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July 13, 2007
A Couple Quick Thoughts About Last Night's Hannity & Colmes
When I heard that Hannity & Colmes on Fox News were going to be bringing Ted Nugent on last night to respond to Hart Williams' "death threats" I just had to watch. They must have thought it was a mighty important story because they saved it for last. That meant I got to sit through the whole big to-do about Hillary Clinton and John Edwards commiserating about their desires to get the minor candidates out of the debates (much to the mock shock and horror of H&C and something that all major candidates of both parties pretty much always try to do); a ridiculous looped slide show of Miss New Jersey in "suggestive" poses whilst H&C interviewed some other beauty queen who was disgraced last year over the release of nude photos of her (she gushed that Hannity was a "great American" – apparently, Colmes is not); and a radio interview by Hannity of Fred Thompson, who, contrary to Hannity's lead, did not announce whether he would announce his candidacy and who clearly implied that war with Iran was imminent, but said that "this time" the government would need to "make sure the American people understand … what the deal is." Then came the big interview with the Nuge.
As soon as Hannity introduced the segment and described who Hart Williams is, I understood the angle and why these guys are harping on this non-story to such a degree. It's all about Larry Flynt, owner of Hustler Magazine, where Hart used to write. That anti-American Larry Flynt who is bringing shame down on the heads of philandering Republicans everywhere by revealing who they've been boinking when their wives weren't looking. Larry Flynt, who is so anti-American that a former employee of his actually said he wanted to assassinate that awesome god of rock and roll and hunting prowess, Ted Nugent, and said it in the Democratic Daily (it's not an official party website, but let's not confuse people with the facts).
Oh, wait, Hart didn't actually say that he wanted Nugent assassinated. Doesn't matter. They're riding this horse until it drops dead from exhaustion.
As I watched Nugent, it became clear to me that his reaction here is pure theater. He doesn't feel threatened at all. He's getting a big kick out of being on television and having the opportunity to make liberals look like radical nutcases. And Hannity is more than happy to give him the platform to do it.
Colmes, by the way, did a much better job this time of explaining Hart's actual point – a point that no self-respecting wingut would ever acknowledge, of course. Interestingly, just when I thought, "Wow, Colmes is showing some balls here," Nugent made some crack about his being weak and giving in to the liberal spin on the issue. Colmes, it would seem, can't win no matter what he does. If he stands up to the wingnuts, he's weak, and if he doesn't stand up to the wingnuts he's weak. I honestly don't know why anyone would put up with what he does on a daily basis. Maybe he's tougher than people give him credit for. Or maybe he just likes the paycheck. Who knows?
Ah, it's all theater anyway.
Posted by Becky at July 13, 2007 09:07 AM
