington. Some of Donald Trump’s proposals, the Texas Republican cautioned, “are not going to line up very well with our conservative policies," though he quickly added that there was plenty the incoming president and GOP Congress could accomplish together. Little did Flores realize the hell that would soon rain down from Trump's throng of enforcers.

Breitbart seized on Flores' remarks a few days later, calling them proof that House Republicans planned to “isolate and block President Donald Trump’s populist campaign promises.”

[...]

It’s little wonder that Capitol Hill Republicans have papered over their not-insignificant policy differences with Trump, shying away from any statement about the president-elect that might possibly be construed as critical. They’re terrified of arousing the ire of their tempestuous new leader — or being labeled a turncoat by his army of followers.

It's a novel form of party message discipline that stems from Trump but doesn't necessarily require the president-elect to speak or tweet himself. Plenty of others are willing to do it for him. Since the election, numerous congressional Republicans have refused to publicly weigh in on any Trump proposal at odds with Republican orthodoxy, from his border wall to his massive infrastructure package. The most common reason, stated repeatedly but always privately: They're afraid of being attacked by Breitbart or other big-name Trump supporters. "Nobody wants to go first," said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who received nasty phone calls, letters and tweets after he penned an August op-ed in The New York Times, calling on Trump to release his tax returns. "People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks."

An editor at Breitbart, formerly run by senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon, said that fear is well-founded.

“If any politician in either party veers from what the voters clearly voted for in a landslide election … we stand at the ready to call them out on it and hold them accountable,” the person said.

as rentatoms give cover to attack BO, willey war on women to ~ trump sexual assault

==

Right-wing media have bolstered Donald Trump’s campaign strategy of falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton has targeted women who have accused her husband, former President Bill Clinton, of sexual misconduct, in order to distract from numerous reports that Trump sexually assaulted several women. Multiple independent fact-checkers and media organizations have debunked the claims as unsubstantiated, calling them an “exaggeration too far.”

Trump Lies That Clinton Intimidated Her Husband’s Accusers To Distract From Reports Of Trump Sexual Assault

Bloomberg: Trump Is “Doubling Down On The Strategy” To Attack Hillary Clinton As “An Enabler Of Sexual Violence” To “Distract Attention Away From The 2005 Access HollywoodTape.” Bloomberg’s Joshua Green reported that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his campaign are planning on “doubling down on the strategy” of attacking Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as “an enabler of sexual violence.” The emphasis on this strategy, which he noted was was "spearheaded by campaign CEO Stephen Bannon," comes amid Trump’s sliding poll numbers and numerous reports that he sexually assaulted several women. According to Green, the Trump campaign is attempting to “distract attention away from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape” in which Trump bragged about sexual assault by falsely claiming that Clinton intimidated women who accused her husband of sexual misconduct. From the October 12 article:

Donald Trump believes his ploy at the Oct. 9 presidential debate to invite three women who claim they were assaulted by former President Bill Clinton—Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Paula Jones—has left Hillary Clinton “shaken” and helped unify Republican voters behind his embattled campaign.

So he’s doubling down on the strategy, which his advisers believe will make his opponent toxic and depress turnout among a key demographic group—young women—Clinton is counting on to win. A senior Trump adviser says the campaign will soon bring forward new accusers: “Women are coming to us who have been groped or sexually abused by Bill Clinton.”

[...]

The plan to intensify the focus on the Clintons and sexual violence is being spearheaded by campaign CEO Stephen Bannon, Bossie, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, multiple campaign officials confirm.

The purpose of Trump’s sudden, intense focus on sexual abuse is twofold: First, to distract attention away from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape recently obtained by the Washington Post that shows Trump making appallingly lewd remarks about women. Second is to depress enthusiasm for Clinton among a key voter bloc in her quest for the White House: millennial women.

Bannon has long believed that young, socially liberal voters unfamiliar with the Clinton scandals of the ’90s will become disillusioned if they learn more about them. ”There’s a whole generation of people who love the news but were 7 or 8 years old when this happened and have no earthly idea about the Clinton sex stuff,” Bannon told Bloomberg Businessweek last year. Bloomberg, [10/12/16]

Right-Wing Media Echoed Trump’s Claim That Hillary Clinton “Attacked The Women Whom Her Husband Attacked”

Fox’s Sean Hannity: Hillary Clinton Attacked Bill Clinton’s Accusers. Fox host Sean Hannity accused “Hillary Clinton and her husband” of “public[ly] shaming” the women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault. From the October 11 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Look, nobody is going to defend what Donald Trump said. They shouldn't, but here's the thing. Last night we watched the debate, and those moderators needle and repeatedly pressed Donald Trump over his words from over a decade ago, while completely ignoring the actions of Hillary Clinton and her husband against women that accused the president, the former president, of rape, sexual harassment, and public shaming.

Now, here's the difference in all of this. Trump said offensive things and he apologized, said he was sorry and embarrassed, while the Clintons actually did them and never apologized. Now, Hillary Clinton conveniently pretended she was outraged over Donald Trump's comments, but what about the scores of extramarital affairs that Bill Clinton had before and during his time in the White House? And, of course, the lies both Hillary and Bill told about those affairs? Now, if Clinton, Hillary, is so disgusted by Trump's words, then why doesn't she feel the same way by her husband allegedly exposing himself to Paula Jones? In other words, he allegedly took his pants down. Was Hillary also outraged that her family had to pay $850,000 to settle that case with Paula Jones while Clinton supporters, remember? They were calling her a piece of trailer trash, drag a dollar through a trailer park, and, by the way, engaged in blaming the victims. Remember that?

Now, was Hillary offended when a woman by the name of Juanita Broaddrick accused her husband of actual rape? Now, did Hillary ever investigate those allegations? Did she believe that Ms. Broaddrick had a right to be believed or heard, as she now claims all victims of sexual assault have a right to?

And then what aboutKathleen Willey? Now, she claimed in the Oval Office, Bill Clinton groped, grabbed, fondled, and kissed her, all against her will. So, why did Hillary Clinton call Monica Lewinsky a, quote, "narcissistic loony toon," and ignore the lewd acts that Bill committed with Ms. Lewinsky in the White House? Fox News, *Hannity*, [10/11/16]

==

2 wk devolve insantiy

Hannity Spent Final Two Weeks Of 2016 Campaign Pushing Conspiracy Theories And Smears

Hannity Invited Discredited Tabloid Editor Jeff Rovin On His Prime-Time Show To Claim He Worked As Bill And Hillary Clinton’s “Fixer.” Following a National Enquirerstory that claimed science fiction writer and former editor of the Weekly World News tabloid Jeff Rovin was Bill and Hillary Clinton’s “fixer,” Hannity invited Rovin on his prime-time Fox News show to repeat his false claim. Rovin’s work in science-fiction include multiple books he co-wrote with the novelist Tom Clancy as well as writing novels based off the characters created by Clancy. According to a 2007 Kansas City Star article, Rovin also worked as an editor for the now-defunct supermarket tabloid the Weekly World News:{ which published stories they claimed “revealed Hillary Clinton's affair with a spindly space alien named P'lod.” :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:*Media Matters*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:[10/24/16:{]}:

Hannity Offered To Pay For A Charter Plane To Take Obama To Kenya. On his radio show, Hannity “offer[ed]” to “charter a plane” for President Obama and his family to “go to Kenya,” but added, “I have one stipulation, you can't come back.” Hannity later explained away his comment following heavy criticism claiming it was simply “an experiment about our corrupt media.” *Media Matters*, :{[10/25/16}:; Media Matters, 10/26/16]

Hannity Lashed Out At “Idiot” Evan McMullin For “Killing Trump Out In Utah.” Hannity complained about the “never Trumper jerks out there” who refuse to support Trump, and independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, asking, “Who's this idiot that's running third party that's killing Trump out in Utah?” From the October 26 edition of Premiere Radio Networks’ The Sean Hannity Show:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): In 13 freaking days -- oh, we got to tell the story, you're right. In 13 days, we're either going to make a decision to keep screwing the country up, or we're going to make a decision to try and fix it. That's what's at stake here.

[...]

All this garbage from you never Trumper jerks out there. I've had it. By the way, that's more unfinished business. November 9th, I have a lot to say about all of you. The CNN poll showed, what? If Trump got all these idiots, the ones that think they're freaking geniuses, or the most principled people on the face of the earth. You know, the purists, that if they would be voting for Trump -- granted, I'll admit he's not freaking perfect.

[...]

I have had it. 13 freaking days. Wake up. This can be won. But it's very, very hard. And I'm telling all of you who is important here. And basically every red state's important. If you think, "well, my state doesn't matter, it's Texas," no, you better vote. "My state's Georgia," well we've seen polls that are close in Georgia. "My state's Utah." Who's this idiot that's running third party that's killing Trump out in Utah. Who put him up? What was it? The Bush people? The Romney people? Seriously? Really? You're going to elect Hillary because we lose Utah? What a disaster that would be for the country. Premiere Radio Networks, *The Sean Hannity Show*, [10/26/16]

Hannity “Embraced A Piece Of Fake News About President Obama Deleting Endorsements Of Hillary Clinton From His Twitter Account.”:{ Hannity promoted “a piece of fake news about President Obama deleting endorsements of Hillary Clinton from his Twitter account,” and “used the made-up news to claim that President Obama's legacy might be "jail." Hannity later apologized for advancing this false news story, tweeting “correction. Live on radio I read a gateway pundit report that @MichelleObmaa had deleted mentions of HRC. And a listener said BHO and …” “Elizabeth Warren did same. Fact is they didn’t. I humbly apologize. Live radio.” :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:*Media Matters*:{, :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}:[11/1/16:{; Premiere Radio Networks, }:The Sean Hannity Show:{, }:11/2/16:{]}:

Hannity Promoted A Story That Claims Hillary Clinton And Her Campaign Staff “Are Satanists Who Participate In Witchcraft.” According to The Daily Beast, on November 4, “Sean Hannity tweeted a story from his own website, along with its headline: "LEAKED EMAIL appears to link Clinton Campaign Chairman to bizarre occult ritual." The article noted that “The conspiracy theory hinges on a WikiLeaks email hacked and stolen from Podesta’s account, in which his brother, high-powered lobbyist Tony Podesta, asks if he was free to attend a ‘spirit cooking dinner.’” From the November 4 article:

With four days left until the election, some of Donald Trump’s most trusted news sources spent the day flooding Twitter with a theory that a WikiLeaks email proves Hillary Clinton and her campaign are Satanists who participate in witchcraft.

The Drudge Report, the right’s internet firehose, featured as its lead story a headline suggesting that Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta had been involved with occult activities linked to Satanism, complete with a photo of Hillary Clinton raging, arms outstretched, to the skies. Fox News's Sean Hannity tweeted a story from his own website, along with its headline: "LEAKED EMAIL appears to link Clinton Campaign Chairman to bizarre occult ritual"

[...]

The conspiracy theory hinges on a WikiLeaks email hacked and stolen from Podesta’s account, in which his brother, high-powered lobbyist Tony Podesta, asks if he was free to attend a “spirit cooking dinner” hosted by performance artist Marina Abramović.

“I am so looking forward to the Spirit Cooking dinner at my place. Do you think you will be able to let me know if your brother is joining? All my love, Marina,” writes the artist, in June 2015. Tony forwards the email to his brother to ask—the entirety of the evidence to suggest that the Clinton campaign’s senior operative is involved with the occult. The Daily Beast, [11/4/16]

trump cites in cruz dad jfk assassination

==

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/25/sean-hannity-gives-platform-to-man-who-claims-hillary-is-evil-bisexual-secret-sex-freak.html

no links

Sean Hannity Gives Platform to Man Who Claims Hillary Is ‘Evil,’ Bisexual ‘Secret Sex Freak’

Before interviewing Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway on Monday night, the Fox News personality had an ‘EXCLUSIVE’ interview with Jeff Rovin, a man with a shocking ‘secret.’

ASAWIN SUEBSAENG

BETSY WOODRUFF

10.24.16 10:00 PM ET

On Monday night, unpaid Donald Trump adviser and current Fox News host Sean Hannity broadcasted his “EXCLUSIVE” interview with Jeff Rovin, novelist and self-identified “fixer” for Hillary and Bill Clinton. Rovin first told his story to supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer last week, opening up about his alleged past as a Clinton ally who would help the powerful couple manipulate the press and (also!) set up secret, extramarital sexual liaisons.

Hannity emphasized that Fox News could not “independently verify” Rovin’s story. He also noted that the Clinton presidential campaign—“shockingly”—did not respond to his team’s multiple requests seeking comment.

“I was fixing [for the Clintons], I really don’t like that term, but there it is,” Rovin told Hannity. “I was fixing something for an actor who was in their inner circle.”

Hannity proceeded to gently and credulously ask Rovin about his explosive claims about working to kill negative Clinton stories in the press, and about the Clintons’ “open marriage” and how he’d “help them hide their scandals.”

