When The Going Gets Rough, Hannity Changes The Topic
Reported by Ellen - October 1, 2004 -
It seems to be a Hannity hallmark. When things aren't going his way, Hannity often (if not always) changes the topic rather than argue his points on the merits. That's how it looked again tonight when Senator Bob Graham appeared on Hannity & Colmes and made some important points about George Bush's mishandling of the war on terror. This just after there was general consensus among the media that Kerry had won the presidential debate. Poor Sean.
First, Graham discussed with Alan Colmes his (Graham's) assertion that Bush diverted resources from Afghanistan to Iraq. According to Graham, Arabic-speaking translators were moved from Afghanistan to Iraq and replaced in Afghanistan by Colombian translators. Graham wryly noted that it would have been a great strategy if only there were Spanish-speakers in Afghanistan.
Then Graham said Bush had more intelligence about Iraq than Kerry or any senator and that Bush had "cherry-picked" the intelligence on Iraq. Graham even worked in the information that Bush received intelligence about bin Laden's plans to attack the US that the Senate Intelligence Committee (on which Graham and Kerry sit) didn't. Graham then added that had the senators had access to the same intelligence as Bush, 9/11 might have been averted.
Next up, a disappointed-looking Hannity asked Graham about Kerry's "inconsistencies" about the war in Iraq. Graham explained why Kerry's position was not inconsistent: Kerry voted for the war in the belief that there were WMD's and with the understanding that, like Bush 41, the president would be part of a coalition of allies.
"I didn't ask you that question," Hannity snapped.
Excuse me? Yes, he did. I re-watched the video tape. Hannity asked about Kerry's conflicting statements on Iraq; Graham answered why he thought Kerry was consistent.
Hannity tried again to get Graham to speak about Kerry's "flip-flop" on the importance of disarming Saddam. Again, Graham deflected the criticism calmly and clearly.
That's when Hannity changed the topic to something more incendiary, more likely to throw Graham off his game: Kerry's attendance record for the Senate Intelligence Committee meetings. With great sanctimoniousness, Hannity said Kerry missed 76% of the public meetings.
"The vast majority of meetings are held in private," Graham answered unflappably despite the fact that this was clearly a question from left field, one he was not prepared to discuss. He insisted in his quiet way that Kerry was an effective member of the committee, one he admired and respected.
Hannity could not shake him from that position.
Reporting gleefully in Deborah's stead,
Ellen
