Real fair and balanced there, Sean.

Well it is his job. He makes no secret that he's a partisan.

Snoop, fair & balanced is supposed to pertain to those hosts that don't express their allegiances. So you can take a well deserved swipe at them.

Sean is a Con. He's never pretended otherwise.

He is paired with a Lib/Dem on Hannity & Colmes. That's supposed to make that program fair & balanced. Colmes is a lightweight, though from what I've read around the web lately he is standing up to Hannity more often these days.

Well said J, at least it's some sort of admission from Hannity.  Partisan commentators have no obligation to be fair and balanced, where there's Hannity on the right, there's, say, Olbermann on the left.  Now if only he would come out and say it's his job to demonize the right, we'd be heading in the right direction.

Tommy and Jeter,

I hope that you can agree that while Hannity at least has 'come out' as what might as well be called... a rightwing partisan hack..... that FoxNoise tries to claim itself as News.....

So wouldn't you agree then that Fox should lose it ability to broadcast under false pretenses? Or at a minimum, Sean must lose his job?

Olbermann never did or does claim to be pure news.... but all of Fox and by default Sean continuosly claim that they are news... conservative news... but news.

I have never heard or seen anywhere on or about Fox that ever claimed that they ever talk opinion..... I hear them all saying that they are where one can get un-biased news.

So by Seans own admission..... he is being either unethical, immoral, or breaking the law.... any of which would get somebody fired!

What say you?

Hannity & Colmes is advertised as Left vs Right. Each host has an expressed allegiance. Each give their opinions.

But it's really far right vs. moderate liberal...Colmes has no power on that show, and the few times he has leveraged his side, Hannity shouts over him with "5 1/2 years in a POW camp!"

You're better off having a moderate represent your positions anyways.  Far left or far right are mainly idiots.

To represent Left or Right position is one thing. To publicly claim that 'I will demonize the person from the Left' is completely different. You are moving away from a defending a philosophy to attacking the philosophy's messenger.

Now, if Colmes has ever claimed 'Its my job to trash any Republican regardless of their point', then Hannity and Colmes is balanced, if not fair.

 

"Each give their opinions" Jeter

Exactly the point of my post!

Where on Fox on any of the shows in the 24/7 cycle to they claim to be the purveyors of 'opinion'?

They call themselves the Fox 'News' Channel, Fair and Balanced..... the many hosts claim everyday that they only give news with little, if any opinion.... they come off as claiming that what they speak is news not opinion.....

So Hannity, by admittence says that his job is to destroy Democrats, liberals, the Clintons, and now it seems the Obama's!

Yet, he also claims to be a news provider.... so which is it?

Is he opinion and career destroyer? If so hes lied about his job! Or is he speaking only the news which would have him fired and Fox fined to its death for false advertisment?

You're confusing opinion shows with straight news. Fox can call itself anything it wants for advertising purposes, all networks puff themselves up with whatever they feel is a hook to viewers, if they say fair and balanced, so what?  As I said later in this thread, I don't watch enough of them to know, and to say they aren't fair because their commentators/analysts spew partisan crappola is missing the mark.  Their straight news reporting should be judged on that basis, not those who give their opinions.  Jeter is right.

Come on... even their straight news reporting is ridiculously biased. Just look at that incident with their reporter being mobbed by the Denver protesters. Fox was looking for a fight with some 'evil libs' and this was the result:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoDsQ2VNArI&feature=related

This Griff Jenkins is a moron. What kind of a dumbass would deliberately put himself in the middle of a march like that? And was he really a victim here being mobbed by an 'out of control' crowd? Please...

And as I wrote to Snoop earlier you can & should take a well deserved swipe at them.

 

Don't be absurd. Olbermann has never tried to DEMONIZE anyone, any more than MMFA does. 