Rovin, who said he wanted to appear on Hannity’s program to offer a “less hyperbolic” version of the Enquirer cover story, was awfully cagey for someone who was outing himself as a notorious Clinton “fixer.” He did assert that it was an “open secret” among his fellow Clintonite cohorts that Hillary Clinton had a romantic relationship with Vince Foster,the former White House aide who committed suicide and has since become a fascination of Clinton conspiracy theorists. Rovin said he’d been at the Clinton White House “twice.” He discussed how “the world is upside down [and] we have to set it right, again.”

He apparently identifies as a libertarian, who is ABSOLUTELY NOT doing this to help the Trump campaign. When pressed by Hannity on who he’d be voting for in November, Rovin demurred but conceded, “I like Trump, sure.”

…OK, there’s a lot to unpack here.

First, the Enquirer “bombshell,” of which Rovin was the star subject, is a “WORLD EXCLUSIVE 9-PAGE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION.” The story breathlessly details how the former secretary of State and first lady is a sex-crazed, “evil,” “polyamorous,” bisexual (or at least bi-curious), and “ruthless power-hungry” supervillain, one prolific in the dark arts of criminal conspiracy and character assassination aimed at Bill’s “bimbos.”

The Enquirer article is jam-packed with clandestine sex romps, mysterious death, prostitutes, “LIES AND SPIES,” and a woman (now the Democratic presidential nominee!) hell-bent on manipulating her sex-crazed self all the way to becoming leader of the free world.

Rovin—who was interviewed anonymously by the Enquirer and labeled Hillary’s “BAGMAN”—spilled his guts to the tabloid about the Clintons’ alleged sex-hypocrisy, detailing an “endless string of sexual stories arising from what effectively was the Clintons’ open, polyamorous marriage.”

“[Her fixer] arranged a lesbian romp for bisexual Hillary with a prominent Hollywood identity!” the Enquirer reported. “[He] squealed about a lusty rendezvous he arranged for Hillary that FINALLY proves the lesbian rumors that have dogged her for decades!”

“I arranged a meeting for Hillary and a woman in an exclusive Beverly Hills hotel,” he told the publication. “From the moment the Clintons found their feet in Los Angeles and began to meet the stars, they became addicted to power… It’s ironic their own scandalous truths are worthy of a movie script!”

Compelling stuff.

Rumors that Hillary is a lesbian murderer—or that Bill is a cocaine-addled deviant—have proliferated in fringe corners of the internet and right-wing circles for ages. Authors Robert Morrow, Edward Klein, and Trump’s longtime adviser and political ally Roger Stone have written books making outlandish claims about supposed Clinton drug habits, sexual preferences, and bloody, bloody history. (Trump himself suggested this month that Hillary was screwing around on former president Bill.)

Rovin has had a decently impressive career as a fiction writer. He has co-authored sci-fi novels with William Shatner and X-Files star Gillian Anderson. He took over Tom Clancy’s Op-Center novel series after the author died in 2013.And his Penguin Random House author page notes he is “a student of the martial arts”—much like Hannity himself.

...

Rovin also edited theWeekly World Newstabloid for a time. As The Atlantic has noted, the publication “highlighted tabloid journalism’s thin line between fiction and nonfiction,” until its print edition folded in 2007. The tabloid pushed self-consciously outlandish stories, like the classic “BAT CHILD ESCAPES!” It also had its fair share of Hillary Clinton-related tall tales.

“BILL CATCHES HILLARY WITH SPACE ALIEN!” blared one headline.

“HILLARY ADOPTS ALIEN BABY,” read a 1993 cover.

When Rovin started editing the publication, he stressed the importance of its coverage of space aliens.

“National, international, and even interplanetary events are being suppressed,” he wrote in an editor’s note on May 2, 2005. “Newspapers, television, and the internet are feeding us what dolphins call ‘meep… meepahh… marp’—Literally, lies as deep as the ocean.”

“When the government tries to cover up visits from space aliens and time travelers, we’ll be there,” Rovin continued.“(Weekly World News will even tell you what investments, if any, people from the future are making in the stock market. You won’t find that in Forbes!)”

The Trump campaign did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment on whether Republican nominee sees any merit in this Enquirerstory on his Democratic rival. However, the *Enquirer* (a Trump-endorsingtabloid long famous for printing unsubstantiated gossip and stories about space aliens and the Illuminati) and Hannity have become two of Trump’s most reliable allies in the media during this election—and sometimes in concert.

Hannity, for his part, has gone full-on conspiracy theorist during this presidential election, during which he has been doing everything in his power—including starring in an official Trump campaign ad—to get Trump elected president.

Earlier this year, when the Enquirer ran a baseless story suggesting that Ted Cruz’s dad, Rafael, was in New Orleans passing out pro-Castro pamphlets with Lee Harvey Oswald,President John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Trump widely promoted the “news,” and got his allies in the mainstream media, including Hannity, to help him in the effort.

When Trump went on Hannity’s radio show in May, the host allowed Trump to give more oxygen to the Enquirer’s supposed JFK-Cruz scoop.

At the time, when asked by The Daily Beast if Hannity would comment further—and if he felt not pushing back bolstered criticism that he is too deferential to the GOP nominee—the host emailed back: “I was saying that photo was not verified.”

Asked if he believed the Enquirer is a reliable source, Hannity said, “If [you] want to interview me, contact Fox PR.” Hannity later emailed The Daily Beast, “So is the picture authentic or not? You don’t have a clue either. Lol.”

(Well, we do have a clue: Rafael Cruz did not play a role in JFK’s death, but Hannity and the Enquirerdid their thing, regardless.)

And now Hannity is back at it again, elevating National Enquirercontent, all in the service of targeting the Clintons and talking up Trump on national TV.

Hannity would not comment on the record for this story. Fox News public relations did not respond to emails seeking comment. The Clinton campaign similarly did not respond to The Daily Beast’s requests for comment, so WHAT ARE THEY HIDING???

Following the Rovin interview on Monday’s episode of Hannity, the Fox News personality interviewed Trump running mate Mike Pence and Team Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, two highly respected figures within the Republican Party who spent their Monday-night airtime talking about how great Trump is. Neither uttered one word about Rovin, the Enquirer’s story, or Hillary Clinton’s alleged past as a villainous sex freak.

Why would they, when they have a supermarket tabloid and Fox News to do their work for them?

==

mma srch /tag 11/16

http://mediamatters.org/search/index?qstring=hannity

• # Sean Hannity: Why Should Mainstream Journalists "Have A Seat In The White House Press Room"

Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - 16:37

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity Urges Potential Trump Press Secretary Not To Speak With The Press Every Day

Monday, November 21, 2016 - 22:49

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # It’s Time For MSNBC To Address Reports That Joe Scarborough Is Advising Donald Trump

Monday, November 21, 2016 - 12:13

Blog ››› Jared Holt

• # A $25 Million Settlement Just Tanked Right-Wing Media’s Fraudulent Defense Of Trump University

Friday, November 18, 2016 - 18:41

Research ››› Jared Holt

• # Trump Receives Celebrity Treatment In Fox News' "OBJECTified" Special With TMZ's Harvey Levin

Friday, November 18, 2016 - 15:31

Blog ››› Thomas Bishop

• # Trump's Anti-Muslim National Security Adviser Michael Flynn-- A Fox Favorite-- Is Rife With Conflicts Of Interest

Friday, November 18, 2016 - 15:23

Research ››› Cydney Hargis

• # Sean Hannity: Mitt Romney "Should Not Be Under Consideration" For Secretary Of State

Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 22:58

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity Encourages Trump To Continue His Media Blackout As Fox Announces Trump Protest

Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 18:34

Blog ››› Bobby Lewis

• # Report: Fake News Outperformed Real News On Facebook During Home Stretch Of 2016 Campaign

Thursday, November 17, 2016 - 11:22

Blog ››› Thomas Bishop

• # What To Know About Fox Contributor And Possible Trump Secretary Of State John Bolton

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 17:11

Research ››› Craig Harrington & Cat Duffy

• # Here Come The Anti-Muslim Attacks On Keith Ellison

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 14:09

Blog ››› Matt Gertz

• # Right-Wing Radio Host And Frequent Fox Guest With A History Of Inflammatory Rhetoric Being Considered For DHS Head

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 10:41

Research ››› Brennan Suen & Cydney Hargis

• # Sean Hannity Promotes Laura Ingraham For Press Secretary

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - 22:54

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Ann Coulter: Trump Should Address "The Black Youth Unemployment Rate, How About We Get Them To Work Building A Wall?"

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - 16:54

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Conservative Media Attempt To Sanitize Stephen Bannon’s Ties To White Nationalism And Anti-Semitism

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - 13:29

Research ››› Julie Alderman

• # Fox's Geraldo Rivera: "I Thought Hannity Was Crazy, He Was So Obsessed" With Getting Trump Elected

Monday, November 14, 2016 - 18:08

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity: There Is An "Outright False, Lying Narrative" That Steve Bannon Is A White Supremacist

Monday, November 14, 2016 - 16:11

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Fox’s Pete Hegseth Calls Muslim Congressman And Potential DNC Chair Keith Ellison "Radical"

Monday, November 14, 2016 - 13:48

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Potential Press Secretary Laura Ingraham Is Disgusted By Press Who Report Anything She Deems Negative About Trump

Sunday, November 13, 2016 - 17:56

Research ››› Zachary Pleat

• # CNN's Brian Stelter Implores Reporters To Value Truth And Facts, Unlike "Anti-Media" Outlets Breitbart And Fox News

Sunday, November 13, 2016 - 12:36

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

--

• # There Is No Trump Mandate

Thursday, November 10, 2016 - 16:17

Research ››› Oliver Willis

• # Sean Hannity's Final Plea: Vote Trump Because Hillary Clinton May Be Impeached

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 22:31

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Ann Coulter: Hillary's Presidency And Immigration Policy Would Mark "The End Of America As We Conceive Of It"

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 18:43

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity "Declares War" On "Every Corrupt Media Figure In Bed With Hillary"

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 18:04

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Trump’s Tax Returns Eclipse Coverage Of The Economy

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 17:02

Blog ››› Alex Morash

• # Sean Hannity: FBI Director James Comey Is Lying About Hillary Clinton's Emails

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 16:44

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Rush Limbaugh: “There Is A Civil War Coming On The Republican Side Of The Aisle, And It's Going To Be Big"

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 16:07

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity: "There's A Day Of Reckoning With The Republican Party After This Election"

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 15:47

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Echoing Trump, Fox Casts Doubt On FBI's Probe Into Clinton's Emails

Monday, November 7, 2016 - 11:18

Research ››› Julie Alderman

• # VIDEO: Fox Freaks Out Over Clinton Appearing With Beyoncé And Jay Z

Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 17:30

Blog ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Fox Regular David Clarke: Trump Will Be "The Best Thing That's Happened To The Black Community Since Dr. Martin Luther King"

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 22:49

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Sean Hannity’s Final Two Weeks Of 2016 Campaign Coverage Has Devolved Into Insanity

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 18:28

Research ››› Nick Fernandez

• # STUDY: Fox News Devotes At Least A Sixth Of Its Live Airtime To Bret Baier’s Speculative FBI Report

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 11:52

Research ››› Jared Holt

• # Stop Calling Bret Baier A “Real Journalist”

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 11:23

Blog ››› Tyler Cherry

• # White Racist Kills Two Cops In Iowa Ambush And Fox News Goes Quiet

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 09:57

Blog ››› Eric Boehlert

• # CNN's Stelter: Bret Baier Peddling "Indictment" Nonsense Was "More Than Just Inartful Language," It "Was Wrong"

Friday, November 4, 2016 - 07:37

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # Right-Wing Media Revive Discriminatory Effort To Discourage Early Voting

Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 17:16

Research ››› Dina Radtke

• # Hannity Issues Correction For Spreading False Gateway Pundit Story That Obama Rescinded His Clinton Endorsement

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - 16:06

Video ››› Media Matters Staff

• # 370 Economists Debunk Trump's Right-Wing Media Myths On The Economy

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - 15:37

Blog ››› Alex Morash

• # STUDY: Cable And Broadcast Coverage Of The Economy Stumbles In Election Season

Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - 12:20

Research ››› Craig Harrington & Alex Morash

punked

1. Even Sean Hannity makes mistakes: The radio host got caught with his proverbial pants down when he found, swallowed and ingested a large chunk of fresh fake news about President Obama supposedly erasing endorsements of Hillary from his Twitter account. That “news” prompted Hannity to suggest that Obama’s legacy might be “jail.” Trouble was, the claim could have been easily disproven with a quick search of Twitter. Hannity soon tweeted a very real correction and a supposedly sincere apology.

==

During major inflection points in Donald J. Trump’s campaign, the advisers, family members and friends who make up his kitchen cabinet burn up their email accounts and phone lines gaming out how to get his candidacy on track (and what counsel he might go along with).

But one person in the mix brings more than just his political advice. He also happens to control an hour of prime time on the Fox News Channel.

That person is Sean Hannity.

