Rep. Keith Ellison hammers Sean Hannity: You’re a shill for the Republican Party

[kpete]

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota ripped into Fox News host Sean Hannity during a tense interview on Tuesday night.

Hannity began his segment by claiming President Barack Obama was to blame for looming across-the-budget cuts known as the sequester. The conservative Fox News host insisted the President was “fearmongering” about the consequences of the cuts and played an irreverent mash-up of Obama’s recent speeches.

“You’re the worst excuse for a journalist I’ve ever seen,” Ellison said after being introduced.


Hannity asked for Ellison to repeat himself, claiming he couldn’t hear him. Instead, Ellison continued to blast Hannity, saying his mash-up was deceptive “yellow journalism” and a “breach of every journalistic ethic I know of.” Ellison told Hannity he was a “shill for the Republican Party,” but Hannity repeatedly insisted he was a “registered conservative.”



MORE:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/26/rep-keith-ellison-hammers-sean-hannity-youre-a-shill-for-the-republican-party/

[dtom67]

1. always hated hannie the most...

Because he's smart enough to know that he is propagandizing for the gop. Don't hate Oreilly as much because he is genuinely too stupid to understand any topic, no matter how simple; he has to be told what to say.

Hate em all though....

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. I actually think the opposite.

Hannity comes off as incredibly dumb to me because all he does is blatantly parrot GOP talking points word-for-word without any attempt to make it sound like it is his own thoughts. From my very limited experience listening to his shows, it really does sound like someone from the GOP handing him a sheet with a bunch of Frank Luntz-isms and said, "Read this." And he'll go ahead read it word-for-word.

If someone were to hand him a sheet saying, "I'm Sean Hannity?", I'm almost certain he'd read it as, "I'm Sean Hannity?"

That and his gross abuse of the word "literally." I cannot stand people who use the word "literally" and then use figurative language. And he's a serial abuser of that.

O'Reilly is slightly less offensive than Hannity or Limbaugh or Beck to me just because at least he will occasionally go outside his own studio and allow for his (primative) opinions challenged--like on The Daily Show. And that gives me just ever so slight, microscopic modicum of respect for him. But his deal isthat he's the prototypical "Get Off My Lawn" grouch (evidenced by his columns that are published in my paper, half of them obsessing about "Back in my day....&quot , coupled with an insatiable ego and explosive temper. I actually think if anyone were to flip on Fox News and tell us where all the skelatons were buried, it would be him because he's so easy to piss off, and if Fox management pisses him off or disrespects him, I think the dude would go ballistic and take down everyone with him.

But saying that O'Reilly is preferrable to Limbaugh, Beck or Hannity is like saying Irritable Bowel Syndrome is preferable to stomach cancer. In other words, not a whole lot.

[Gorp]

15. I'm with you on that one. Hannity is an idiot. At least BillO can think for himself.

I don't know if you caught it, but BillO and Jon Stewart held a debate before the election. In many ways it was far more substantive than the ACTUAL presidential debates. They're on completely opposite sides, but they treat each other with respect and can even digress into humor on occasion.

That said, I still don't like BillO. He is still a shill, but not to the extent that Hannity is.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. Just don't ask Billo about tidal motions...

"The tide goes in, the tide goes out- you can't explain it". I'm sorry, but I am pretty sure that we learned of the moon's affect on tidal motion in the 5th grade or so.

[Gorp]

36. Yeah, that and teleprompters. "Fuck it - we'll do it live!"

[awoke_in_2003]

37. ...

[HangOnKids]

38. LOL

Nothing more to add.

[Gorp]

39. Did you see the BillO v. Stewart debate? It's really funny, but serious at the same time.

I can rarely handle BillO in any context, but if Stewart is involved I'll at least attempt to watch it. That debate was excellent, especially when Stewart sat on BillO's lap.

[CrawlingChaos]

41. Oh I'm sure BillO loves Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart is the one who held a massive rally to pitch the notion that FauxNews and MSNBC are just left/right mirror images - that Keith Olbermann is the left equivalent of Glenn Beck. The idea that the uber-right-wing lunatic asylum known as FauxNews is no less reasonable than "liberal" (read: not liberal at all) media outlets does a great service to O'Reilly.