He's exposed the lies and hyprocrasy of many Republicans, based on their own words and action, which is about as difficult as putting on a hat.  And as far as his editorials go, I have always found his criticisms to be not only fair, but principled as well.  I have NEVER seen ANYTHING to suggest that he feels it's his job to make sure Republicans (or anyone else for that matter) don't get elected.  That's pattently absurd.  He levels criticisms based on behavior and decisions that they make that he has (and that most americans would have) issue with.  If that works agianst Republicans, it's only becuase a majority share his opinion.  If that's teh case, then maybe the Republican's should make better decisions and trying walking the walk when it comes to having priniciples instead of just talking the talk.

OTH Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, O'Rielly, Beck, Coulter, Boortz, etc... don't even try to pretend to be principled.  Just SMEAR THE OTHER GUY, WIN AT ALL COSTS.  Just so they can cling to the medieval superstitions and keep more of their paycheck.  (You'll notice I didn't include the word 'hard-earned'.)  They were hired to smear the Dem, and they do that job - lying with every breath they take, and they don't want to pay a PENNY in taxes if they can help it.  (I defy you to find even a single that LIE that Olbermann has EVER told.  And he's always corrected his factual errors ON AIR, even giving himself a WPITW award for getting key facts wrong.)  Oblermann is a professional.  Your guys are all just hacks.  Bought and paid for, lying, whoring, despicable hacks.

You're a fool (or a liar) if you think (if you say) that Olbermann's even APPROACHES their level of intellectual dishonesty.

He makes no secret that he's a partisan.

It's more than that...he is admitting, in essence, that he is a right wing political operative whose job is to defeat Democrats.

And Olbermann does the exact same thing, only to my knowledge he hasn't expressly admitted it.

Show me one case where Olbermann lied, distorted, or convenietly omitted a detail from a story.

Olbermann nightly smeared Hillary Clinton and distored her "assasination"comment into one of his hateful "Special Comments" He was partisan against her. It was as disgusting as Hannity.

Not one of Olbermann's best moments...but no one is as disgusting as Hannity.

But we expect this from Hannity, and I do not recall Hannity ever claiming what Olbermann did about the "assasination" comments.

That was mild compared to what Hannity does...no comparison IMO.

That was mild compared to what Hannity does...no comparison IMO.

insHANNITY is always asking trick questions like: :answer yes or no. Have you stopped beating your wife" insHANNITY sort of reminds me of the cretin ralph e. reed. A total charlatan and an all around dispicable individual devoid of morals, and decency that will  sayANYTHING to disparage anyone that does not subscribe to his dilusional ideology. He has disfunctional synapses.

Ralph Reed was on c-span the other day.  For the first time in my life I called in to get through to talk to him.  Thankfully someone said what I wanted to say to him - why aren't you in jail?

It was NOT "every night" and his special comments towards Hillary were at worst controversial, and worthy of debate.  Hannity doen't give you ANYTHING that's worth debating.  He just spews crap.  They're night and day.

Hannity says it's his JOB to demonize Hillary and Obama. Do you think Olbermann considers it his job to defeat McCain?

I think Olbermann intentionally devotes his program to getting BO elected. He wants BO to be president and uses his national forum to forward his goal. 

The difference is that Hannity does it purely because of the (D) behind someone's name, while Olberman does it because he recognizes what is best for the country.

Putting partisan politics before country.  Sean Hannity - a great American.

I'll answer that.

Yes.

I disagree...

And Olbermann does the exact same thing, only to my knowledge he hasn't expressly admitted it.

While Keith does give the most negative coverage to Republicans, well deserved I might add, he doesn't exempt Democrats. Both Hillary, for Ferraro's comment and Obama, for his FISA change, have come under Keith's fire.

Has ANYONE at FOX said ANYTHING negative, more than once about ANY Republican (besides the primary races when they were all jocking for their own personal candidate) ?

Irony,

Like Tommy wrote above, it would be great if Olbermann would come out and say it's his job to demonize the right. Because, like Hannity, that is his job. At least Hannity is open & honest about it.

Olbermann trying to derail McCain's so-called Staight Talk Express is no different than Hannity trying to stop Hillary or Obama.