Mr. Hannity uses his show on the nation’s most-watched cable news network to blare Mr. Trump’s message relentlessly — giving Mr. Trump the kind of promotional television exposure even a billionaire can’t afford for long.

But Mr. Hannity is not only Mr. Trump’s biggest media booster; he also veers into the role of adviser. Several people I’ve spoken with over the last couple of weeks said Mr. Hannity had for months peppered Mr. Trump, his family members and advisers with suggestions on strategy and messaging.

So involved is Mr. Hannity that three separate denizens of the hall of mirrors that is Trump World told me they believed Mr. Hannity was behaving as if he wanted a role in a possible Trump administration — something he denied to me as laughable and contractually prohibitive in an interview on Friday.

But he did not dispute that he lends his thoughts to Mr. Trump and others in his close orbit whom Mr. Hannity has known for years.

“Do I talk to my friend who I’ve known for years and speak my mind? I can’t not speak my mind,’’ he said.

Continue reading the main story

-

But, Mr. Hannity said, “I don’t say anything privately that I don’t say publicly.’’ And, he acknowledged, it’s unclear how far his advice goes with Mr. Trump, given that “nobody controls him.”

Mr. Hannity is unapologetic about his aim. “I’m not hiding the fact that I want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States.” After all, he says, “I never claimed to be a journalist.”

That makes Mr. Hannity the ultimate product of the Fox News Channel that Roger Ailes envisioned when he founded it with Rupert Murdoch 20 years ago, as a defiant answer to what they described as an overwhelmingly liberal mainstream news media that was biased against Republicans. Mr. Hannity was there from the beginning with Mr. Ailes, who was forced out over sexual harassment allegations last month.

Mr. Hannity’s show has all the trappings of traditional television news — the anchor desk, the graphics and the patina of authority that comes with being part of a news organization that also employs serious-minded journalists like Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly.

But because Mr. Hannity is “not a journalist,” he apparently feels free to work in the full service of his candidate without having to abide by journalism’s general requirements for substantiation and prohibitions against, say, regularly sharing advice with political campaigns.

So there was Mr. Hannity last week, devoting one of his shows to atown hall-style meeting with Mr. Trump at which his (leading) questions often contained extensive Trumpian talking points — including the debunked claim that Mr. Trump opposed the Iraq invasion.(As BuzzFeed News first reported, Mr. Trump voiced support for the campaign in a 2002 discussion with the radio host Howard Stern.)

On other days, he has lent his prime-time platform to wild, unsubstantiated accusations that Hillary Clinton is hiding severe health problems. He showed a video of a supposed possible seizure that was in fact a comical gesture Mrs. Clinton was making to reporters, as one of them, The Associated Press’s Lisa Lerer, reported. He also shared a report from the conservative site The Gateway Pundit that a member of Mrs. Clinton’s security detail appeared to be carrying a diazepam syringe, “for patients who experience recurrent seizures.”

A simple call to the Secret Service spokeswoman Nicole Mainor, as I made on Friday, would have resulted in the answer that the “syringe” was actually a small flashlight.

People in Mr. Hannity’s audience of 2.5 million who are inclined to believe the health allegations, and who believe the mainstream media are covering for Mrs. Clinton, are unlikely to be impressed by the Secret Service’s explanation.

That’s the ultimate result of the hyperpoliticized approach Mr. Hannity and so many others use in today’s more stridently ideological media: A fact is dismissed as false when it doesn’t fit the preferred political narrative.

But while this informational nihilism appears to have hit a new high, the last two weeks have signaled the start of a possible reckoning within the conservative media.

First there was The Wall Street Journal’s deputy editorial page editor Bret Stephens, who, after trading insults with Mr. Hannity over Mr. Trump, said on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe” that “too much of the Republican Party became an echo chamber of itself.”

Those who spend an inordinate amount of time “listening to certain cable shows” and inhaling the conspiracy theories promoted on “certain fringes of the internet,’’ he said, wind up in a debate that’s “divorced from reality.”

Then there was the conservative radio host Charlie Sykes, who lamented in an interview with the Business Insider politics editor Oliver Darcy, “We have spent 20 years demonizing the liberal mainstream media.”

That criticism was often warranted, Mr. Sykes said. (Just take a look at the decision by the former Clinton White House aide and current ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos to give some $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, for which he apologized last year.) But, as Mr. Sykes said, “At a certain point, you wake up and you realize you have destroyed the credibility of any credible outlet out there.” Therefore any attempt to debunk a falsehood by Mr. Trump, he said, becomes hopeless.

What really caught my eye, though, was the moment on Fox News on Wednesday when Dana Perino, a host of “The Five,” refused to go along with a colleague’s attempt to dispute the many polls showing Mrs. Clinton leading Mr. Trump. “That’s a real disservice to his supporters, to lie to them that those polls don’t matter,” said Ms. Perino, a White House press secretary for George W. Bush.

She went on to express regret for joining with otherFox News hosts who doubted the polls showing President Obama leading Mitt Romney in 2012.

You can’t help but see it as a sure sign that Mr. Ailes, who presided over all of that polling doubt four years ago, had left the building. Still, even Mr. Ailes occasionally reined in his more opinionated hosts when he worried they would tarnish the credibility of his news reporters.

It’s why, for instance, he abruptly canceled Mr. Hannity’s plans to attend a major Tea Party rally in Ohio in 2010 after it came to light that the organizers were using his appearance to raise money.

Mr. Ailes faced another Hannity-related issue shortly before his ouster, when CNN reported that the host had provided Newt Gingrich with private jet travel to Indiana, for a possible vice-presidential interview with Mr. Trump. (Mr. Hannity had been lobbying Mr. Trump to choose Mr. Gingrich.)

Mr. Ailes opted against forcing Mr. Hannity to collect the fare from Mr. Gingrich. He had a possible reason: Mr. Hannity was among those supporting Mr. Ailes amid the sexual harassment scandal, eventually even discussing a walkout in the event of Mr. Ailes’s ouster, as Breitbart reporteda few days later. (After Fox News executives shared with Mr. Hannity and others the full details of the allegations, which Mr. Ailes denies, the talk of a walkout ended.)

Mr. Hannity says Mr. Gingrich is a very close friend and it’s his business what favors he does for him, though he left open the possibility that Mr. Gingrich might cut a check for the plane trip just the same. Since Mr. Ailes’s departure, Fox executives have not pushed the issue. Nor, apparently, have they warned Mr. Hannity away from giving advice to Mr. Trump and his campaign — at least not so far during a turbulent time at the network.

Then again, at this point there are questions about how much advice Mr. Ailes himself was lending to Mr. Trump when he was running the place, given that, as The Times reported on Saturday, he has already emerged as an influential Trump adviser.

Mr. Hannity told me his support for Mr. Trump makes him “more honest” than mainstream reporters who hide their biases. It turns out even “honesty” is a relative concept these days. For some people more than others.

nyt

==

oct 2008 mma

Sean Hannity defended the presence of Andy Martin on the October 5 edition of Hannity's Americaby saying,"I'm a journalist who interviews people who I disagree with all the time, that give their opinion. Fox has all points of view." But Hannity told the New York Daily News that he "doesn't call himself a journalist, but rather a talk show host." And in 2004, Hannity said: "I'm not a journalist. I am an outspoken, compassionate, thoughtful, independent-thinking conservative. ... Unlike these other guys that claim to be fair."

Within a matter of days, Fox News host and syndicated radio host Sean Hannity identified his professional position in contradictory ways.As Media Matters for America documented, on the October 7 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Hannity defended the presence of Andy Martin -- who has called a judge a "crooked, slimy Jew" and accused African-American public officials of corruption -- on the October 5 edition of Hannity's America by saying: "I'm a journalist who interviews people who I disagree with all the time, that give their opinion. Fox has all points of view." By contrast, in an October 8 New York Daily News article highlighting Hannity's "new multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract" with Fox News, Hannity reportedly said the opposite about his position:

Hannity doesn't call himself a journalist, but rather a talk show host, which is significant because it frees him to offer opinions when he wants.

"Somedays, I'll do a fair and objective, balanced interview; somedays, I'll be arguing with somebody, and somedays, I'll have an investigative report," he said. "I have an opinion. Everybody knows it. Everybody who sees me, watches me, knows I'm a conservative."

Hannity made a similar claim four years earlier, when he said on the July 7, 2004, edition of Hannity & Colmes:"I'm not a journalist. I am an outspoken, compassionate, thoughtful, independent-thinking conservative -- a Reagan conservative, in my view. Unlike these other guys that claim to be fair."

From the July 7, 2004, edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes (transcript retrieved from the Nexis news database):

HANNITY: Here is -- one of the things that I find interesting, too, I am not -- and you lay this out. You even mention my name. Thank you very much. Thanks for the plug.

BRENT BOZELL (president, Media Research Center): Yes. You needed it. Your career needed a boost from me.

HANNITY: It does, it does. But they say Sean Hannity --I'm not a journalist. I am an outspoken, compassionate, thoughtful, independent-thinking conservative -- a Reagan conservative, in my view.Unlike these other guys that claim to be fair. They have the agenda.For whatever reason, there is a really antipathy, animosity, outright hatred and hostility to the success of conservative media, talk radio, the Internet.

They can't stand that the voices -- all sides are heard on FOX.

BOZELL: No. They can't stand you folks at FOX.

HANNITY: They hate me.

BOZELL: They really do. And frankly, look what's happening. The more they attack FOX, the better FOX is doing in the ratings. Because people take look at FOX and like it.

==

clusters:

NRA Tea Party  Wise use Militia Bundy Neo-Nazi

Renta-Toms: ~EJ (and BO?)

Bossie CU MPI Mercer Trump Conway Breitbart Islamophobe Thor H Thiel

==

http://www.hannity.com/articles/economy-487306/obamas-war-on-coal-12667201/

aug 2014

...A dozen states have now filed a lawsuit against the EPA.

Fulfilling his pre-presidency promise to bankrupt the coal industry, Obama's new Clean Power Plan will achieve just that.

The new regulations could cause American electric bills to rise annually by more than 10%.

It will also cost precious American jobs.  According to the Heritage Foundation, “The EPA's anti-coal crusade could terminate 600,000 American jobs by 2023 while dampening economic growth by more than $2 trillion.”...

==

beck ~ re trump; likes Putin?

==

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/08/24/hope-and-the-change-hannity/

...Fox News’ “Hannity,” Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon,director of “The Hope & the Change,” David Bossie of Citizens United, producers of the film, and adviserPat Caddell appeared to discuss the massive disillusionment of Democrats and independents with President Barack Obama – and their film, which details that disillusionment in devastating detail...

==

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/content/david-bossie pix?

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/02/23/hannity-features-documentary-blaming-lack-of-co/160821

Hannity features documentary blaming lack of corporate responsibility on the hippies

Blog ››› February 23, 2010 10:10 PM EST ››› OLIVER WILLIS

On his February 23 show, Sean Hannity devoted the entire hour of his show to airing and discussing Generation Zero, a film produced by conservative activists about the financial crisis. In the segment below Hannity and the filmmakers lay blame for the crisis on baby boomers (or "'60's hippies," in the words of producer David Bossie) moving away from conservative ideas by taking advantage of corporate personhood in order to avoid personal responsibility for the risks they took with the funds their banks controlled:

This denies reality. It is in fact the conservative movement that has regularly supported the power of personhood for corporations, and the resulting dissolution of personal responsibility for corporate decisions. In fact, one of the producers of this very film is David Bossie. Bossie is behind Citizens United, the conservative activist group who recently won a Supreme Court case that affirmed the power of political speech for coporations like Citizens United (the case was decided 5-4 with the justices regularly categorized as conservative voting in the affirmative).

==

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/qdumax/the-colbert-report-tip-wag---james-o-keefe---sean-hannity

maklin, ingram MARCH 4, 2010 - BARRY SCHWARTZ 03/04/2010

doocy says wore pimp clothes; colb says hannity not mentioned o'k since outed

---

:{

}:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/924266285001/hannity-exclusive-with-james-okeefe/#sp=show-clips

==

'Hannity' Exclusive With James O'Keefe

Apr. 29, 2011 - 7:40 - 'ACORN pimp' gives first interview since arrest at Sen. Landrieu's Louisiana office

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SmeZjF4bis

Uploaded on Feb 25, 2010

Rightwing activist Andrew Breitbart speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 2010 about the controversy surrounding the doctoring of the ACORN "pimp" videos that James O'Keefe produced and Breitbart published.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIX0POQQOW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SmeZjF4bis

JOGGED INTO WRONG PART OF TOWN, HOMELESS,

Uploaded on Sep 12, 2009

James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, the people behind the infamous undercover video in which they played pimp and prostitute, that brought down two ACORN officials in Baltimore, appear on "Hannity" to recall how they put their plan together.

Giles said she got the idea while jogging, then messaged O'Keefe on Facebook with the idea. O'Keefe recounted being "more and more ridiculous" with requests for the ACORN agents in the video. "We pushed, and we pushed, and we got everything that we asked for as a fake pimp and prostitute," Giles said. "This is who these people are," O'Keefe added. "They're soulless people."