If you think Jon Stewart is a friend to liberals, just watch how he coddles his neocon guests (almost as tenderly as FauxNews could do themselves). Sure, he sounds great on some issues, but he'll never really stray outside the safety zone. I also think it's cowardly of him to hide behind "I'm just a comedian" excuses when he's clearly a de facto pundit of considerable influence.

We have to learn to be more wary of the wolves in sheep's clothing.

[zappaman]

57. Wow.

What did Jon Stewart do to you?
And I disagree completely.

[cui bono]

66. No, that poster is right, just went too far with it imho.

He is way too nice to neocon guests and did put forth the false equivalency with that rally and that is really detrimental to our discourse. There is no "both sides do it" in most cases.

[cui bono]

65. I think Stewart is just trying not to alienate a portion of his audience.

I think wolf in sheep's clothing is going too far.

But yeah, I really hate how nice he is to Bill Kristol and others. It's truly disgusting. They deserve no reverence what so ever. And the false equivalency he puts forth is wrong too. He's not doing us any favors in that regard.

[CrawlingChaos]

68. Here's why I say that

Jon Stewart has engendered a lot of trust among his liberal-leaning audience based on his progressive stance on certain issues. He has, IMO, a troubling level of influence (I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say they get all their news from The Daily Show). So when he says and does things that grease the skids for the ultra right-wing agenda, it does a lot of damage. No one gives a crap what the clowns on FoxNews say except their core audience, and those people are unreachable, IMO. But John Stewart can sway people who might otherwise tend to take a progressive, anti-war position - such as demanding accountability for war crimes.

I actually heard Jon Stewart tell a conservative guest that he, Stewart, had the impression that the Bush neocons were good people who started the wars with the best intentions, but merely bungled their noble mission. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I made the decision to stop watching after his last love fest with Condie Rice. I just couldn't stand the sight of him anymore. And it's not like he's that nice to everyone - he took a far more aggressive stance with Obama when he interviewed the President. You have to ask yourself, what the hell?

And then the whole business of mocking people who participate in protest actions was also unforgivable, IMO. Surely he knows that no social movement has achieved any measure of success without feet in the street - so again I ask, what the hell? It's more important to him that people not raise their voices, no matter how desperate their circumstances? Outrageous, particularly when you think of the amount of effort he put into that messaging.

So I hope that helps explain why I wonder who's side he's really on. Personally, I think he's a self-serving careerist whose perceived liberalism is merely part of his Daily Show schtick. Just my opinion and I realize you may see it differently.

[cui bono]

69. Yeah, I agree with what you're saying.

He talked to Obama like he was his beer buddy. I missed the mocking of protesters.

I feel the same way you do, just don't really think he's a wolf in sheep's clothing but he isn't helping our cause with that behavior, just giving them credibility they shouldn't have. I suppose he might be doing it so that they keep coming on, but if they can't handle truth they shouldn't get the air time.

[RevStPatrick]

24. Yep, that's more like it...

O'Reilly is actually pretty smart.
He just likes to play dumb because that's where the bucks are.

Hannity really really really is as dumb as a post.
It's shocking sometimes how dumb he is.
And he gets that deer in the headlights look on his face when he doesn't understand something.
Which is pretty often.

[Ikonoklast]

40. O'Reilly is smarter than he acts, but Hannity is uneducated and it shows.

His understanding of almost anything deeper than poo flinging is nil.

[dhill926]

25. Bravo, sir....

Helluva post.

[A Simple Game]

29. To me it seems that Hannity drank the kool-aid, a lot of it.

O'Reilly is in it for the money, I really think he could care less about the Republican or conservaive cause.

[lastlib]

2. Ins-Hannity has taken sophistry to never-before-achieved heights.

Sheer unmitigated sophistry. Any student of rhetoric can see through him; Keith really cut through him. I loved it!

