Bill Maher vs. Hannity
Reported by Deborah - August 12, 2004 -
Hannity was no match for Bill Maher, tonight on Hannity&Colmes, and it was amazing how much was said, without Hannity's usual obstructions.
8/12/04 9:15 PM ET
Hannity opened the segment with a clip of Maher discussing Hannity's book, "Deliver Us From Evil."Hannity told Maher that he really didn't think Liberals were evil.Maher
pounced on Hannity, "It's on the cover, Sean." At that point, the tables turned and Hannity never knew what hit him. Maher went on to tell Hannity that his book is 'so anti-american" because our country was founded as a liberal democracy.
Bill Maher was as open tonight as he is on his HBO show, "Real Time" and this level of honesty and directness is rarely, if every seen on Fox, unless it's coming from a Conservative Republican. Somehow, he pulled it off beautifully and Hannity managed to stay civil, until almost the very end of the interview.
Maher addressed all the Fox unmentionables like Bush's military record and the seven minutes spent in the Florida class after learning that the country was under attack. Mahr said,"To me, thats the ultimate deal breaker." Then Maher asked Hannity what he thought about Bush's response and Hannity replied, "I think you're right. But I'm not going to judge him."
That is the first time, I have seen Hannity say a critical word about Bush. I immediatly thought of Hannity's conversation with Jeaneane Garfolo at the Democratic convention, when she told him that he wouldn't have to give back his flag pin, if he criticized the President. Somehow, it seemed like this was a big moment for Hannity, on some level.
Then Hannity came to his senses and started lashing out at Maher in defense of "his" President's great resolve and clarity criticizing Kerry for doing nothing on 9/11 after he heard the news."He's a flip flopping liberal Senator from Massachusetts."
Bill Maher's last words were "At least he went to war and thanks for getting my blood up." I wonder if, it got Roger Ailes' blood up too.