Hannity also replayed for them the part where the lady from ACORN told the phony prostitute that she could "write pff certain clothing" as well as condoms, since they would be part of her business. "They're so kind," Giles joked.

==

Sean Patrick Hannity^[1] (born December 30, 1961) is an American radio and television host, author, and conservativepolitical commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity, on Fox News Channel.

Hannity has written three *New York Times* – bestselling books:^[5][6] Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, and Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda.

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Early life

Sean Patrick Hannity was born in New York City, New York, the son of Lillian Flynn and Hugh Hannity.^[7] All of his grandparents immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He has two sisters. He grew up in Franklin Square, New York,^[8] and attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Hempstead, New York, during his middle school years and St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school in Uniondale, New York.^[9] Hannity dropped out of New York University and Adelphi University.^[10][11]

Career

Hannity in a radio and television interview withVice President Dick Cheney

Hannity hosted his first talk radio show in 1989 at the volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara, KCSB-FM, while working as a general contractor. The show aired for 40 hours of air time;^[12] Regarding his first show, he said, "I wasn't good at it. I was terrible."^[13] Hannity's weekly show on KCSB was canceled after less than a year. This was after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio; among other remarks made during the broadcast, Hannity told a lesbian caller, "I feel sorry for your child."^[14] The station later reversed its decision to dismiss Hannity due in part to a campaign conducted by the Santa Barbara chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Hannity decided against returning to KCSB.^[15]

After leaving KCSB, Hannity placed an ad in radio publications presenting himself as "the most talked about college radio host in America." Radio station WVNN in Athens, Alabama (part of the Huntsville market), then hired him to be the afternoon talk show host.^[12] From Huntsville, he moved to WGST in Atlanta in 1992, filling the slot vacated by Neal Boortz, who had moved to competing station WSB. In September 1996, Fox News co-founder Roger Ailes hired the then relatively unknown Hannity to host a television program under the working title Hannity and LTBD ("liberal to be determined").^[16] Alan Colmes was then hired to co-host and the show debuted as Hannity & Colmes.

Later that year, Hannity left WGST for New York, where WABC had him substitute for their afternoon drive time host during Christmas week. In January 1997, WABC put Hannity on the air full-time, giving him the late night time slot. WABC then moved Hannity to the same drive time slot he had filled temporarily a little more than a year earlier. Hannity was on WABC's afternoon time slot from January 1998^[17] until the end of 2013. Since January 2014, Hannity has hosted the 3–6 pm time slot on WOR in New York City.^[18]

In their book Common Ground, conservative Cal Thomas and liberal Bob Beckel describe Hannity as a leader of the pack among broadcasting political polarizers, which following James Q. Wilson they define as those who have "an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group."^[19]

Television

See also: Hannity & Colmes, Hannity's America, and Hannity

Hannity was a co-host of Hannity & Colmes, an American political "point-counterpoint"-style television program on the Fox News Channel featuring Hannity and Alan Colmes as co-hosts. Hannity presented the conservative point of view with Colmes providing the liberal viewpoint. Critics argued that the show highlighted Hannity's views and those of conservative guests over Colmes' and those of liberal guests.^[20]

Hannity had on air clashes with show guests such as Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer of Human Life International, who challenged Hannity on his public dissent from the Catholic Church on the issue of contraception.^[21][22] Hannity stated that if the Catholic Church were to excommunicate him over the issue, he would join Jerry Falwell'sThomas Road Baptist Church.^[23]

In January 2007, Hannity began a new Sunday night television show on Fox News, Hannity's America.

In November 2008, Colmes announced his departure from Hannity & Colmes. After the show's final broadcast on January 9, 2009, Hannity took over the time slot with his own new show, Hannity, which has a format similar to Hannity's America.

Radio

In January 2007, Clear Channel Communications signed a groupwide three-year extension with Hannity on over 80 stations.^[31]The largest stations in the group deal included KTRH Houston, KFYI Phoenix, WPGB Pittsburgh, WKRC Cincinnati, WOODGrand Rapids, WFLA Tampa, WOAI San Antonio, WLAC Nashville, and WREC Memphis.Hannity's radio program is a conservative political talk show that features Hannity's opinions and ideology related to current issues and politicians. The Sean Hannity Show began national syndication on September 10, 2001, on over 500 stations nationwide.^[24] In 2004, Hannity signed a $25 million five-year contract extension with ABC Radio (now Citadel Media) to continue the show until 2009.^[25] The program was made available via Armed Forces Radio Network in 2006.^[26] In June 2007, ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Communications^[27] and in the summer of 2008, Hannity was signed for a $100 million five-year contract.^[28] As of October 2013, the program is heard by over 13.25 million listeners a week.^[29] Hannity is currently ranked No. 2 in Talker Magazine's Top 100 Talk Host in America and was listed as No. 72 on Forbes' "Celebrity 100" list in 2013.^[30]

The opening theme music for the Sean Hannity Show was formerly "Independence Day" by Martina McBride followed by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. The writer of McBride's song, Gretchen Peters, has stated publicly in interview that the song is about domestic abuse, not political values; though she cannot stop Hannity from using the song, she disagrees with its use and uses the royalties he pays to donate to her own causes.^[32] As of May 2014, the theme song was changed to the line "This is how we roll" from the song of the same name by Florida Georgia Line.

Hannity signed a long-term contract to remain with Premiere Networks in September 2013.^[33]

At the beginning of 2014, Hannity signed contracts to air on several Salem Communications stations including WDTK Detroit, WIND Chicago, WWRC Washington, D.C., and KSKY Dallas.^[34]

Books

Hannity is the author of three books. The first two, Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism and Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, were published through Regan Books. Both of these books reached the nonfiction New York Times bestseller list, the second of which stayed there for five weeks.^[35][36] Hannity has stated that he is too busy to write many books,^[35] and dictated a lot of his own two books into a tape recorder while driving in to do his radio show.^[37]

Hannity wrote his third book, Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda, which was released by HarperCollins in March 2010.^[38] The book became Hannity's third New York Times Bestseller.^[39]

Freedom Concerts

Since 2003, Hannity has hosted country music-themed "Freedom Concerts" to raise money for charity.^[40] According to WHIO, more than $9 million has been raised by the concerts and by WHIO listeners. Some have questioned how much of the money has been paid out. as of 2009.^[41][42]

Personal life

In 2015, Forbes estimated that Hannity's annual income was $29 million.^[43]

Hannity has been married to Jill Hannity (née Rhodes) since 1993. They have two children, Sean Patrick and Merri Kelly.^[44]

While discussing gun control during a Fox News interview with Piers Morgan on October 6, 2014, Hannity said that he has carried a weapon "more than half my adult life".^[45]

Awards and honors

• Hannity received a Marconi Award in 2003 and 2007 as the Network Syndicated Personality of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters.^[46]
• In 2009, Talkers Magazine listed Hannity as #2 on their list of the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.^[47] The same magazine gave Hannity their Freedom of Speech Award in 2003.^[48]
• In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, awarded Hannity an honorary degree.^[49]
• Radio and Records magazine has honored Hannity with the National Talk Show Host of the Year Award for three consecutive years.^[50]

Bibliography

• Hannity, Sean (2002). Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, ReganBooks, ISBN 0-06-051455-8.
• Hannity, Sean (2004). Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, ReganBooks, ISBN 0-06-058251-0.
• Hannity, Sean (2010). Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-200305-4.

References

1. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#cite_ref-middle_1-1) Hannity, Sean Patrick (December 26, 2011). "About Sean Hannity". Hannity.com. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
2. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Is Sean Hannity Saying Bye-Bye To New York | Variety Retrieved 2014-09-05.
3. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity: "I'm not a Republican:{":(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". salon.com.
4. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity's profile". Forbes. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
5. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Best Sellers: September 22, 2002". The New York Times. 2002-09-22. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
6. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "BEST SELLERS: April 4, 2004". The New York Times. 2004-04-04. Retrieved2008-07-26.
7. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Let Freedom Ring". google.ca.
8. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Hannity's WSB bio
9. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Hannity, Let Freedom Ring, p. 49.
10. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
11. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Kurtz, Howard (January 14, 2002). "Radio's New Right-Fielder". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
12. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#cite_ref-wdbo_bio_12-1) "Hannity Bio". The Sean Hannity Show at WDBO. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
13. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ ":{':(style="padding-left:0.2em"):}:Hannitization' Of America". CBS News. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
14. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Cohen, Jeff (2006). *Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media*. Polipoint Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-9760621-6-X.
15. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Rendall, Steve (November–December 2003). "An Aggressive Conservative vs. a 'Liberal to be Determined:{':(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Retrieved2008-10-13.
16. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Alan Colmes". alan.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2006.
17. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity is a multi-media superstar, spending four hours a day every day reaching out to millions of Americans on radio, television and internet". WABC. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
18. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ http://m.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/wor-ends-era-new-york-radio-article-1.1542179
19. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Thomas, Cal; Bob Beckel (2007). Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America. New York: William Morrow. pp. 3–6. ISBN 0-06-123634-9.
20. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ An Aggressive Conservative vs. a "Liberal to be Determined" by Steve Rendall,Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, November/December 2003
21. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^. Youtube.com. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
22. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ McCain, Robert Stacy (March 14, 2007). "Hannity at Odds with Catholic Doctrine". Washington Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
23. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Royal, Robert. "Sean and Rudy's excellent adventures in moral theology." National Catholic Reporter; March 30, 2007, Vol. 43 Issue 22, p. 19-19, 2/3p.
24. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Canon Communications LLC: Home" (PDF). Affiliates.abcradionetworks.com. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
25. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity Profile". WSGW. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
26. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Canon Communications LLC: Home" (PDF). Affiliates.abcradionetworks.com. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
27. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Disney and Citadel Announce Completion of ABC Radio Merger" (Press release). The Walt Disney Company. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
28. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity Gets $100 Million Deal" (Press release). Huff Post Media. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
29. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "The Top Talk Radio Audiences". Talkers Magazine. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
30. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity | Fox News". Fox News. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
31. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Clear Channel Radio Renews Sean Hannity Through 2010" (Press release).Clear Channel Communications. 2006-09-28. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
32. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Independence Day by Martina McBride Songfacts". songfacts.com.
33. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Byers, Dylan. "Hannity signs 'long-term' contract". Politico. Retrieved12 September 2013.
34. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Boyce, Phil. "Sean Hannity Moves to WDTK-AM 1400 in Detroit". MarketWatch. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
35. ^ :{Jump up to::(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^a ^b(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#cite_ref-autogenerated1_35-1) Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2005.
36. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Sean Hannity's ABC Radio Networks biography page
37. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Poniewozik, James; Sean Hannity (2002-11-05). "10 Questions for Sean Hannity". Time. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
38. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity writes book on defeating Obama, Democrats". USA Today. 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
39. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Schuessler, Jennifer (April 15, 2010). "NYT Best Sellers- Paperback Nonfiction". NY Times. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
40. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "HANNITY BRINGING 'FREEDOM' CONCERT BACK TO SIX FLAGS". New York Daily News. 2006-07-20. Retrieved 2009-08-23.^{[dead link]}
41. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity & WHIO Present: The Dayton Freedom Concert". WHIO. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
42. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/03/crew-sean-hannity-freedom-concert-freedom-alliance
43. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
44. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Lipton, Michael A. "The (Far) Right Stuff". People.com. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
45. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ de Moraes, Lisa (2014-10-06). "Piers Morgan Resurfaces On Cable News, Talking Guns With FNC's Sean Hannity". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
46. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity Wins 2007 Marconi Award" (PDF) (Press release). Citadel Media. 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
47. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Heavy Hundred". Talkers Magazine. July–August 2009. p. 267. Retrieved2009-08-30.
48. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity and Michael Medved Shows Come to News Talk 590 KTIE-AM"(Press release). Business Wire. 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
49. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ Pierce, Jared (2007-04-17). "Hannity to speak at Liberty". The Liberty Champion. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
50. :{Jump up:(style="-webkit-user-select:none;top:-99999px;clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);overflow:hidden;position:absolute !important;padding:0px !important;border:0px !important;height:1px !important;width:1px !important"):}:^ "Sean Hannity Re-Signs with FOX News Channel" (Press release). Business Wire. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-16.

External links

• ||

Official website

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Sean Hannity on Facebook
• Sean Hannity on Twitter

• Biography portal
• Conservatism portal
• United States portal

Categories: 

• 1961 births
• Living people
• Adelphi University alumni
• American broadcast news analysts
• American people of Irish descent
• American political pundits
• American political writers
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• Environmental skepticism
• Fox News Channel people
• New York Independents
• New York University alumni
• People from Centre Island, New York
• People from Franklin Square, New York
• Radio personalities from New York City
• Sean Hannity

==

rww taghttp://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/people/sean-hannity

mma tag:

https://mediamatters.org/people/sean-hannity

eg

...SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Let me ask you this, I know it was being controversial when you said that the founder of ISIS is Obama and the co-founder is Hillary, but yesterday -- yesterday you went into a lot of detail. You and I, actually, I remember debating you, because I did support Iraq, but I didn't support leaving early without finishing the job. We had so many Americans bleed and die and risk their lives for Mosul, Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, and Tikrit, they won those cities. And you talked about,even though you were opposed to it, you were opposed to leaving.

