In his no-holds barred desire to smear President Obama with just about anything he can throw, Sean Hannity attacked President Obama's remarks about Rep. Akin by pretending that Obama had plucked some "relatively obscure" Congressman out of the crowd to scapegoat. But Hannity knew full well that Akin - whose shocking remarks about women not getting pregnant from "legitimate rape" - were the focus of a huge political firestom. Earlier that very day, Hannity did his best to push Akin out of the Senate race he’s engaged in by warning that the entire balance of power in the U.S. Senate and possibly even the presidency could rest on his candidacy.

In a Hannity show discussion with Karl Rove last night about President Obama’s impromptu press conference that afternoon, Hannity said at about 6:10 in the video below,

So the president uses this press conference to condemn, you know, a relatively obscure Congressman, one who very few people have heard from except for probably in the state of Missouri, who’s running for Senate. But he’s silent on Bill Maher, he’s silent on the attacks, Joe Soptic – accusing Romney of murder (etc. etc.)...

… The reality is, the media in this country’s more concerned about a few freshmen skinny dipping Republicans and they’re more concerned about an obscure Republican who Mitt Romney condemned.

As Hannity almost certainly knew, Obama had been asked directly about Akin as the first question from a reporter. Despite Hannity's innuendo to the contrary, it was not President Obama who raised the topic. But Hannity defiitely knew that Akin was no "relatively obscure Congressman" but the man who might have just blown the Republican chances to win back the U.S. Senate if not the White House. In fact, Hannity did everything but beg Akin to drop out of the race during a phone conversation on his radio show just a few hours before..

Twitter has gone absolutely crazy and there really is a huge amount of anger out there at your comments as I guess you would acknowledge is justified… We need 51 votes now to overturn Obamacare. Republicans have to take control of the Senate... If this becomes the defining moment in this campaign and Missouri is never an easy state, there’s no way that Mitt Romney can become president, the way I do my math in my head, without winning the State of Missouri… If it becomes a particularly close Senate race and a battle for the Senate, and this becomes the defining issue in the campaign, would you be willing to live with the fact that maybe this comment, ill-advised as it is, and wrong as it is, and that you’ve apologized for, if this becomes the defining issue in the campaign, and you lose that race and it impacts the top of the ticket in the State of Missouri, have you thought about the consequences of that?

Here’s my big fear, Congressman, if I could just be blunt with you. We’re 51 votes needed to repeal Obamacare, hold the Senate. Sometimes an election is bigger than one person – and I think you’d agree with that… and to me, I am very concerned and I know many other conservatives are as well because they have all written me today that if you stay in this race and this becomes the defining issue of the race, and there is a timeline now in play here, that this could then put the entire State of Missouri, this Senate seat and even the top of the ticket in jeopardy in Missouri.

 So Hannity was either lying when he characterized Akin as "relatively obscure" or else that awful case of amnesia hit him again.