[The Wizard]

4. And Slant Head's

insistence that he's not a Repube was blatant lying. Sean is a Republican jerkoff. Ooops, sorry for the redundancy.

[skydive forever]

5. Is there such a thing as a registered conservative?

I only know of democratic, republican, and independent.

[JaneyVee]

10. Here in NYC you can register to any political party. From Green party to working family party to

conservative to socialist to independent, etc. Don't know if other states do it as well.

[Jamaal510]

11. I found out that there is a "conservative party" in New York.

But otherwise, that is pretty much just a cowardly label for him to hide behind, just like how O'Reilly claims to be an "Independent".

[The_Counsel]

31. Not to Mention...

>> But otherwise, that is pretty much just a cowardly label for him to hide behind, just like how O'Reilly claims to be an "Independent".


...not to mention that how the numbskull is registered is completely irrelevant to the fact that he is indeed a GOP shill.

I know registered independents and non-registered voters who are further left than I am. Hell, my mother was a Republican and had views that could not be mistaken for anything but liberal.

The fact that Hannity thought he could possibly shut down a member of Congress with that BS "registered conservative" line tells us more about him than it did Ellison.

[rustydog]

13. There are registered dog breeds

registered political party affiliations, registered sex offenders... I don't know of a registered conservative party.

[Myrina]

14. ... as if saying he's a "registered conservative" would mean he's actually a progressive liberal?

Of COURSE he's a Republican!!

[BainsBane]

42. the pretense of non-partisanship

and pure unadulterated bullshit.

[JHB]

20. He meant the Conservative Party in New York State

It was formed in 1962, when "Republican" still meant moderate "Rockefeller Republicans", especially in New York where the term was coined (for then-governor Nelson Rockefeller). The then-infant "movement conservatives" (including William F. Buckley) formed it to pressure the Republicans toward a more conservative course. Think of it as an earlier version of the Teabaggers.

The Conservative Party of New York State is a political party in the United States active in the state of New York, holding "Line C" on ballots directly below the Democratic and Republican parties. It only operates in New York State, and is not part of any larger party.

In New York State's elections, the Conservative Party is ranked fourth place in terms of membership, behind only the Democrats, Republicans, and the Independence Party, but ahead of the Greens and Constitution Parties.[1] As of November 1, 2011, a total of 147,993 voters, or 1.3% of New York State's total enrollment, are registered with the party.

Of course, here in 2013, Hannity's protest that he's not a Republican is at best a technicality, and at worst it's worse, since the CP (yes, I'm using that abbreviation intentionally), not actually having anybody in power, pays no price for working to block any compromise to let the government actually function.

Strategy
Rather than nominating its own candidates, the Conservative Party usually endorses the same candidates as the Republican Party and campaigns against the Democratic candidates. It withholds this support from the Republicans if it deems them too liberal. For example, the Conservative Party withheld its support from Republican Rudy Giuliani's fusion campaigns with endorsement from the Liberal Party for New York City mayor in 1989, 1993[3] and 1997.[4] The decision not to endorse party-switching Syracuse state Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann cost the GOP that seat in the 2004 election. However it has also endorsed Democratic candidates as well, such as controversial former Buffalo mayor and presidential candidate Jimmy Griffin, who was initially elected mayor solely on the Conservative ticket but had Republican support as well for his subsequent campaigns. It also cross-endorsed such Democrats as former Manhattan District Attorney Frank Hogan and Capital District Congressman Michael McNulty. No Republican has won statewide office in New York without Conservative Party support since 1974.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party_of_New_York_State

[neoclown]

60. There is when you want to avoid being called what 87% of Americans think is an insult.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022405237

[UTUSN]

6. R#24 & K for, my new, next candidate for ANYTHING!1 n/t

[cutroot]

7. it's called disambiguation

None of my republican friends and co-workers refer to themselves as republicans any longer. They act as if calling themselves conservatives or independents will wash away the stain of their bad ideas and poor decision making processes.

Those skid marks aren't coming out for a long time.

[mac56]

12. Deja vu all over again.

Like right after Watergate when state GOP parties renamed themseves "Independent Republican."