DONALD TRUMP: Look, look, I said one thing right from the beginning, I wanted to get out. We should have never been there, and I wanted to get out and I've been against it ever since. You can look back to 2004, 2003. In fact, on Neil Cavuto's show before the war started, I said let's not do it, we have other things we have to do, including fix our economy, which was a mess, to put it mildly. The way we got out was ridiculously. But I've been saying something since I've known you, keep the oil. Have I said that?

During the interview with Hannity, Trump cited a 2003 interview he gave to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto as proof that he opposed the war. But Trumpdid not say during that interview he opposed the war, instead he urged President George W. Bush to make a decision, saying “either you attack or you don’t attack.” Furthermore, during a 2002interview with radio host Howard Stern, Trump said that he supported the invasion of Iraq.

Trump also called for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2007 saying  America should “declare victory and leave” Iraq, and in 2008 he said “I’d get out of Iraq right now.”

==

no link

MSNBC's Maddow Highlights How Clinton Health Conspiracies Made Their Way From Alex Jones' InfoWars To Fox News

Maddow: "This Whole Fever Dream Has Percolated Up Through So Much Of The Right-Wing Media And Onto Fox News"

Video ››› August 17, 2016 9:58 PM EDT ››› MEDIA MATTERS STAFF

From the August 17 edition of MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show:

RACHEL MADDOW (HOST): This morning as the entire political world was surprised and a little rattled to wake up to the news that the Trump campaign is getting a whole new top leadership team less than 90 days from the election, and it's going to be led by the head of Breitbart News of all things, well that was the mainstream, oh my god political news story of the day. The front page of the conservative mothership website today, the Drudge Report, instead led today with this. Pillows for Hillary! And when you click through, you get this expose on how Hillary Clinton is supposedly constantly being propped up on pillows. There's these photos that have big yellow arrows pointing to the incriminating evidence that Secretary Clinton likes lumbar support when she does interviews. This is the big front page splash at the Drudge Report today.

[...]

There are fake Hillary Clinton medical records circulating in the right-wing blogosphere. They have her real life doctor's name printed at the top, though not her correct title as a doctor. And this fake letter purports to show that Secretary Clinton has severe neurological impairments. There's even a fake MRI circulating in the right-wing Twittersphere, supposedly showing damage to Hillary Clinton's brain. See can't you tell that's Hillary Clinton's brain? Looks like her, it's wearing a pant suit. Look! Both the fake records and the fake brain scan were tweeted out by a Twitter account that has since been deleted, but they've been shared over and over and over again on the right-wing web and talked about onright-wing talk radio. There's also an absolutely nutballs video produced by Alex Jones' InfoWars, a conspiracy theory website that uses slowed down video of Hillary Clinton joking around with reporters, to claim that she's having a seizure.What was actually going on in that moment is that she was joking around about the fact that reporters were all asking her a bunch of questions at the same time, and she was going hey hey hey hold on a minute. But they slowed it down and made it seem like she's collapsing. I should tell you that this is from InfoWars and for good measure, the video from InfoWars also says that in addition to these seizures that they accuse her of having, they say that she also has autism and that she has syphilis. They can tell.

And then sure enough, this same conspiracy theory makes its way to the Fox News Channel. One of their hosts is named Sean Hannity. That's him here. He devoted an entire segment of his show this past week to investigating whether Hillary Clinton is experiencing a serious undisclosed medical condition.Yesterday the morning show at Fox News, which is called Fox & Friends, they spent a portion of their morning asking whether Hillary Clinton is too tired or too unhealthy to be president. This whole fever dream has percolated up through so much of the right-wing media and onto Fox News, so that now, all theDrudge Report has to do is splash pillows for Hillary on the front page and consumers of that kind of news know exactly what they're getting at. They know what that's about. So that's what it's been like on the right side of the campaign recently. Now that the head of a really, really, really conspiratorial right-wing website is actually running the Donald Trump campaign, I think we should expect it to get more like that.

Previously:

CNN's Stelter: Hannity’s Peddling Of Conspiracy Theories “Does A Disservice” To His Audience

Watch CNN's Media Critic Blast Hannity For Spreading "Conspiracy Theories About Hillary Clinton's Health"

Sean Hannity Dedicates Entire Segment To Debunked Conspiracy Theory About Clinton's Health

Watch As Sean Hannity Fails To Convince Doctors That Hillary Clinton Suffers From Seizures

Hannity Responds To Trump Campaign Troubles With Clinton Health Conspiracy Parade

--

https://mediamatters.org/research/2016/08/18/hannity-v-world-here-are-people-sean-hannity-has-attacked-defend-trump-so-far/212519

Fox News host Sean Hannity is one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s most devout defenders in right-wing media. Since Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015, Hannity has attacked anyone that criticized Trump, including those in right-wing media, politicians, and even the Pope.

Hannity Is A Long-Time Supporter Of Donald Trump

Hannity Immediately Compared Candidate Trump To Ronald Reagan. One day after Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, Sean Hannity positively compared Trump’s attitude toward business to the hard line Ronald Reagan took against the Soviet Union:

SEAN HANNITY: Wouldn't you like to actually win a negotiation? Wouldn't you like somebody that wouldn't sit down at the table with the Iranians? Once they say the destruction of Israel is not off the table, you walk away. When they say that, chant 'death to America,' you walk away. When they fight another proxy war against Saudi Arabia, you walk away.

[...]

One of the greatest moments of Ronald Reagan's presidency, he was at Reykjavik. And Gorbachev was pushing him to give up Strategic Defense, what liberals called, derisively, 'Star Wars.' And he said, 'nyet,' and he walked away from the table. And eventually it led to peace. That's like Trump's Art of the Deal. You should be willing in any business dealings you do -- and I do a lot of business dealings in my private life, like all of you do -- and if at any point it becomes a bad deal, I am willing to walk away. Premiere Radio Networks, *The Sean Hannity Show*, [6/16/15]

Hannity Formally Endorsed Trump In May. In a series of tweets after Trump won the required number of delegates to clinch the Republican nomination, Hannity announced on May 5 that he was officially endorsing Trump for president. *Media Matters*, [5/5/16]

Hannity To Trump: “I’m Voting For You.” During an August 9 interview with Trump on Fox News’ Hannity, Hannity told Trump “I’m voting for you.” *Media Matters*, [8/9/16]

Hannity Assailed Any “Dumbass” “Establishment” “Pipsqueak” That Crossed Trump

National Review

Hannity Attacked “Gutless” National Review Editors For Their ‘Against Trump’ Issue. On the January 22 edition of his radio show, Hannity remarked that the Trump candidacy was “not the first time that National Review opposed a Republican frontrunner.” Hannity complained that National Review’s editors were “gutless” for not explaining who they support instead. *Media Matters*, [1/22/16]

Hannity: “How Many NRO Guys Supported McCain, Dole? Oh Real ‘Conservatives’. Elitist BS.”

Twitter, [5/5/16]

The New York Times

Hannity: Because The Times Reported On Trump’s Sexism, “They Deserve What They Get.” On the June 1 edition of his Fox News show, Hannity rejected Trump adviser Newt Gingrich’s claim that Trump could do without “some of the nastiness” directed at the press. Hannity interrupted him to say “if The New York Timeswrites a story that you abused women … I think they deserve” the vitriol “they get” from Trump:

NEWT GINGRICH: Yeah look, I know lots of reporters as you do, most of them as individuals are decent human beings, but almost all of them are on the left. I think sometimes that Trump overreaches when he doesn’t need to. All he’s really got to say is look, these folks are our opponents. These reporters are on the other team. This is like having a bunch of referees in a ballgame who are on the side of the other guys, go in and actually block, tackle, and carry the ball. I think he can do it without some of the nastiness because the truth is --

SEAN HANNITY: I don’t think it’s nasty but if they’re writing things -- if The New York Timeswrites a story that you abused women, and then all the women in the story come out and they defend you and say that The New York Times purposely manipulated your words, I don’t think there’s -- I think they deserve what they get. Fox News, *Hannity*, [6/1/16]

The Washington Post

Hannity Hosted Trump To Spread Conspiracies About The Washington Post. After the Post dedicated 20 reporters to extensive investigation of Donald Trump’s past, Hannity hosted Trump on the May 12 edition of his Fox News show, who baselessly claimed the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, uses the paper “for political purposes to save Amazon in terms of taxes, and in terms of anti-trust,” to which Hannity simply replied, “wow.” *Media Matters*, [5/12/16]

Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol

Hannity Accused Kristol Of “Picking Up His Little Toys” And “Going Home” Because Trump Won. On the September 15, 2015, edition of his radio show, Hannity said Kristol “sounds to me like an establishment guy, no offense,” after Kristol floated the idea of a third-party candidate to counter Trump. Hannity went further, saying “it sounds to me like you're picking up your little toys, and you're going home if you don't get your way,” which would “guarantee” a Democratic president. *Media Matters*, [9/15/15]

Hannity, With Trump, Said Kristol “Only Want[s] To Help Hillary Clinton Get Elected.” While interviewing Trump for his Fox News show on May 31, Hannity said Kristol was “willingly sabotaging” Trump with his third-party talk, and that Kristol “only want[s] to help Hillary Clinton get elected.” *Media Matters*, [5/31/16]

CNN’s Brian Stelter 

Hannity Repeatedly Lashed Out At “Pipsqueak” Brian Stelter For Condemning His Clinton Conspiracy-Enabling. On August 14, CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter criticized Hannity’s “reckless” “conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton’s health” designed to help Donald Trump. In response, Hannity called Stelter a “pipsqueak” and accused him and CNN of “kiss[ing] Hillary Clinton's ass and Obama's ass every day.” Hannity later attacked Stelter’s Sunday show, Reliable Sources, as “The Media Matters Show” “doing the bidding of Jeff Zucker.” Stelter also previously criticized Hannity’s softball interviews with Trump for giving him “a friendly outlet” on an “advocacy show.” *Media Matters*, [8/14/16, 8/16/16, 8/16/16, 4/17/16]

Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens

Hannity Called WSJ Editor Bret Stephens “A Dumbass With His Head Up His Ass” For Criticism Of Hannity’s Shameless Support Of Trump. After Wall Street Journal editor Bret Stephens called Hannity “Fox News’ dumbest anchor” for preemptively blaming Republicans for a Trump loss, Hannity attacked Stephens in an August 4 tweetstorm as an “arrogant, elitist enabler,” a “dumbass,” and an “asshole.” Hannity also used his radio show to bash Stephens as “a dumbass with his head up his ass.” *Media Matters*, [8/5/16, 8/5/16]

Univision’s Jorge Ramos

Hannity Claimed Ramos Was “Willing To Risk The Lives Of Americans” For “Open Borders.” On the March 23 edition of Fox News’Hannity, Sean Hannity attacked Ramos for being “fundamentally unfair” and “not objective” by “throw[ing] around this word ‘racism’” in reporting Trump’s racist attacks against Mexican immigrants. Hannity further accused Ramos of “be[ing] willing to risk the lives of Americans” in pursuit of “open borders.” When Ramos resisted charges he was an unfair journalist, Hannity told Ramos “I don’t need lectures from you.” *Media Matters*, [3/23/16]

Wisconsin Right-Wing Radio Host Charlie Sykes

Hannity: Sykes Had “No Problem … Disenfranchising The Voters” For Selecting Trump. On the April 6 edition of his radio show, Hannity lashed out at Wisconsin right-wing talk radio host Charlie Sykes for having “no problem ... disenfranchising the voters of this country” because he disagreed with the way the voters have been choosing” Trump:.

...

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4/16

Hannity brags about going easy on Republicans

Sean Hannity has given GOP presidential candidates over 43 hours of time on his TV show alone, and dozens more on his radio show. And now, under fire from even right-wing outlets for giving Donald Trump an uncritical platform, Hannity admitted it: he intentionally gives Republicans softball interviews. Republicans on his show can get away with sexism, bigotry, baseless accusations, blatant lies, all while ignoring more important issues.

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So Sowell and others – like Robert L. Woodson of the American Enterprise Institute, J.A. Parker of the Lincoln Institute, sometime presidential candidate Alan Keyes of Black America's PAC (BAMPAC), and Jackie Cissel of the Black Alliance for Educational Options – have little trouble finding cushy think-tank sinecures and generous support for their organizations. Many among this small group of prominent black conservatives are on several groups' advisory boards, adding to the appearance of a broad ideological movement. Cissel, for one, also serves as regional director for the African American Republican Leadership Council, a group whose mission "is to break the liberal democrat stranglehold over Black America," according to their web site. As Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten reported last year, 13 out of the 15 members of the AALRC's Advisory Panel are white. They include such well known minority champions as the Free Congress Foundation's Paul Weyrich, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, the Reverend Lou Sheldon, Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council, David Keene of the American Conservative Union, and Fox News host Sean Hannity.

