Sean Hannity Appoints Himself King Of Jurisprudence
Reported by Ellen - June 20, 2006
College dropout and self-styled legal expert Sean Hannity had a busy night on Hannity & Colmes (6/19/06) issuing his pronouncements on a number of matters of law. It was hard to keep up with his sometimes contradictory rulings. But one thing was constant: When the law doesn’t agree with him, King Hannity’s opinion trumps.
First, Hannity decreed that nobody should rush to judgment before trial in the Haditha matter. “Many in the press and even some members of Congress have seemingly already convicted the Marines of murdering 24 Iraqi civilians,” Hannity said in his introduction to a segment on Haditha. To discuss the issue, “fair and balanced” FOX News didn’t see the need to bring on a legal or military expert. Not needed when Hannity’s on the case! Instead, we got a “fair and balanced” panel made up of two family members of one of the Marines being investigated. Predictably, the opinions ranged from “I believe him” to “He wouldn’t do this.”
“Let’s talk about the fact about a rush to judgment in this particular case,” Hannity said. Then he honed in on what he must have felt was the most important piece of evidence: John Murtha. David Wuterich, the father, was asked for his opinion on Murtha. Wuterich said, “I think he’s jumping the gun, where he’s not hearing the Marines side of the story. The only thing he’s hearing is the Iraqi side. And you can’t believe the Iraqis all the time.”
In fact, Wuterich’s son's attorney has said that Murtha got his information about Haditha from a briefing or briefings by Marine commanders. But King Hannity, who had a ruling to put forth, didn’t see the need to clarify that. “That’s true,” Hannity responded to Wuterich. “It’s amazing to me that so many would rush to judgment. The investigation hasn’t even been completed at that particular moment.”
However, just because other people shouldn’t rush to judgment that doesn’t mean Hannity shouldn’t. Legal whiz that he is, he has already discerned the truth, even without a briefing from a Marine commander. After a wedding photo of the Marine in question appeared on the screen, Hannity summarized the defense attorney’s argument as his own. “They followed the rules of engagement. They defended themselves. They also thought the people in nearby housing were involved in the incident. They went in and they did their job.”
Not long after discussing Haditha (and after a brief discussion of a possible war with North Korea in the near future), H&C was back for a double segment about the number one issue facing the nation, the Duke rape case. It has now been renamed by Hannity “The Duke rape allegation investigation.” In the Duke case, Hannity’s incredible acumen, his unique grasp of the facts and the evidence have obviated any need for trial. In fact, without even knowing any of the DA’s evidence, from just hearing the defense talking points, Hannity was able to arrive at a verdict weeks ago that the lacrosse players are not guilty. Not only that, he determined that DA Mike Nifong has committed “prosecutorial misconduct,” as Hannity likes to say, for bringing the charges in the first place. “I’m looking at the explosive amount of exculpatory evidence, the inconsistencies, the things that he knew that contradicted his public statements and you’re saying, what’s going on here? There seems to be something radically wrong with his handling of the case,” Hannity told the viewers last night.
“Why should this case go to the courtroom?” Hannity demanded of Republican Steve Monks who hopes to run against Nifong. Monks had made the mistake of telling Hannity that the people of Durham plan to see the case played out in the courtroom. Even Monks had not reached the conclusions Hannity had, but promised to review the case thoroughly. That was enough to bring on a royal snit. “Tell me you have an opinion on this case, tell me you’ve been following the case and tell me you think that there’s an injustice here,” Hannity commanded.
Then it was time to teach former prosecutor and FOX News legal analyst Lis Wiehl a thing or two about the law. “You know, Lis,” the self-taught legal expert said. “You gotta have some evidence in a case for a case to go forward. (Nifong) ought to be seeking justice.”
Three cheers for Wiehl. She got right in Emperor Hannity’s face and told him he wasn’t wearing any clothes. “You… don’t… know. You weren’t in that grand jury room. You don’t know… You are not judge and jury. Those twelve people will be… You have to believe in our system.”