The Straight Talk Express was derailed long ago - and it wasn't just by Olbermann. McCain did that quite well on his own... and he's still doing it. After all, using 'POW' as an answer for every question isn't exactly 'straight talk'.

To: Jeter

Re: At least Hannity is open & honest about it.

So when a liar admits he's a liar, he suddenly becomes an honest man?

Interesting!

How is he lying here?

He told you exactly what he's doing.

All right, so he slipped up and told a truth here but that doesn't negate all the mendacious bs he spews every day.

I agree. But THIS is what we're discussing. I said he was honest here.

How is he lying here?

It's either :

On the August 21 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity said: "No, I think I was more fair to the Clintons."

Or it's:

On the August 25 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean  Hannity then said: "That's my job ... I led the 'Stop Hillary Express.'

It CAN'T be both.

Olbermann trying to derail McCain's so-called Staight Talk Express is no different than Hannity trying to stop Hillary or Obama.

I imagine Olbermann would like to see McCain defeated. But does Olbermann consider it his JOB to do that? That's what Hannity is saying...it's his job to demonize Hillary and Obama.

And, Jeter, is it Alan Colmes' job to "demonize" Republican candidates...or just to give a liberal point of view? If FOX's Hannity show was fair and balanced then Hannity's liberal foil should be a fire-breathing activist who is procative in demonizing Republicans. Don't you think so...?

Irony,

If Colmes decided he was going to make that "his job" then I'd be ok with that. I don't watch Hannity & Colmes, haven't in a long time, because it's just soooo partisan [on both sides] & often would turn into a circus atmosphere with everyone [ hosts & guests] talking over each other like the old Crossfire on CNN. Basically the H & C show is a joke

I don't take either Hannity or Colmes seriously. One is a blowhard. The other a wimp...though I hear he's grown a set recently.

Of course both Olbermann & Matthews make me ill as well.

Maybe I'm just sick of the whole lot of them on cable.

OFF TOPIC: But did anyone catch Luke Russert on MSNBC last night or this morning on Morning Joe. His Dad Tim would be proud! :-)

Of course both Olbermann & Matthews make me ill as well.

They make me ill also Jeter, and you can just tell that the two of them hate eachother.

Correct on Luke Russert , what a cute young man.

Doris,

It's so obvious that Olbermann has little use for Matthews, Matthews seems almost oblivious to Olbermann's digs or looks of disgust. It's funny to watch.

Watch out Matthews, if he ever left NBC, he would be one of Olbermanns daily targets. Look what he did to Dana Millbank.

Look what he did to Dana Millbank.

Keith wasn't the ONLY one:

Responding to reader complaints about Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank's use in a July 30 column of an "anonymous secondhand quotation from Sen. Barack Obama" to characterize Obama as "presumptuous," Post ombudsman Deborah Howell chastised Milbank for citing the source anonymously and for imputing a particular interpretation to a quote he did not witness. Howell wrote in her August 10 column: "Anonymous quotes should be used sparingly; this one wasn't worth it. If you weren't there, be careful about judging the context." Further, Howell found that "[n]either [Post national political reporter Jonathan] Weisman nor Milbank called the source" to confirm their interpretation of the quote.

Jeter, I could agree with you except sean believes he's a driving force in the media. Now maybe I'm muddying the term, but up to now almost all discussions here assumes the media should be providing news and information, not lies and obfuscations. And as someone else pointed out in another thread, how can Fox claim to be fair and balanced when they let sean run the anti-obama express? The whole station has achieved what Goebbles could only dream of.

Snoop, Sean could believe he's the queen of England, so what?  His role, his job, his lot in life is not to be fair to anyone, anymore than you or I.  Difference is he gets paid for it.  He can opine all day long.  Those that listen, listen.  Those that don't, don't.

Snoop,

After watching Olbermann I might ask how MSNBC can allow him to host a biased partisan program? Does Keith get away with it because MSNBC pretends to be fair & balanced but doesn't make it part of their advertising?