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richmond soda tax:

To some critics, soda taxes are a radical new idea. "We can't live anymore," bemoaned Fox News' Sean Hannity. I don't know if he lives in New York or whether he drinks soda, but if he does, he already pays soda taxes, perhaps without knowing. New York is one of two dozen states that levy small taxes--usually just special sales taxes--on soft drinks or snack foods.

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For commentators who claim to despise lawlessness and who have attacked the Obama administration for allegedly feeding disorder and politicizing it, conservatives were quick to embrace a lawless Nevada rancher who for two decades has refused to pay federal grazing fees on public land and is now promoting his cattle crusade as a war against the federal government.

According to the right wing media, paying the obvious penalty for openly refusing to obey the law for decades suddenly translates into victimhood for rancher Cliven Bundy and "harassment" by the government, as conservative commentator Dana Loesch tried to spin away Bundy's contempt for law and order.

Aside from ignoring the law, Bundy and his armed, anti-government supporters have repeatedly threatened violence and fanned the flames of confrontation with revolutionary, insurrectionist rhetoric, like declaring a "Range War." ("Serious bloodshed was narrowly avoided," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported last week from the site of the flash point.)

All of the incendiary rhetoric and the loaded allegations about a tyrannical government has been marketed and promoted by Fox News and the rest of the conservative media, which claims to revere America as a nation of laws; the same Fox News that declared war on Occupy Wall Street protesters in 2011 and condemned them for being lawless. ("Domestic terrorists"!)

But now, suddenly the rules of engagement have shifted. Bundy is a right-wing hero and a massive Fox News flip-flop has taken place.

The facts of the Bundy case are not in dispute.

Since 1993, Bundy has refused to pay grazing fees for his use of 600,000 acres of public land. Bundy does not recognize the unambiguous authority of the federal government to administer the lands. In July 2013, a federal court ordered the defiant rancher to remove his cattle from the land or they would be confiscated to pay off the $1 million in fees and trespassing fines Bundy owes. He disobeyed, and confiscation of the cows began last week, before being halted because of the Bureau of Land Management's "serious concerns about the safety of employees and members of the public."

Even Fox's Megyn Kelly conceded that legally, Bundy "doesn't have a leg to stand on."

Nonetheless, the stampede of support for lawbreaker Bundy has been nearly all encompassing on the right. National Review Online's Kevin Williamson called the presence of armed agents "inflammatory" and condemned the government's actions as a "siege," while The Drudge Report recklessly hyped the growing fear of a violent standoff between anti-government militia members and federal forces.

On Fox, Sean Hannity has served as ringmaster for the insurrectionist circus that unfolded in Nevada and Hannity has clearly singled out law enforcement as the enemy. "Not once did Hannity mention concern for the well-being of law enforcement officials," noted the Fox-watching site NewsHounds. "Not once did Hannity discuss the federal government without demonizing them and suggesting that they were behaving in a criminal, fascist manner that deserved to be fought."

Yet that's the same Hannity who's been part of the right-wing campaign to denounce Obama for being outside the law; for his alleged "pattern of lawlessness."

"Obama's Politicized, Lawless Executive Branch," was the headline to David Limbaugh's TownHall.com column just last week. "Obama Adds Irrationality To Lawlessness -- While Threatening Prosecution," came from National Review Online's Andrew McCarthy this winter. ("It is wearying to catalogue President Obama's lawlessness," he complained.)

And from Rush Limbaugh in February [emphasis added]:

What do we do to stop somebody as lawless, some president as lawless this?  What do we do?  Nobody knows.  Nobody knows what to do.  Nobody knows how to stop him giving away money.  Nobody knows how to beat him giving away money.  Nobody knows how to deal with a guy who makes up the law every day as he gets up. We've never confronted this before. We've never had a president who is so lawless. We've never had a president who is so unconcerned with the Constitution.

That central attack theme has been repeated hundreds (thousands?) of times across the right-wing media since Obama was first sworn in and has come to define the conservative opposition to Obama: The current President of the United States, who happens to be an attorney and a former law school professor, shows no obedience to American laws or its courts, which is why Fox News, for instance, has repeatedly wondered if Obama should be impeached for his alleged lawbreaking.

Someone so arrogantly lawless that he pays no mind to U.S. jurisprudence? Kind of like a Nevada rancher who's been in open defiance for more than 20 years and views himself as being immune to federal law?

How can you tell the embrace of Bundy and his lawbreaking crusade is so obviously driven by partisan politics? Just recall the Occupy Wall Street movement and how conservative pundits uniformly howled their indignation. Why? Because left-leaning activists were breaking the law.

At National Review, editor Rich Lowry warned, "It's become clear during the past few weeks that there is a lawlessness at the heart of Occupy Wall Street."

Lowry was amazed at how activists refused to obey orders from police:

When asked to do something by an officer of the law,the instinct of most people is to comply, especially if they are violating a rule. The instinct of many of the Occupy protesters is to resist, then inflate their arrests or clashes with the police into a monumental struggle with the forces of oppression.

Keep in mind Lowy's claim that "most people" comply with officers of the law while watching this clip from a Nevada confrontation over the weekend, dubbed a "Ranch Riot" by a Bundy sympathizer. In it, pretesters not only fail to comply with "officers of the law," would-be militia members rain down epithets on law enforcement officials, denouncing various officers as being a "terrorist," "loser," "chickenshit," and a "fucking pussy." (Lots of the name calling starts at the 5:00 mark.)

==

Sean Hannity 192 times sneered that Republicans don't want dirty water. But when a West Virginia coal chemical spill left tens of thousands with just that, he went silent:http://mm4a.org/MkE6p8

==

mm: eric b

Can you image the awkward phone calls that were recently made to discuss the fact  Hannity's longtime 9 p.m. perch on Fox News had reportedly been given away to Megyn Kelly, and that Hannity's no longer going to be heard on 40 major market talk radio stations owned by Cumulus Media, including Hannity's flagship outlet, WABC-AM New York City.

Either one of those setbacks would qualify as a major career stumble for a right-wing media host who has enjoyed noted stability on radio and television over the last decade. But for both of those to come in the same month, in the span of seven days?

Ouch.

In the national radio and television arena it's all about your platforms; how many radio stations you're heard on and how good your time slot is on television. Nobody's suggesting Hannity's voice will soon be silenced. But when you get bumped from your primetime TV slot of more than a decade, and then you have to scramble to find new AM homes in crucial markets such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas, that means you're having a really bad month.

On the Fox front, it appears that Hannity's aging viewers, made up largely of retirees, may be costing him his 9 p.m. position as the cable channel struggles to retain a younger audience. As for his messy radio breakup with Cumulus, Hannity sources now insist he wantedto get taken off hallmark talk stations like WLS in Chicago, WJR Detroit, and KSFO San Francisco. If he did, Hannity might be the first syndicated talk show host to ever wish to do so.

More likely however, that's just weak spin.

Fox News hasn't yet made public what its primetime lineup will look like with the addition of Megyn Kelly in the 9 p.m. time slot, or where Hannity might land. Kelly's addition is seen as an attempt by Fox chief Roger Ailes to address the accelerated trend of Fox losing viewers between the ages of 25-54; the viewers advertisers most want to reach.

As Bill Carter noted in the New York Times last month:

[F]or six of the last eight years, Fox News has had a median age of 65-plus and the number of viewers in the 25-54 year old group has been falling consistently, down five years in a row in prime time, from an average of 557,000 viewers five years ago to 379,000 this year.

In the second quarter this year, Fox scored its lowest ratings among 25-54 viewers since 2001. In total viewers, Fox had 1.2 million during the second quarter, compared to CNN's 475,000. But when you look at just the crucial 25-54 demographic, Fox's ratings lead over second-place CNN shrank dramatically: 238,000 total viewers for Fox, compared to 161,000 for CNN.

For Fox, the Kelly move likely came down to demographics and the fact that Hannity's audience is remarkably old didn't help his cause: 17 percent of the public is 65 and older, yet 42 percent of regular Hannity viewers are senior citizens, according to Pew Research. (Bill O'Reilly audience also skews older, but it's larger than Hannity's.)

Meanwhile, the radio storm that's enveloped Hannity recently represents the end game to a long, public negotiationthat Cumulus launched in the press. Sending a signal to both Hannity and Rush Limbaugh that it was unhappy with the high costs associated with carrying their programs, Cumulus threatened to cut ties with each on its 40 talk stations. According to Politico's latest report, Limbaugh has worked out a deal to stay with Cumulus stations. Hannity has not.

The high-profile affiliate news represents the most serious setback to Hannity's radio career since he first became a syndicated host a decade ago. Hannity's show is distributed by Premiere Networks, which is owned by radio behemoth Clear Channel Entertainment. Some Clear Channel-owned stations will pick up Hannity's show in the markets where Cumulus is dropping him. But still, the move stings.

And that's why Hannity's team fanned out in recent days claiming the host wanted to part ways with Cumulus, claiming it was his idea. Hannity's sources insisted the talker hated working for Cumulus because it treats its employees "like dirt, shit, sub-human." And according to a particularly friendly telling in Mediaite, Hannity was said to be furious at how many station employees Cumulus had laid off in recent years.

But the spin doesn't hold up.

If Cumulus hosts such an awful, boorish culture why is Limbaugh renewing his contract with them?

And it's Hannity who supposedly decided to walk away from Cumulus because the broadcasting group has fired too many people? Veterans inside the radio industry must still be chuckling at that one. The punch line stems from the fact that over the last ten years Hannity's bosses at Clear Channel have laid off thousands and thousands of employees. Clear Channel has pretty much defined itself by the ruthless way it has treated its employees and endless ways it's found to fire them; to strip down once-vibrant stations, run them on the cheap, and then often run them into the ground. There's a reason Clear Channel is known as the Evil Empire of commercial radio.

But according to Hannity's sources, the talker can't sleep at night knowing Cumulus has laid off so many people and he must cut ties with the company and work more closely with Clear Channel?  

The cover story is amusing. And the charade worked on the Hannity defenders in the conservative press who dutifullytyped up accounts about how the host had "fired" Cumulus. (Just like Limbaugh was going to 'fire' Cumulus in May, remember?) But that's not really how the radio business works.

Exit question: Is Bill O'Reilly enjoying this run of Hannity bad news?

==

House Clean Energy and Security Act, S Hanity said utilility bill up 3K and lose 2.5 mil jobs.  3k from MIT study that some of its own authors walked back from  170. CBO said $80 to 175/family  = WM 2009?

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fox effect;

Hannity lost UCSB radio gig after promoting book that said AIDS came from kiss or mosquito [why?]

hume quit (b/c he's a jrnlist), replaced by sammon (several 4 fluff books on b2, as well as Wa Times  1st book on how gore tried to steal election

Luntz advised hannity on health care vocab

SH boosted Odonnell witch, Fiorina, Angle, said Reid supported viagra for pedophiles

===

srcwtch:

Sean Hannity hosts his own Fox News program. Previously he co-hosted Hannity & Colmes on Fox. Fox bills him as the "program's conservative counterpart to liberal Alan Colmes." He also hosts the radio show The Sean Hannity Show, syndicated by ABC Radio Networks, which has the second-largest talk radio audience in the U.S. behind Rush Limbaugh.[1]

Hannity serves on the Advisory Panel for the African American Republican Leadership Council. Hannity is also listed with the Premiere Speakers Bureau as being available for conference programs with an indicative speaking fee of $50,000. [2]

Hannity co-authored a book titled, ":{Energy Keepers, Energy Killers::(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}: The New Civil Rights Battle," along with Roy :{Innis:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:, Alan :{Gottlieb:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}: and Paul Driessen. It was published in February 2008 by Merril Press. ^[1]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Hannity was a headline speaker at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in New York City.^[2]

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) They fund almost all of ALEC's operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. It might be right. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door. Learn more at ALECexposed.org.

Criticism by Media Matters

In late August 2005, Media Matters for America reported that Sean Hannity blamed the "anti-war left" for protesting at the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. They reported that the protesters were actually members of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) in Topeka, Kansas, which claims that terrorism and other disasters are divine retribution against America for the "sin" of tolerating homosexuality. WBC members, who held signs saying "God blew up the troops" and "Thank God for dead soldiers," also have a website called GodHatesAmerica.com, where anti-gay rhetoric is expressed: "The American army is a fag army! ... WBC rejoices every time the Lord God in His vengeance kills or maims an American soldier with an Improvised Explosive Device." [3]

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• FOX News

External resources

External articles

• "Hannity blamed 'anti-war left' for protest at soldier's funeral actually organized by anti-gay church", Media Matters for America, August 31, 2005.

