After Palling Around With Anti-Semitic Extremists, Hannity Now Attacking Barack Obama For Having Dinner With Palestinian Advocate
Reported by Ellen - October 29, 2008 -
Just a few weeks ago Sean Hannity, the unrepentant former associate of a Neo-Nazi, offered another bigoted anti-Semite, Andy Martin, a friendly platform on Hannity's America for smearing Barack Obama as “training for a radical overthrow of the government.” Hannity neither questioned Martin's assertions nor revealed his history of anti-Semitic remarks. FOX News has since expressed regret for booking Martin. But Hannity has not. Nevertheless, Hannity attacked Barack Obama on last night's (10/28/08) Hannity & Colmes for having attended a dinner for Palestinian advocate Rashid Khalidi. With video.
As I have previously noted, Martin is not the first anti-Semite Hannity has cozied up to. Most notable is the Neo-Nazi Hannity welcomed on his radio show for several years.
But in a frenzy of pro-McCain/anti-Obama programming on last night's show, Hannity suggested that Obama is an anti-Semite because he attended a dinner for an outspoken Palestinian advocate, Rashid Khalidi.
The discussion about Khalidi came after a half-hour interview in which John and Cindy McCain took questions from Hannity, only. But that wasn't enough McCain PR for the “fair and balanced” network. The McCain interview was followed by a double segment with Newt Gingrich. The only Democratic guest of the night came later in the show, as part of a panel discussion that included a Republican, of course.
Hannity complained to Gingrich that the LA Times will not release a copy of a tape of a farewell dinner for Khalidi which Obama attended and which the Times reported on in April, 2008. Hannity described Khalidi as “a mouthpiece for the terrorist Yasser Arafat and the PLO.” Hannity claimed that Obama “put lavish praise on this spokesman for the terrorist (and) there were numerous anti-Semitic remarks were made (sic).”
What Hannity did not mention to the “We report. You decide” network's viewers is that Khalidi is an American-born, internationally recognized scholar, as well as an author and a professor. The Institute for Middle East Understanding notes, “Khalidi earned his B.A. from Yale University in 1970, and completed his D.Phil. in Modern History at Oxford University in 1974. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Khalidi was the Professor of Middle East History at the University of Chicago, from 1988 to 2003, as well as the Director of their Center for International Studies. He was formerly the President of the Middle East Studies Association, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Fulbright research award recipient.”
Hannity said to Gingrich, “In light of all the other radical associations, what are your thoughts on it?”
Gingrich said he thought the tape would be a lot like Rev. Wright. “And that what you would see was the kind of hatred and the kind of viciousness – not from Senator Obama, let's be very clear – I'm certain he was calm, he was cool, he was rational. But all around him that evening, there were people who clearly would destroy Israel.”
Hannity said, “We know that. We know that for a fact.”
“He didn't walk out. He didn't leave,” Gingrich said. “If the average American saw the degree to which he was comfortable surrounded by hatred, and particularly hatred of America...” I couldn't hear the rest of it because Hannity started talking over Gingrich. But it's ironic that Gingrich should say such a thing given how comfortable HE is with a hate-monger like Hannity, who can't say enough bad things about liberals, Democrats and a man who could well be our next president.
In fact, the reason Hannity interrupted Gingrich was in order to be sure to work in the next smear, accusing Obama of comparing the United States to Nazis.
By the way, Khalidi is not an advisor to Obama. Obama's Middle East advisors DO include Dennis Ross who worked in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations.
