Chickenhawks Hannity And Levin Ramp Up The Belligerence: "If Something Happens At One Of These Town Hall Meetings, I Think The President In Part Can Be Held Accountable... He’s Literally At War With The Citizens In This Country, In A Political Sense"
Reported by Ellen - August 8, 2009 -
Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, the two chickenhawks who keep boasting about their patriotism, spent their entire segment on Hannity last night (8/7/09) talking about how much they hate Democrats, President Obama and his administration. Not only that, at a time when town halls are erupting in hostility and violence around the country, the two “patriots” fanned the flames of belligerence, making such accusations as, “If something terrible happens at one of these town hall meetings, I think the president in part can be held accountable,” and “The president is at war with the American people, politically.” There was no attempt to have a serious discussion about policy disagreements, just 8 minutes of inflammatory sound bites that also included blaming the political opposition for the hostilities. The two lily-livered "tough guys" stopped just one step short of urging violence. With video.
The segment was part of a special broadcast before one of Hannity’s “Freedom Concerts,” so there was a crowd on hand, bedecked with American flags and cheering raucously at convenient moments.
Hannity began with this false shout out for the country he claims to love so much: “Democrats, they’re continuing their efforts to attack average Americans who are speaking out at town halls all across this country. They’ve been called ‘angry mobs.’ They have been dismissed as Republican operatives but why are liberals so afraid of freedom of speech?” As usual, Hannity made no attempt to explicate the conflicts or disagreements in a way that might soothe the troubled waters, nor did he use his platform in a manner that might have promoted greater understanding. Instead, he deliberately fanned the flames of hostility further.
Hannity calls Levin “The Great One.” It must be due to his large physique and his talent for playing the goon despite his high-pitched, effeminate voice. Levin offered nothing but poisonous platitudes to the discussion, suggesting anything but greatness.
“How many here are patriotic Americans? Levin asked. The crowd cheered. Rather than serve in the military, work to elevate the level of dialogue in our divided country, or even disseminate facts and figures for the "we report, you decide" network's audience, Levin's service seems to consist of combative rhetoric and wearing a cap with an American flag on it.
Self-styled "Great American" Hannity did his part for the effort. “The president today basically told people… we want you to shut up, for the most part.”
Levin kicked it up a notch by referring to the administration as gangsters. “I’ve never heard in my life a president tell the American people to shut up… As a matter of fact, if you look at the people around him, he’s got Al Capone there, who is Rahm Emanuel; he’s got Meyer Lansky, who is David Axelrod; He, I think, would be Saul Alinsky, so if they want to call names, we can call names, too.”
Levin continued, “Who is behaving like a mob? And now they’re sending their favorite union thugs into these town hall meetings to give them some muscle.” In his pugnacious whine, he continued, “I’ve got a little bit of news for you. We outnumber you. We don’t really give a damn what you send in to the town hall meetings. We’re going to keep going to the town hall meetings.” Levin started wagging his finger and raising his shrill voice, “And we don’t want what you’re trying to ram down our throats.”
That’s tough talk from this chickenhawk. This is the same guy who couldn’t face questions about his “service” during one of his booksignings. “Tough guy” Hannity is just as "brave." When confronted with a group of Ron Paul supporters during the 2008 presidential campaign, Hannity fled.
“I thought… liberals always celebrated, they were the great defenders of the first amendment,” Hannity said.
“Never,” Levin chimed in.
In his high-pitched whine, Levin sneered, “We just demand that we be treated with the same respect that Obama gives the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay… I mean they get due process rights, they’re told that they’re human beings, too, that they have a right to be heard. Well, guess what, we’re American citizens, we do, too.”
Levin falsely claimed that Americans “don’t want” the Obama health care plan and that “Ladies and gentlemen, you will lose your private health care – so they don’t want it.” Actually, “Great One,” the polls do not support your contention.
Hannity added his own false take on the public pulse. “We see independents… are moving away from Obama, away from Obama care, his poll numbers are going down dramatically. This seems like the real pulse of the American people.” Actually, Obama’s poll numbers are still pretty good.
Next was a familiar distortion from Hannity. “Is this an effort, coupled with the snitch on your neighbor program that they started… to intimidate the American people and silence them?” Hannity “asked.”
Levin made the nonsensical statement, “They’re trying to give the impression that the American people are a fringe group.” But the combative sentiment was plain. “The American people are turning on this president… Rather than step back and slow down… Obama just keeps ramming us.”
As if all that hate were not enough, Hannity now decided to blame the president for the hostility. “Do you think the president bears any responsibility for the conflict now that is emerging in these town halls?”
Yes, the hat-wearing patriot did. “As a matter of fact, let me suggest that if there’s anything that happens at these town hall meetings, if anybody’s hurt or anything really stupid happens, this white house has some responsibility for it… If something terrible happens at one of these town hall meetings, I think the president in part can be held accountable.”
Hannity scanned the crowd and boasted, “I see young people, I see older people, I see middle aged people.” He didn’t mention seeing any people of color. I sure didn’t.
“I don’t see any Brooks Brothers suits,” multimillionaire Hannity said, as if that made him a regular guy – never mind the multimillion dollar mansion, the “free” speech he gave that included a request for $50,000 reimbursement in travel expenses, his slurs against people who attend public school and his “inexpensive“ $80 sneakers.
Hannity continued, “What does it say about this president, what does it say about the Democratic Party that they would now orchestrate attacks against Americans and smear them and discredit them and besmirch them?” Not that Hannity or Levin would ever do a thing like that. Oh, no, no, no.
Levin answered, “It says, number one, the president is at war with the American people, politically. He’s literally at war with the citizens in this country, in a political sense.”
“What Obama and the Democrats really want,” Levin claimed, “is government-run, single-payer (health care) plan… because they want to steal your liberty, steal your ability to choose what doctor you have… They want to ram this home while they can, but we’re going to slow ‘em down.”
Levin said, “This is what people need to understand… The radical left, the Saul Alinsky, Barack Obama element is in control of (the Democratic) party and it doesn’t matter if you’re a moderate.”
If the town hall disruptions don’t work, are these people going to call for armed insurrection next? Hannity has already talked sympathetically about threats of secession. Beck “joked” about poisoning Nancy Pelosi, now Levin has said, without joking, that the president is "at war" with Americans. At a tea party last spring, Beck praised secessionists as patriots. What will the Fox News chickenhawks urge in the name of "patriotism" next?