References

1. ↑ "Energy Keepers," Amazon.com, accessed March 2009.
2. ↑ American Legislative Exchange Council, 2001 Annual Report, organizational report, 2002, accessed September 23. 2011

Categories: ALEC Exposed | Water | Energy | People

mmatters:

http://mediamatters.org/research/201102010025

Fox News' Top 10 Lies About Climate Science

February 01, 2011 1:44 pm ET — 34 Comments

Rolling Stone recently included News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch in its list of politicians and executives it contends are "blocking progress on global warming," writing that "Murdoch's entire media empire, it would seem, is set up to deny, deny, deny." Indeed, for years, Fox News has done more than any other major news outlet in the United States to sow confusion about climate change, as this list of Fox News' top 10 climate science distortions demonstrates.

Rolling Stone: At Fox News, "Manufacturing Doubt About Global Warming Remains Official Policy"

Rolling Stone: "No One Does More To Spread Dangerous Disinformation About Global Warming Than Murdoch." In a recent article, Rolling Stone magazine put Murdoch at the top of its list of "12 politicians and execs blocking progress on global warming," writing that "[n]o one does more to spread dangerous disinformation about global warming than Murdoch." From the article:

No one does more to spread dangerous disinformation about global warming than Murdoch. In a year of rec­ord heat waves in Africa, freak snowstorms in America and epic flooding in Pakistan, the Fox network continued to dismiss climate change as nothing but a conspiracy by liberal scientists and Big Government. Glenn Beck told viewers the Earth experienced no warming in the past decade -- the hottest on record. Sean Hannity declared that "global warming doesn't exist" and speculated about "the true agenda of global-warming hysterics." Even Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the chatty Fox & Friends, laughed off the threat of climate change, joking that the real problem was "too many polar bears."

Murdoch's entire media empire, it would seem, is set up to deny, deny, deny. The Wall Street Journal routinely dismisses climate change as "an apocalyptic scare," and Fox News helped gin up a fake controversy by relentlessly hyping the "climategate" scandal -- even though independent investigations showed that nothing in the e-mails stolen from British climate researchers undercut scientific conclusions about global warming.

Murdoch knows better. In 2007, he warned that climate change "poses clear, catastrophic threats" and promised to turn News Corp. into a model of carbon neutrality. But at his media outlets, manufacturing doubt about global warming remains official policy. During the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, the Washington editor of Fox News ordered the network's journalists to never mention global warming "without immediately pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question." Murdoch may be striving to go green in his ­office buildings, but on air, the only thing he's recycling are the lies of Big Coal and Big Oil. *Rolling Stone*, [2/3/11]

Fox News' Top 10 Climate Science Distortions And Fabrications

1. Global warming "doesn't exist"
2. 2009 was "the coldest year on record"
3. "Nearly all of the [Arctic] ice has returned"
4. "How can there be global warming if it's snowing and it's bitterly cold?"
5. "The Earth is actually cooling now"
6. Hacked emails prove scientists are "doctoring" data to exaggerate global warming
7. El Nino is the cause of warming of the past 30 years
8. Climate science warned of global cooling in the 1970s
9. "NASA acknowledges solar cycle, not man, responsible for global warming"
10. Phil Jones told BBC that "the Middle Ages were warmer than the climate now"

Fox: Global Warming "Doesn't Exist"

• Hannity: "The Debate's Over. There's No Global Warming." In October 2009, Sean Hannity said on his Fox News program that former Vice President Al Gore "doesn't think there's room for debate on climate change. I do. The debate's over. There's no global warming." Fox News, *Hannity*, [10/12/09]

• Hannity: "Global Warming ... Doesn't Exist." In November 2010, Hannity similarly stated: "Today is the one-year anniversary of 'Climate-gate,' when we discovered that they artificially altered the science to hype global warming, which I say, and others, doesn't exist." Fox News, *Hannity*, [11/19/10]

REALITY: Recent Warming Trend Is Established By Temperature Measurements, Other Observations. The National Climatic Data Center explains that the "warming trend that is apparent in all of the independent methods of calculating global temperature change is also confirmed by other independent observations":

Thousands of land and ocean temperature measurements are recorded each day around the globe. This includes measurements from climate reference stations, weather stations, ships, buoys and autonomous gliders in the oceans. These surface measurements are also supplemented with satellite measurements. These measurements are processed, examined for random and systematic errors, and then finally combined to produce a time series of global average temperature change. A number of agencies around the world have produced datasets of global-scale changes in surface temperature using different techniques to process the data and remove measurement errors that could lead to false interpretations of temperature trends. The warming trend that is apparent in all of the independent methods of calculating global temperature change is also confirmed by other independent observations, such as the melting of mountain glaciers on every continent, reductions in the extent of snow cover, earlier blooming of plants in spring, a shorter ice season on lakes and rivers, ocean heat content, reduced arctic sea ice, and rising sea levels. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center, accessed [1/14/11]

From the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change:

Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change, accessed [1/14/11]

IPCC: Most Of Recent Warming Is Very Likely Due To Increase In Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change -- a scientific body compiling research from thousands of scientists -- concluded in 2007 that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level" and that "most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely[defined in the report as a '>90%' chance] due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [human-caused] GHG [greenhouse gas] concentrations." Pages 8 and 17, Synthesis Report, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, [2007]

Fox: 2009 Was "The Coldest Year On Record"

• Hannity: "This Is One Of The Coldest Years On Record. ... I Don't Believe Climate Change Is Real." Hannity stated on his Fox News program, "Here's what I don't understand. This is one of the coldest years on record, ladies and gentlemen. There is no -- I don't believe climate change is real. I think this is global warming hysteria and alarmism." Fox News, *Hannity*, [11/10/09]

• Hannity: "We Have The Coldest Year On Record. It's 40 Degrees In Miami, For Crying Out Loud." Hannity stated: "We have an Energy secretary that wants to paint every roof in America and every black pavement white. And I'm thinking, how -- we have the coldest year on record. It's 40 degrees in Miami, for crying out loud. China and Russia are freezing. The rest of the country is freezing. There's snow everywhere. The coldest year on record and -- what? Why? Why are they involved in our lives in this way?" Fox News, *Hannity*, [1/5/10]

REALITY: 2009 Was Among Warmest Years On Record For The Globe. By the time Hannity first made this claim in November 2009, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had determined that "[f]or the year to date, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 14.7 °C (58.4 °F) tied with 2007 as the fifth-warmest January-through-October period on record." National Climatic Data Center, accessed [11/25/09]

• With 2010 taken into account, NOAA lists 2009 as tied with 2006 as the sixth-warmest year on record. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center, [January 2011]

• NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies ranks 2009 as "the third warmest year" on record. NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, accessed [1/13/11]

• The UK Met Office ranks 2009 as the sixth-warmest year on record. Met Office, [12/2/10]

Fox: "Nearly All Of The [Arctic] Ice Has Returned"

• Beck: "[N]early All Of The Ice Has Returned." On his Fox News program, Glenn Beck referred to the "discredited global warming scam," and claimed: "In September of 2007, there was a 25 percent reduction in the usual minimum ice cover. This, my friend, is the truth: 25 percent. In the two years since, nearly all of the ice has returned." Fox News, *Glenn Beck*, [12/14/09]

REALITY: Arctic Ice Remained Far Below Average in 2008, 2009, 2010. The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported in October 2007: "At the end of the melt season, September 2007 sea ice was 39 percent below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000." The center stated that these were "the lowest levels since satellite measurements began in 1979." The National Snow and Ice Data Center, [10/1/07]

• In October 2009, the NSIDC reported that 2009 saw the "third-lowest mark" for Arctic sea ice extent, after the record low in 2007 and the second-lowest in 2008. The report stated that the ice extent was "1.68 million square kilometers (649,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 September average" and "Arctic sea ice is now declining at a rate of 11.2 percent per decade, relative to the 1979 to 2000 average." The National Snow and Ice Data Center, [10/6/09]

• The NSIDC reported in October 2010 that 2010 has replaced 2009 as the year with the third-lowest Arctic sea ice extent in September on record. NSIDC director Mark Serreze stated: "All indications are that sea ice will continue to decline over the next several decades." From the report:

The National Snow and Ice Data Center, [10/4/10]

Fox: "How Can There Be Global Warming If It's Snowing And It's Bitterly Cold?"

• Bolling: Snow "Breaking Al Gore's Heart Because" It's "Burying His Global Warming Theory." On Fox News' Your World, Eric Bolling stated: "The mid-Atlantic region on the verge of breaking all-time records for snowfall, up to 16 inches already falling in parts of Maryland, and it's not just the Northeast. Sixty-three percent of the country is now covered in snow and it's breaking Al Gore's heart because the snow is also burying his global warming theory." Fox News, *Your World with Neil Cavuto*, [2/10/10]

• Doocy: "[H]ow Can There Be Global Warming If It's Snowing And It's Bitterly Cold?" On Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson said she wanted to talk about the "dichotomy" created by "big snowstorms" occurring while "the Obama administration [is] talking about creating a new federal office to study global warming." Co-host Steve Doocy added: "It's interesting, though, given the fact that the weather is so rotten right now that people are going, 'how can there be global warming if it's snowing and it's bitterly cold?' " Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [2/9/10]

• Cavuto: "It Is Freezing Across The Entire Globe." Neil Cavuto stated on his Fox News show, "This is our Fox News global warming alert for you. It is freezing across the entire globe. We've got frost in Florida, it's 50 below in the Midwest. You got deadly snow in London." Guest Ben Stein added, "At some point maybe somebody in the government will wake up and say, 'Hey, it's colder. It's not hotter.' Maybe all this talk about global warming needs to be rethought." Fox News, *Your World with Neil Cavuto*, [1/9/10]

• Doocy: "Man, Is It Cold. That Global Warming Thing Is Really Kicking Into High Gear, Isn't It?" On Fox & Friends, Doocy stated, "Man, is it cold. Right now in Minneapolis, the air temperature is nine below zero. International Falls in Minnesota yesterday had a recorded temperature of 37 degrees below zero. That is the coldest temperature that town has had since 1911. Yeah, that global warming thing is really kicking into high gear, isn't it?" Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [1/5/10]

• Citing Winter Storm in Europe, Palkot Stated: "Forget About All That Global Warming Talk." On America's Newsroom, Fox News foreign correspondent Greg Palkot reported on how the "worst winter that Europe has seen in 15 years" had shut down train travel in Europe, and added: "All over Europe, a pre-winter, into winter storm like Europe hasn't seen in years -- forget about all that global warming talk -- disrupting air travel, airports all across Europe shut down. Fox News, *America's Newsroom*, [12/21/09]

REALITY: Scientists Stress That Winter Storms Do Not Disprove Global Warming. The New York Times reported in March 2008 that climate scientists -- including at least one who has disputed aspects of the scientific consensus on climate change -- completely reject the notion that short-term changes in weather, let alone individual storms can undermine climate observations or global warming theory. The article further stated:

Michael E. Schlesinger, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, said that any focus on the last few months or years as evidence undermining the established theory that accumulating greenhouse gases are making the world warmer was, at best, a waste of time and, at worst, a harmful distraction.

Discerning a human influence on climate, he said, ''involves finding a signal in a noisy background.'' He added, ''The only way to do this within our noisy climate system is to average over a sufficient number of years that the noise is greatly diminished, thereby revealing the signal. This means that one cannot look at any single year and know whether what one is seeing is the signal or the noise or both the signal and the noise.'' *The New York Times*, [2/2/08]

Met Office: Regional Weather Variations Don't "Tell Us Anything About Climate Change."The Met Office stated in January 2010: "The current cold weather in the UK is part of the normal regional variations that take place in the winter season. It doesn't tell us anything about climate change, which has to be looked at in a global context and over longer periods of time." Met Office, [1/6/10]

ABC News: Scientists "Are Quick To Repudiate Claims" That Snowstorms Disprove Global Warming.ABC News reported in February 2010:

As Washington, D.C., and much of the rest of the East Coast dig out from another blizzard, some politicians are using the frigid temperatures and snow-covered streets to support their claims that global warming does not exist.

Scientists, however, are quick to repudiate those comments, firing back that a few days, or even a few weeks, of inclement or cold weather in one part of the country does not disprove climate change -- a phenomenon, they say, that affects the entire planet over the course of decades.

[...]

Climate scientists say there is ample evidence that the planet is warming, and that occasional cold snaps or blizzards are blips that do not affect that overall trend.