Welcome, by the way!

[cutroot]

16. thank you for the welcome

I have been here for several years. I simply tend to read more than write. Most of the time, I find that someone here has put my thoughts into words long before I write anything.

[rustydog]

19. Bingo! My deeply conservative co workers today wouldn't refer to themselves as Republican

to save their lives. The problem is I point out they are still using, almost word for word, the Party's talking points. I tell them they need to read somthing other than Hannity's lips, Rush-Bo's lips etc. This pisses them off , they claim they don't even watch or listen to "those idiots" and I ask: Then why did you just quote him word-for-word?

arguement over!

[cutroot]

28. They are now ashamed of it

But they are still listening. They are hoping that these phony wiseguys are going to pull them out of their tailspin. Their support group still feeds them with propaganda. Some are becoming lethargic. Some are becoming desperate. Some may even lash out if you corner them with too many facts. Watch out for yourself. I tend to simply ignore them whenever possible. Many are sociopaths. (Tick, Tick)

[BlancheSplanchnik]

47. lashing out--yep, my ex used to do exactly that...

He claimed not to watch fux, rush, et all, that he didn't like them.

True he didn't watch since we didn't have cable, but I think he'd get the talking points from his fundy repuke brother.

But when I asked why he was quoting rush-fux, ...boy oh boy would he lash out. All out alcoholism rage attack!

I've started looking at alcoholism as Aquired Borderline Personality Syndrome, because severe alcoholism/substance addiction changes the personality. He was so much like my BPD explosive mother, it's stunning.

[cutroot]

58. no cable necessary

Many communities have right wing propaganda 24 / 7 on the radio. One of my co workers has earphones in all afternoon listening to various crazies. His daily dosages of hatred and false information, have made him a social pariah among the rest of the staff. I have to work with him but we do not socialize. You can sense the poison oozing out of him even in the most mundane conversation.

I believe that this quote came from Sigmund Freud.

“Even if you prove to a schizophrenic his dog isn't really talking to him he will still not believe you.”

Incontrovertible facts have no effect. He is convinced that the only people he can trust are the right wing spin merchants. They feed on the anger and intolerance as if it were a drug.

[Avelyn]

62. Your Comment Surprised Me

My Republican friends and coworkers still claim the title, usually avoiding the conservative label altogether. One gentleman remarked, "Say 'Conservative' and everyone thinks you're another bugged out Bachmann Tea Partier." 

Most interesting...

[mountain grammy]

8. I just listened on Steph Miller's show. Right on Congressman!

[geardaddy]

9. That's my rep!

He is so awesome. He's really doing his job!

[samsingh]

17. good for Keith!

[Skidmore]

18. Ellison was being too kind. Hannity is not a journalist by

any stretch of the meaning. He is a propagandist and hate monger. Period.

[Jack Rabbit]

21. What is a "registered conservative"

If that tells us that Hannity is registered member of the Conservative Party of New York, fine and well, but it still doesn't make a right wing moron a conservative or a journalist.

[Fuddnik]

22. Hannity is a registered blowhard and asshole.

[Maraya1969]

23. Here is a Youtube link since that one has been taken down. It was put up by a right winger

and maybe the first part with Obama's words were axed out because it starts with Hannity talking to Ellison.

[bvar22]

30. Click the "YouTube" link on the video, and go watch at YouTube,

then check out the "comments" section below the video.

I was delighted to find them running about 5 to 1 in favor of Ellison!

[Ron Green]

26. Hannity is nothing more than an entertainer.

Just not a very good one.

[John2]

61. You are right

one thing. If he is an entertainer, I never noticed.

[still_one]

27. That is one of the reasons I disliked alan cholmes so much, he would never call hannity out for what

he is. Bravo to Ellison who stands up to these thugs

[JohnnyRingo]

32. "93 million Americans will receive a $1500 tax cut".

Hannity challenged Ellison to "name one lie" he'd told. I found it easy to memorize the example above from when GWB was pushing his tax cuts, because he repeated in daily for almost two weeks.

