Hannity and Colmes: My blood pressure is rising

[scottcsmith]

I used to enjoy Hannity and Colmes. I'd settle in for an evening of talk television, starting with Bill O'Reilly and then on to Hannity and Colmes. I was able to do this for a couple of years.

Now I hate Hannity and Colmes.

Actually, I hate Sean Hannity. Yes, I said it. And no, I don't really hate him as a person (how could I? I don't know him) but more hate his TV persona.

I really, really want to support Alan Colmes. I really do. I like Alan. I can respect his decision to not engage in the sort of rhetoric Hannity is so well known for. But I wish every now and then he'd stand up to Hannity.

It's funny that they say "Fair and Balanced" in reference to H&C. It's only that way if you are a conservative. Here's a typical exchange, the first with an imaginary liberal guest, and the second with an imaginary conservative guest.

Hannity (face turning red): You liberals, you and your liberal friends, all you do is...
Liberal: ...Sean, let me...
Hannity: no, let me finish, you and your liberal friends want to destroy this president, there is so much hatred...
Liberal: ...that's not what I said, Sean, and you know...
Hannity: ...you just are filled with hate, aren't you, and you'll attack this president every chance you get, because like every liberal, you have no ideas, no plan, just attack the president...
Liberal: ...not true...
Hannity: You hate America! You hate everything this country stands for!
Liberal: That is so wrong, Sean...
Hannity: Isn't this the greatest country God ever created?
Liberal: Sean, let's not bring God into...
Hannity: Oh, you and your liberal friends just hate God, don't you? You love Islam and hate Christians and Christianity! (steam is pouring out of Hannity's ears)
Liberal: Sean, I just...
Colmes: Our time is up.

Hannity: Senator, isn't it a disgrace how the Democratic candidates can't go a day without criticizing our President?
Senator: Yes, it is. They have no ideas, all they can hope for is for things to go bad. They want the economy to fail. They want the war in Iraq to fail. They want this President to fail, all in the names of politics. It's a disgrace. Democrats, liberals and the liberal movement have done more damage to this country than any other group.
Hannity: That's right.
Senator: All they have is hate. No ideas. No plan. Just hate. Hate of America, hate of President Bush, and hate for anyone that disagrees with them.
Colmes: Let's bring in Ann Coulter. Ann, don't you think making a blanket statement attacking all liberals is a little much?
Coulter: Alan, liberals deserve it. They hate America, and they hate conservatives. They don't stand for anything; they have no ideas of their own. All they can do is attack.
Senator: That's right, they just attack, that's all they've got going for them.
Hannity: When will liberals ever fucking learn? ("Fucking" added for dramatic effect).
Colmes: Senator, Ann, our time is up.

There are times on the show when Oliver North shows up, and Hannity brings up Clinton lying, and Alan doesn't say anything, and I'm screaming at the TV: ALAN, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, REMIND HIM OF BEING CONVICTED FOR LYING TO CONGRESS!!!

Another example of how it's "fair and balanced" are the off-camera comments Hannity makes whenever a liberal guest is on-camera, speaking. It goes something like this:

Liberal (on camera): We just want a fair solution to this situation. That's all we're...
Hannity (off-camera): SIGH. UGH.
Liberal: ...all we're asking for. We should get a chance to...
Hannity (off-camera): HARRUMPH. COUGH. SIGH.
Colmes: I'm sorry, our time is up.

I know, don't watch it if I don't like it. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

[burythehatchet]

1. Breathe deep

and welcome to DU

:hi:

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. Title of Colmes' new book!

"Things I Thought up While Parking Hannity's Car"

(that ones not minde but it sticks out to me everytime I hear about that fake ass lying sack of shit "liberal")

[dennis4868]

3. Yep....

it is the so-called liberal media.

WELCOME TO DU!

[Maccagirl]

4. Colmes is so popular among libs that we're buying his book

in droves. He He.

:evilgrin:

[scottcsmith]

6. I purchased his book

I felt pretty strongly to support Alan, so I did purchase "Red, White and Liberal." I haven't read it yet. I've got this huge stack of books I'm reading right now -- Franken's book, Michael Moore's book, Greg Palast's book, and waiting in the wings are Joe Conason's book on right-wing lies, and Eric Alterman's book on liberal bias.

[Devilock]

5. Exactly

That was quite brilliant. I'm a glutton for H&C as well, and I too get the twitches when I hear Sean huffing and puffing into his mic while a guest is talking. Rudeness is only a starting point with him, though. Sometimes I wonder if conservatives see people like Carville and Begala the same way that I see Hannity and his ilk. I suppose such is the case, incredible as it seems (to me, anyway).

Oh I long for the day when the airwaves are filled with liberal voices able to counter the volcanic flow of hatred that so permeates the ether now.

My favorite Hannity blurb -- and it's darn close to one listed above, actually -- is: "America is the greatest country God gave man." He must stay awake, long into the night, constructing sentences with as many fallacies as possible.

And yes, Colmes needs to be replaced with a liberal whose argumentative style even somewhat approaches that of Hannity. As if that would ever happen, though.

[nickgutierrez]

7. That's why you want Colmes if you're Fox

That's the point of hiring a softie like Colmes. Hannity is one of the most hostile bastards in the media, so you pair him up with a lightweight liberal like Colmes so that he looks good.