"You cannot use a system or systems over a short period of time to describe if there is global warming. It's measured over a long, long period of time. This is a little speck in that duration," said Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. ABC News, [2/10/10]

NASA: Cold Winter Does Not "Go Against The Grain Of Basic Global Warming Theory."In a February 2010 article on its GISS website, NASA wrote: "It's been very cold so far this winter in most of the U.S. and many places at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. ... But scientists stress this weather does not mean that those gases are no longer exerting a warming influence. Nor does it go against the grain of basic global warming theory. Cold snaps and bouts of natural cooling that could last years are expected naturally even as the climate continues on a long-term warming trend, forced by man-made emissions." NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, [2/23/10]

Fox: "The Earth Is Actually Cooling Now"

• Beck: "We're In A Cooling Period." On his Fox News show, Beck stated: "When we're talking about CO2, the idea is the more CO2, the warmer it gets. ... But, it's -- we're in a cooling period." Fox News, *Glenn Beck*, [10/30/09]

• Baier: "Several Scientists Have Detailed A Recent Cooling Trend." On Special Report, anchor Baier reported that "Al Gore is comparing the fight against climate change to the struggle against Nazis in World War II." Baier added: "We've reported several scientists have detailed a recent global cooling trend." Fox News, *Special Report with Bret Baier*, [7/7/09]

• Baier: "The Earth Has Actually Cooled Over The Last Decade." On Special Report, Baier stated: "Scientists have cut in half their prediction of how much sea levels could rise if Antarctica's Western ice sheets melt due to global warming. ... The change underlines just how much uncertainty there is about the entire issue. We've told you that the Earth has actually cooled over the last decade." Fox News, *Special Report with Bret Baier*, [5/15/09]

• Baier Cites Unnamed Studies Showing "The Earth Is Actually Cooling Now." On Special Report, Baier stated that "with a number of studies now showing there has been no global warming over at least the last 10 years, and that the Earth is actually cooling now, environmentalists are looking to rebrand their message." Fox News, *Special Report with Bret Baier*, [5/8/09]

• Baier Promotes Claim That "The Earth Has Been Cooling For The Last Six Years." On Special Report, Baier stated that "former nuclear scientist and energy expert Michael Fox writes in the Hawaii Reporter that 2008 was, quote, 'another grim year for the global warmers. 2008 marked the tenth consecutive year of no global warming. The Earth has been cooling for the last six years.' " Fox News, *Special Report with Bret Baier*, [1/5/09]

REALITY: 2000-2009 Was By Far Warmest Decade On Record. In a January 2010 article on its GISS website, NASA reported that its analysis of global surface temperature showed that "January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record. Throughout the last three decades, the GISS surface temperature record shows an upward trend of about 0.2°C (0.36°F) per decade." NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, [1/21/10]

• NOAA: "The 2000-2009 decade will be the warmest on record, with its average global surface temperature about 0.54 °C (0.96 °F) above the 20^th Century average. This will easily surpass the 1990s value of 0.36 °C (0.65 °F)." National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, [December 2009]

• Met Office: "The first decade of this century has been, by far, the warmest decade on the instrumental record. New figures released today in Copenhagen show that -- despite 1998 being the warmest individual year -- the last ten years have clearly been the warmest period in the 160-year record of global surface temperature, maintained jointly by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia." From the report:

Met Office, [12/8/09]

Statisticians Debunked Global Cooling Claim. The Associated Press "gave temperature data to four independent statisticians and asked them to look for trends, without telling them what the numbers represented." They concluded:

Statisticians who analyzed the data found a distinct decades-long upward trend in the numbers, but could not find a significant drop in the past 10 years in either data set. The ups and downs during the last decade repeat random variability in data as far back as 1880.

Saying there's a downward trend since 1998 is not scientifically legitimate, said David Peterson, a retired Duke University statistics professor and one of those analyzing the numbers. Associated Press, [10/25/09]

WMO Secretary-General: "It Is A Misinterpretation Of The Data And Of Scientific Knowledge." Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization, wrote in March 2009 that "[i]t is a misinterpretation of the data and of scientific knowledge to point to one year as the warmest on record ... and then to extrapolate that cooler subsequent years invalidate the reality of global warming and its effects." Jarraud further wrote:

The difference between climate variability and climate change is critical, not just for scientists or those engaging in policy debates about warming. Just as one cold snap does not change the global warming trend, one heat wave does not reinforce it. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the global average surface temperature has risen 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit.

Evidence of global warming has been documented in widespread decreases in snow cover, sea ice and glaciers. The 11 warmest years on record occurred in the past 13 years. *The Washington Post*, [3/21/09]

NASA: "Global Warming Theory Does Not Posit A Linear, Year-To-Year Increase In Temperatures." From a February 2010 article on NASA's GISS website:

Even as man-made greenhouse gases exert a consistent pressure on the climate, trapping more heat close to the surface of our planet, surface temperatures from year to year will fluctuate depending on the naturally variable forces at work around the globe. In the early 1990s, the mass of sulfates blasted into the atmosphere by the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano reflected sunlight and counteracted much of the man-made warming effect for several years. In 1998 El Niño combined with the man-made effect to give us one of the warmest years ever.

Allowing for this variability, global warming theory does not posit a linear, year-to-year increase in temperatures. Nor does it say that harsh winter weather will simply end. What it does say is that increasing concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, with unchecked growth, will contribute a greater and greater warming influence on the world's climate. NASA, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, [2/23/10]

Fox: Hacked Emails Show Scientists Are "Fudging Data To Make Their Case For Global Warming"

• Varney: Hacked Emails "Suggest Scientists Are Fudging Data To Make Their Case For Global Warming." On Fox News' Your World, Stuart Varney stated, " 'Climategate' set to break wide open today. ... Hacked emails from Britain suggesting scientists are fudging data to make their case for global warming." Fox News, *Your World with Neil Cavuto*, [11/24/09]

• Kilmeade: Hackers "Found Out" That Scientists "Are Fudging The Numbers And Massaging The Statistics To Get Conclusions." On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade said: "This is huge. They hacked into some accounts -- I don't know how they did it -- but they found out that those people who say that we're in the middle of global warming, climate change, it's cataclysmic if we don't act soon, well, are fudging the numbers and massaging the statistics to get conclusions that would alert the whole world that we have to quickly act." Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [12/2/09]

• Hemmer: "Leaked Emails Reveal That Scientists Use, Quote, 'Tricks' To Hide Evidence Of A Decline In Global Temperatures." On America's Newsroom, co-host Bill Hemmer falsely claimed that "recently leaked emails reveal that scientists use, quote, 'tricks' to hide evidence of a decline in global temperatures over the past, say, few decades." Fox News, *America's Newsroom,*[12/3/09]

• Doocy: Emails Prove Academics, Scientists "Have Been Doctoring" Data To Prove Global Warming. On Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy said: "[I]t's interesting, so these email were -- apparently they got them -- somebody hacked into that university's thing. And essentially it proves that over the last number of years, members of academia, the science community who say global warming is caused by man, have been doctoring the figures and facts and stuff like that." Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [12/3/09]

• Kilmeade: "They Actually Say The Word 'Trickery.' " Kilmeade said: "I understand that people don't have their whole lives to dedicate to climate change, but if you read these emails, you don't need to be a scientist to understand. They actually say the word 'trickery' when it comes to numbers and to reach conclusions." Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [12/3/09]

• Hannity Cites Emails To Claim Scientists "Were Certainly Fudging" Data. On his Fox News show, Hannity stated of the emails, "If they weren't dumping data, well, they were certainly fudging it. Another email between these colleagues from nine years prior shows the dishonesty was long in the works. It reads, quote, 'I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps for each series for the last 20 years, i.e., from 1981 onwards, you know, to hide the decline.' Well, that would be the decline in global temperatures. So could it be any more clear that the so-called climate scientists are hoodwinking the entire world community?" Fox News, *Hannity*, [12/3/10]

• Kellogg: Emails Suggested Scientists "Were Trying To Manipulate The Data." On Fox News' America's Newsroom, Hemmer said that the stolen emails "suggested researchers manipulated some of that data that support the theory of manmade warming." Later during the segment, Fox News' Amy Kellogg stated that "the story is widely being called 'Climategate' " and that the stolen emails suggested that scientists "were trying to manipulate the data." Fox News, *America's Newsroom*, [12/10/09]

REALITY: Numerous Inquiries Found No Evidence That Scientists Falsified Data. The AP reported on March 31, 2010, that "[t]he House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee said Wednesday that they'd seen no evidence to support charges that the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit or its director, Phil Jones, had tampered with data or perverted the peer review process to exaggerate the threat of global warming of two of the most serious criticisms levied against the climatologist and his colleagues." CBS/Associated Press, [3/31/10]

• An independent panel led by Lord Oxburgh similarly found "no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice in any of the work of the Climatic Research Unit and had it been there we believe that it is likely that we would have detected it. Rather we found a small group of dedicated if slightly disorganised researchers who were ill-prepared for being the focus of public attention." CBS News, [4/14/10]

• CNN reported that a seven-month review conducted by Muir Russell "found no evidence to question the 'rigor and honesty' of scientists involved" and concluded that "scientists at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) did not unduly influence reports detailing the scale of the threat of global warming produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." CNN.com, [7/7/10]

Email Referencing A "Trick" To "Hide The Decline" Was Misrepresented By Fox. As FactCheck.org explained:

Claims that the e-mails are evidence of fraud or deceit, however, misrepresent what they actually say. A prime example is a 1999 e-mail from [CRU director Phil] Jones, who wrote: "I've just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline." Skeptics claim the words "trick" and "decline" show Jones is using sneaky manipulations to mask a decline in global temperatures. But that's not the case. Actual temperatures, as measured by scientific instruments such as thermometers, were rising at the time of the writing of this decade-old e-mail, and (as we've noted) have continued to rise since then. Jones was referring to the decline in temperatures implied by measurements of the width and density of tree rings. In recent decades, these measures indicate a dip, while more accurate instrument-measured temperatures continue to rise.

Scientists at CRU use tree-ring data and other "proxy" measurements to estimate temperatures from times before instrumental temperature data began to be collected. However, since about 1960, tree-ring data have diverged from actual measured temperatures. Far from covering it up, CRU scientists and others have published reports of this divergence many times. The "trick" that Jones was writing about in his 1999 e-mail was simply adding the actual, measured instrumental data into a graph of historic temperatures. Jones says it's a "trick" in the colloquial sense of an adroit feat -- "a clever thing to do," as he put it -- not a deception. What's hidden is the fact that tree-ring data in recent decades doesn't track with thermometer measurements. FactCheck.org, [12/10/09]...more

---

hmmn/ha ratinal wiki

Sean insanity Hannity (born 1961) is an American right-wing political commentator. And like most American right-wing political commentators, is well known for being an obnoxious twit - at least to the lieberulsopposed to him. To his supporters, he speaks nothing but God's Honest Truth.

Basically, you know that loud "happy drunk" type on the barstool next to you who's mostly fun when the game is on, but then tends to spout vaguely racist gibberish when the TV is off? That one who's fun to drink with but you're pretty certain has the IQ of a brick? Well, imagine giving him a television and radio show where he goes point-counterpoint against, and gets to talk over, uninteresting comedian Alan Colmes.^[1] In 2009 Colmes was dropped from the Hannity and Colmes show and now Hannity has the floor to himself. Now it is titled simply Hannity, and he can spout his non-stop drivel without having an annoying leftie commie to keep him in check.

Hannity was discovered by fellow literal-super-heavyweight^[2] motormouth Rush Limbaugh and did a few stints as his guest host before hitting the big time with Fox News. He was also responsible for inflictingneo-Nazi shitstirrer Hal Turner on the world.

| Contents [hide] <ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#White_supremacist" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">White supremacist</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#Effusive_opinions" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Effusive opinions</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#Scamming_via_veteran.27s_.22charity.22" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Scamming via veteran's "charity"</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#World_records" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">World records</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#.22Ode_to_Sean_Hannity.22" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">"Ode to Sean Hannity"</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sean_Hannity#Footnotes" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Footnotes</span></font></a></li></ul> |

[edit]White supremacist

Hannity's background as befriending a white supremacist has been glossed over. Learning from David Duke (R-South Africa), Hannity has distanced himself from former neo-Nazi pal Hal Turner.

Amid accusations that Hannity staffers and "fan boys" have been purging the web on a mission to sanitize Hannity's record,^[3] even Wikipedia has finally acknowledged Hannity's complicity.

Following the 2008 Presidential elections, Hannity declared an "underground war, guerrilla war against President Obama."^[4][5][6]

[edit]Effusive opinions

Hannity is on record as having spent more than an hour praising the United States of America as "The greatest, best, most free country on God's earth, ever." Fareed Zakaria wore a slightly desperate grin throughout. He also has a rather bizarre definition of the word "peace" that appears to have sod-all to do with any acceptable definition on the Internet. Whereas even the usually unreliable Wikipedia calls it "an absence of hostility," Hannity basically likes to think peace means "blowing the shit out of dirty foreigners."^[7]

Hannity worked hard in support of the decrees of God-King Dubya, sure the GOP would be in power forever. Until they weren't.^[8][9] His intense man-crush on Vladimir Putin is way beyond merely strange.^[10]

[edit]Scamming via veteran's "charity"

The Freedom Alliance charity, which claims to raise money for wounded soldiers and survivors of fallen ones, was exposed in early 2010 by hardcore right-wing Ann Coulter wannabe Debbie Schlussel as only using three percent of its proceeds for the stated purpose. Stopped clock? David Frum, however, disagreed with her analysis.^[11]

Hannity apparently insists on being flown around in a private jet, and having access to a fleet of luxury vehicles for himself and his family on the ground.^[12]