LA Times: Fox's Palin Interviews "Frothy, Slanted And Off-Point"

LA Times:

Fox News tough guy Sean Hannity assured us this week he would press Sarah Palin for real answers -- no going easy on the woman who could be the next vice president of the United States.

"No topic," Hannity intoned, "is off limits."

A couple of nights earlier, Fox's hard-talking lawyer, Greta Van Susteren, promised to take us to unknown places in her exclusive interview with Alaska's so-called First Dude, Todd Palin.

"You will see this," Greta declared, "nowhere else!"

No, you won't. And mercifully so. Because Hannity and Van Susteren produced three nights of infotainment so frothy, slanted and off-point that they challenged even their cable network's low standards.

Read the whole story: LA Times

Comments

[Lupin77]

09:16 AM on 09/23/2008

Thanks for the info on Hannity. I just knew he wasn't a university graduate and that he's not really a journalist. His style of interviewing is confrontational rather than discussion and allowing guests on his program to actually give their points of view. Totally unprofessional.

[brabra]

10:53 PM on 09/22/2008

Education
Hannity graduated in 1980 from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school, located in Uniondale, New York. Described as "an indifferent student",[4] Hannity dropped out of New York University for financial reasons and later decided to pursue a radio career.[3] In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University awarded him an honorary degree.[5]

Falwell's legacy today is strongly mixed, and often a source of heated controversy. Supporters praise his advancement of his socially conservative message. Many of his detractors have accused him of hate speech and called him an "agent of intolerance", finding fault with his views on LGBT people, Judaism and Islam, his support of racial segregation during the Civil Rights Movement, and his controversial statements blaming gays, feminists, pagans and abortionists for the September 11 attacks. These controversies, however, never bothered him during his lifetime, and he often stated, "I'm not called to be popular; I'm called to be faithful."

DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING?

[AzRealProgressive]

03:39 AM on 09/23/2008

Yes it does. Enough people watch him every night that Hannity makes more money in one hour than you do in a year. Evidently his views are extremely popular.

[oldgael66]

09:11 AM on 09/23/2008

Don't drink the cool aid out there.

[comacoma]

09:20 AM on 09/23/2008

"Evidently his views are extremely popular." = He has an extremely ignorant and bigoted audience.

[TovSquirrel]

09:37 PM on 09/22/2008

I saw about two minutes of it. It wasn't an interview, it was a coffee klatch!

[paulbikes]

07:34 PM on 09/22/2008

Palin. Interviewed by Hannity. I'd watch it but i think my head would spin off.

[IhaveaDREAMwhitegirl]

07:02 PM on 09/22/2008

I'll bet those women on The View would give Palin an interview to end all interviews.

[bjwordman]

06:46 PM on 09/22/2008

Sean Hannity and The Politics of Division

Really don't mean to omit Limbaugh, Hewitt, Levin and the rest of that noisy right wing crowd, but I've had more exposure to Hannity via his talk radio and tv shows. I tune into his radio show several times a week on my commute from work. Not because I agree with his views, but rather to check the daily buzz and corresponding Republican talking points which Hannity faithfully recites. His callers routinely greet him as a "great American". And while I do not question his patriotism and I am sure he is a good father, spouse, son and friend, from my vantage point, he's a pretty lousy American. If Hannity truly loves this country then why has he devoted his life to dividing it's citizens along political and cultural lines.One likely answer is that it's very lucrative. He and Limbaugh have built multi-million dollar empires formenting division. Little wonder Senator Obama and his campaign for a return to civil and bipartisan politics have engendered such a ferocious and vile response from Hannity and the hate-mongers. If Obama was to achieve his vision of a united America where people worked across party and cultural lines to address the serious challenges we face they'd be out of a job. And wouldn't that be a loss [sic]....[Update....Kudos to Hannity on the recent Palin infomercial ....thinking there might be a career opportunity in that genre if his day job ever tanks]

[nonconformist2]

06:35 PM on 09/22/2008

PBS has a poll going for people to vote whether they think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president. Right now the "yes" votes are winning, because the right wing is voting en masse.

To change this trend, click on the link below and vote (you don't have to provide email or personal info, just click yes or no in the link and it will give you to vote to date.

http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

[fastfreddy57]

06:52 PM on 09/22/2008

A little over a hundred years ago there was a fellow who had very little experience and he became vice president, his name was Theodore Roosevelt.

[AzRealProgressive]

03:42 AM on 09/23/2008

As I recall, his only political gig before becoming president was a mayor. He did pretty well, all things considered.

[philosopherkingtomas]

05:53 PM on 09/22/2008

Does FOX charge for their republican commercials and friendly meaningless interviews? Is there NO SHAME ?

[votehillary2012now]

02:50 PM on 09/22/2008

Hello Obama supporters....

It will all come to an end soon and the sad part is when He loses this election he will be forever scarred politically and put back into his do-nothing senate seat where he belongs.

He will need the time to write a third memoir before age 50 of a life that is still yet to ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING!!

www.votehillary2012now.com

[gappedtoothgodwarrior]

03:56 PM on 09/22/2008

Sounding desperate there.

[Manchurian]

06:40 PM on 09/22/2008

Like a desperate McCain supporter in drag.

[bronxlcsw]

02:31 PM on 09/22/2008

Tim Russet said in 2007 in response to tough questions of Hillary during one of the debates: "If any candidate refuses to answer tough questions they should not be running for higher office" That is so true. These people think we are suckers like those slick talking con artists that do those infomercials. What Obama needs to do is have a person dressed as a chicken stationed at every Palin event. Thats all. Hey palin how about answering a couple of questions. This is a job interview and we the american people are looking to hire a Pres and VP. can we ask a few questions????

[deliriousgod]

02:03 AM on 09/22/2008

Fire in the disco! Fire in the taco bell! It's our desire; it's our desire! Danger! High Voltage!

[TrumanHugh]

12:56 AM on 09/22/2008

Excellent article...too bad Hannity or Van Susteren won't give it one wit of consideration!

[iswideopen]

12:48 AM on 09/22/2008

Sean Hannity? HA!!!!!!!!!! This was no interview; this was a "George W. Bush and John McBush's" talking points meeting. Sean Hannity is another one of those tabloid journalist "wannabees". The only show he will ever have is his radio show and Fox News. No other sane human being would be interested.

[AzRealProgressive]

03:44 AM on 09/23/2008

Others seem to. I think he just signed a mega deal on satellite radio for hundreds of millions.

[4midable]

11:48 PM on 09/21/2008

Can you spell I N F O M M E R C I A L?

[SunshineDaydream]

02:24 AM on 09/22/2008

I N F O M E R C I A L

[4midable]

01:44 PM on 09/22/2008

Thanks.

[MsYellowDog]

11:42 PM on 09/21/2008

I certainly did not watch--I do not allow Faux News on in my house at all,and I knew it would be an adoring piece anyhow. Sean Hannity looks and behaves like the little boy who has to run home from school every day,because all the other boys in his class are waiting to beat him up,he's such a brown-noser.

[Manchurian]

06:45 PM on 09/22/2008

I believe it was Harry Browne (in "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World") who advocated subscribing to periodicals with viewpoints to which you are opposed.

As much as I am sickened by the blatant partisanship of Fox, I still try to make a point of watching it from time to time. It's like looking into the brain of your opponent.