Every day Colmes or one of the guests on the show would remind Hannity that he's purposely leaving out the word "average" to deceive viewers into thinking the cuts were fair, but the next day Hannity would do it again word for word. These days he doesn't have that little Colmes problem.

[Bainbridge Bear]

33. Calling Hannity a "journalist" is

enough to make me puke. He is nothing more than a shameless RNC whore who makes millions spewing this propaganda. Nobody is a bad as Rush but Hannity is in the same league of right-wing scum.

[RebelOne]

52. Once on his radio show, he denied he was a journalist.

His lies make me want to puke.

[lpbk2713]

35. Hannity is his own biggest fan.

That alone ought to indicate just how delusional he is.

[BainsBane]

43. Hannity calls Ellison "angry"

Notice how Hannity continues to call Ellison "angry." I saw this as playing into stereotypes about "angry black men."

I'm proud to say Keith Ellison is my congressman (MN-05).

[CrawlingChaos]

44. Let's have more of THIS

Fuck being nice. It gets us nowhere.

[Initech]

46. [phone]

[Cali_Democrat]

48. [phone]

[BlancheSplanchnik]

49. I agree. I never understood "diplomacy"...

When it comes to foreign relations, I can see the need for it, but when dealing with these American traitors against the people of America, these paid propagandists happy to destroy us in exchange for another frottage session with another bag of money from Australian Rupert Murdoch and his fux-co-owner, trillionaire Prince Al-Whatever-his name is, then it's time to call these Tokyo Roses what they are.

Propagandist Traitors



BRAVO for Rep. Keith Ellison

[MzShellG]

51. +Brazillion!!! nt

[tabasco]

45. Truer words were never spoken. n/t

[Dollface]

50. I think its called, "Pulling a Weiner", in honor of Anthony Weiner who did this on Fox regularly.

Well done Representative Ellison.

[Number23]

53. "why are you so angry? Why are you so mad?" DAMN if that ain't the usual tactics

God, I try not to hate but these people sorely TEST me on that.

[Ilsa]

54. Would it be wrong for me to declare a fatwa against

InsHannity? Would it? Would it really be wrong?

Sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me.

[LeftNeckChick]

55. Liberal Porn!

I love it. I saw it live and literally stopped dead in my tracks to watch Ellison mop the floor with him. In trying to come up with an appropriate analogy, I called it a TKO boxing match - to which my spouse replied "If it was a boxing match, Ellison jumped over the ropes and started throwing punches before Hannity even had his gloves on." Couldn't have said it better myself. In any intellectual "boxing" match, Sean's doesn't have the brains to put his own gloves on. Liberal Porn. We even backed up the DVR and watched it again just for kicks.

[sad-cafe]

56. I thought this was great.

I did not know one could be a "registered conservative"

[pokerfan]

59. Later on the same show, Hannity admitted he's a Republican

After introducing the fact that Bloomberg would like to take his ban on large sugary beverages to the statewide level, Hannity took a big — as Holder called it: “disgusting” — bite from a glazed donut. Holder then tried to explain a possible rationale for Bloomberg’s food laws:

“You know why? All Republicans, or most Republicans, are fat asses and get stuck eating these things,” she said.

“You’re calling me a fat ass?” Hannity asked. “I’ve been called a yellow journalist, immoral, a liar, and now a fat ass.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022435577

[libdude]

63. A shill, absolutely

Rep. Ellison nailed it, at a very minimum Hannity is a shill for the Republican party. The whole Fox " news " and commentary program is a very obvious front for Roger Ailes and the Republican party. I would think that they had a little journalistic integrity if Fox would just add a disclaimer to their efforts something like this,
The programming you are about to view does represent the opinions of the Republican party and does not necessarily present fair and balanced content.

[SunSeeker]

64. Yep. And he didn't deny he was a shill, he just denied being a Republican. nt

[cui bono]

67. While I agree with Ellison's sentiments, he came off really badly in that segment.

He's just giving the right fodder to say the left is unreasonable. He could've been just as forceful while not coming off so rude and a bit childish or something, not sure what word I'm looking for.