Maybe Colmes should be encouraged to start his Derail The McCain Straight Talk Express ;-)

To be fair, I see Olbermann as Sean Hannity's counterpart on MSNBC. The difference is that Olbermann actually has some talent and style. Of course, I am biased since Olbermann champions my point of view. On the other hand I have not noticed MSNBC's straight news reports pulling the little stunts that have become so infamous at FOX "News". Maybe they do, but I haven't seen it.

To be fair, when have you seen Keith Olbermann just outright lie the way Hannity does. Olbermann puts his spin, for sure, but I can't say I've seen him lie. Hannity wouldn't tell the truth if you water boarded him.

Read his hateful Special Comment on Hillary Clinton after the comments she made in the spring about "assasination" He smeared her and took her comments out of context.

In your opinion. stated over and over again, and it's no more true this time than it was the first time you posted it.

I agree that he Kieth doesn't lie. Hannity lies like a rug.

Jeter and Tommy, see, I'm not bothered by Sean wanting to push a conservative agenda. As a commentator he can do that. When I'm alluding to fair and balanced in this regard, it's in presenting facts. Pushing lies and demonizing character isn't political commentary, or at least it shouldn't be. It's nothing more than a personal attack and IMHO if Hannity has to resort to that, and in fact makes that his entire schtick, he's no longer a political commentator, he's nothing more than a character assassin.

Snoop, It isn't political commentary that I care to watch, it ends up being nothing but a screaming match between partisans who are just out to position themselves in front of other partisans, it's boring and useless.  But some love it, just as many want more substance so they opt for other outlets where issues get a fair shot at being discussed.  I don't care how important Hannity thinks he is or isn't.  To me, he's irrelevant.

"fair & balanced is supposed to pertain to those hosts that don't express their allegiances."

I didn't notice that asterisk anywhere. 

I don't much care if Fox bills itself as fair and balanced or not.  But to strip them of that title based on Hannity, or O'Reilly, or Rove, or Morris, is not fair.......they are commentators and analysts with no obligation to be fair, like it or not.  If one concludes by watching their straight news operation that they are neither fair nor balanced, that is fair criticism.  Honestly, I don't watch much Fox so I don't know.  My guess would be their stories and viewpoints and reporters regarding their straight news reporting lean decidedly right, which would put them out of balance.

Pete,

Hannity & Colmes is advertised as Left vs Right. Each host has an expressed allegiance.

The other hosts are allegedly non-partisan.

No Sean, YOU would have been 'electrified' if Hillary was the nominee. But instead you've been deflated, looking and sounding like a Grade A moron, hiding away in your little box at the convention.

Assh*le.

I'd like to see Sean "electrified".  By a toaster dropped into his bathtub......

I just want him to disappear.

I think we'd all be better off if Hanniturd, PigBoy Limbaugh and all of their putrid little wannabees were raptured tomorrow. If lying pussballs like them make it into Heaven, I want no part of it.

Fock Snooze - Fair and Balanced, except for most of the time!

Also - I watched that video, and I couldn't figure out why Jay Leno joined Fox News.  Also, when did he get so much uglier?  Did someone kick Jay Leno in the face?  Is that why he's so bitter at the world?

Jay's on his way out. Perhaps when he's through at NBC he will end up on WorldNetDaily's payroll and write bs columns for a living and be a 'contributor' for Fox.

Did you happen to see McGrampy on Leno last night? Leno jokingly asked him about the houses, and McGrampy got all solemn and pitiful and played the POW card. Jesus, it was pathetic. How can the Republicans not be embarrassed by this guy?

You bet I did. Like I've said... Grampy has NOTHING to offer this country. NOTHING. And Thomp.Steve tells us that Grampy is the best the right can offer? The POW record has been long worn out... if he doesn't come up with anything else... anything REMOTELY intelligent... then he is toast. People are gonna get real tired of this 'wah wah woe is me, I was a prisoner, blah blah blah' crap real soon if he doesn't knock it off. He should be reminded that there have been plenty of others who have endured the same or much worse in wartime and they aren't playing it everyday. It's really pathetic.

