What A Hypocrite! Last Spring, Hannity Fawned All Over Fake Nobel Prize Nominee In The Terri Schiavo Matter. But For Tookie Williams, The Nomination "Doesn't Mean Anything"
Reported by Ellen - December 2, 2005
Hannity & Colmes hosted another in a series of discussions about the case of Tookie Williams, who will be executed in California in a few weeks if he does not receive clemency from Governor Schwarzenegger. I have complained many times about the choice of stories on H&C, particularly with regard to African Americans, so let me say right off the bat how glad I have been to see this case receive the extensive coverage it merits.
Last night's guest was civil rights attorney Leo Terrell. He was there to argue on behalf of Williams, which provided a nice balance to the previous night's guest, talk show host Larry Elder, who advocated for Williams' execution.
Alan Colmes began the discussion by running quickly through the reasons why Williams deserves clemency: the prosecutor made thinly veiled racist remarks, the evidence was provided by snitches and Williams has become such a model prisoner that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Colmes added that exculpatory evidence has been found on 122 people already executed. There's no undoing an execution, he noted.
Terrell said that the Ninth Circuit suggested that Williams should be given clemency. "Here's a guy who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, here's a person who has renounced gang violence. If this guy isn't a model candidate, who could be a model candidate?"
When it was Hannity's turn, Mr. Pro LIfe was in a fury to make sure Williams is executed. On most days Hannity doesn't bother to fact-check his own claims yet, without demonstrating any familiarity with the evidence, he declared it "overwhelming and incontrovertible" as to Williams' guilt. (Comment: Here's a link to a brief rundown of the not so overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence on MSNBC.com.)
Ignoring Terrell's argument that 123 people on death row have been found innocent, Hannity (as he always does when he can't argue something) changed the subject and attacked. Derisively calling Terrell "Mr. Nobel Peace Prize," Hannity shouted that Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mussolini and Yasser Arafat were also nominated. "Yasser Arafat, a terrorist, won it. That doesn't mean anything."
Well, well, well. That's quite a change of tune from Hannity's almost slobbering adulation of one Dr. Bill Hammesfahr, who misrepresented himself as a Nobel Prize nominee (but whose dubious practices placed him on the Quack Watch list) who claimed he could treat Terri Schiavo. Hannity touted the nomination no less than eight times in the course of one Hannity & Colmes show last spring.
Funny how the same prize is worth bragging about when the nominee - even when he's illegitimate - is on the "right" side but "doesn't mean anything" when he isn't.