To be blunt... he is simply unprofessional and unqualified to be the CIC.

Equally offensive as the former POW's reference to his POW experience, which he doesn't like to talk about (Ha!), was McCain's reference to what a great guy his father-in-law, Jim Hensley, who was a convicted felon, was reportedly mobbed up with the Mafia...and he's the one who put McCain into politics. Without Hensley's mob money (now Cindy's) McCain would have been nothing. BTW, Hensley is also the one who introduced McCain to Charles Keating.

There ya go. But will we hear about any of that? Not likely. Yet, we will hear endlessly about Obama's marginal acquaintance with a 60s radical, whom they insist on describing as a "terrorist". If he's a terrorist, why hasn't President Numbnuts had him arrested and tortured?

Yeah, I am perplexed by the dutiful title of "terrorist." How blithe and Orwellian that term has become.

I'll assume that Fox will pull their "Fair and Balanced" banners now.  One of their top attack dogs has admitted that's he's not only biased, but he's paid to be that way.  I'll also assume that they'll pull him from the convention coverage for those very same reasons.

 I'll also assume that I'm assuming too much.

HANNITY: That's my job. I led -- I led the -- I led the "Stop Hillary Express." By the way, now it's the "Stop Obama Express."

Hannity is now officially on record... He's not a journalist. He's not a political commentator. He's a political operative whose job it is to defeat Democratic candidates. He says he's an Independent. However, I have only seen his support of Republicans. Therefore, it can now be said without doubt and by his own admission, that Hannity is officially a political operative for the Republican Party. FOX should drop any pretense to the contrary and label Hannity in his correct role.

Huh? Just yesterday Sean Hannity: "I think I was more fair to the Clintons" and now today he led the "Stop Hillary Express" which lie should we believe, Sean? I'm going for the former.

Wow. A refreshing piece of honesty from one of Karl Rove's most putrid propagandabots. This reminds me.... remember when Scott McClellan admitted that the White House provided FOX "News" with talking points? Yeah, one more story that the MSM has ignored, along with all the other stories about the obscene corruption of the current administration.

"Demonizing" isn't something even a partisan commentator with no pretensions to being a journalist admits to. One could admit to "exposing" or "investigating" and still be a respectable hack. "Demonizing" is portraying somebody as absolutely evil.

But it reminded me of another word brought up in the media, re: Michelle Obama's speech; "humanize".That's what she was trying to do to the Obama family, according to the righty pundits last night."humanizing" was also used to describe what Gay rights proponents were trying to do by pointing out that they were just Americans with different sexual orientation.

I never really heard the word "humanizing" until a few years ago. I heard "de-humanizing" quite a few times during my life, in explanations of how things like slavery and the Holocaust happened. It meant creating a mindset where human beings were portrayed as not human.

I'd guess that "humanizing" means the opposite, trying to make the non-human seem human. I hope a majority of voter don't have as limited a definition of humanity as some of the conservative commentators.

BTW, my apologies to everybody if this comment triggers some troll to apply "dehumanizing" to a couple of cells in a womb and that whole merry-go-round gets started up again..

 

Excellent point. The fact that she should even feel the need to "humanize" herself and her family is a painful indictment of the sorry state of Republican politics. They have no shame.

Fox News should not be allowed to tax deduct Hannity's pay since it is 100% GOP politics.  He's a partisan hack.

Hannity's right.  It is his job.  That exactly what FOX wants him to do.

And I'd like to know how much of our tax money has found it's way into his bank account. We know that the White House has paid commentators to tote their water. Wouldn't it be nice to have an investigation to find out just how many of these propagandists were sucking on Karl's little slush fund?

Olbermann has come out to criticize both Obama and Clinton with his special comment pieces.  To claim that he's out to stop McCain and that is his job is laughable at best.  Hannity is an admitted political operative, who has incredibly dubious personal and professional ties. 

The big irony here is that not less than a week ago he said thathe was fair to clinton. 

Olbermann does not "demonize" the Right. He exposes them.