Bernard Goldberg: Hannity Going Too Far In Obama Attacks (VIDEO)

On last night's edition of Hannity, the end of the Somali pirate standoff seemed to drive a wedge between the show's host and one of his frequent guests, conservative commentator and author Bernard Goldberg. Hannity was bent out of shape, it seems, by the way the Obama White House had been "taking credit" for ending the standoff, which is strange because I don't remember a "Mission Accomplished" banner being hung or any inordinate deal made out of the matter, save brief statements.

Goldberg was apparently of the mind that Hannity was being rather petty, and while he allowed that the media may have made a big deal out of the event, he wasn't going to criticize the President in this instance. "I don't want to put Barack Obama on Mount Rushmore for simply being the commander-in-chief, but we have to stop going out of our way to find fault with every single thing he does," he said.

Hannity would not be moved, because he is apparently of the belief that Politico reporters uncovered the fact that Obama was bound, somehow, by law, to allow the Navy to carry out the mission. As NewsHounds points out, this was a rather bad interpretation of the article:

The Politico article Hannity was evidently referring to is clearly (although not to Hannity) reporting that the snipers could not shoot without Obama's authorization -- not that Obama was required to give authorization:

The exact details of the shooting remain murky. The snipers fired after all three pirates became visible on the enclosed lifeboat where they were holding Phillips, a Navy official in Bahrain told reporters -- giving the snipers the chance to kill all three at once, so that none would be left behind to harm Phillips.


Obama's involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against Al Qaeda and other terror groups, officials said.

"It's not a combat operation, so the lawyers wanted to ensure this was done right," said a second defense official.

Goldberg, quite reasonably, added: "If something bad happened here, and thank God it didn't, but if something bad happened here, I'll guarantee you, I'll tell you who would be leading the crusade against him: You. And you may have been right, if something bad happened, you may have said this is because he's seen as soft and they took advantage of him. You might have been right. But it didn't. Look, Sean, the good guy is alive and well. The bad guys are dead. That's all good. It happened on Barack Obama's watch. He gets the credit.

[WATCH]

HANNITY: I noticed this right out of the box, that at first, they were very noncommittal, and as soon as the success came in, according to reports it was Rahm Emanuel racing to take credit, which is the opposite of the way Captain Phillips handled it. Your thoughts.

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GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I think it was smart for the President not to say anything while these -- while the hostage was being held. If God forbid something happened to the captain, that would lessen the stature of the President, and if God forbid the President said something provocative and they killed the captain, there would be a lot of critics blaming Barack Obama for that, but there's another issue about this that troubles me, Sean, and it troubles me a lot. You remember when liberals wouldn't give George Bush credit for anything? If he came up with a cure for cancer, they wouldn't have given him credit for that, and, I'm sorry Sean, I see that on the right now. it's like -- I don't want to put Barack Obama on Mount Rushmore for simply being the commander-in-chief, but we have to stop going out of our way to find fault with every single thing he does. Look, I think I've got a little credibility on this issue, I don't like his economic policies, I don't like his tax policies, I wrote that book A Slobbering Love Affair about how the media slobbered all over him, but I'm not going to be like the left was with George Bush and criticize everything he does.

HANNITY: I don't want you to misunderstand, but there's an important point here. I think it was very different. There was an orchestrated effort for them to go out there and take credit for this. And that's according to reports. In other words they wanted the credit. I think you're right. I think he should have stayed silent, but what we've now discovered is according to the Politico he in fact was legally required to sign on to this, there was no great decision here, in other words. So I'm seeing the media praise him or overly praise him for something he legally was told by his team he had to do. So the slobbering love affair continues, in other words.

GOLDBERG: I agree with that, but, Sean, were you shocked when you found out that they were gambling in the back room at Rick's Cafe? Of course the media is going to bend over backwards and see things in the best light for the person that they want to be President. I'm not surprised by that. All I'm saying is -- I'll criticize the media, but what I'm saying is the right has to stop behaving like the left used to behave with George Bush.

HANNITY: But you have to show me where---I guess, by definition, if I'm discovering here that legally he had to do it, and his PR team led by Rambo Emanuel are out there grabbing credit, when the captain is saying "I'm just a byline in this story," wait a minute, there seems to be something wrong, and that whole story isn't being told. He didn't stop it because he couldn't stop it, apparently, Bernie, so where does he get the credit here?

GOLDBERG: He gets -- if you want to use the word, "credit," I'll use that word. He was the commander-in-chief, it happened on his watch, that's the way it goes in the real world of politics. If something bad happened here, and thank God it didn't, but if something bad happened here, I'll guarantee you, I'll tell you who would be leading the crusade against him, you, and you may have been right, if something bad happened, you may have said this is because he's seen as soft and they took advantage of him. You might have been right. But it didn't. Look, Sean, the good guy is alive and well.

HANNITY: I agree.

GOLDBERG: The bad guys are dead. That's all good. It happened on Barack Obama's watch. He gets the credit.

MORE:
Hannity Skewered By One of His Own for Disparaging the President [The Moderate Voice]

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Comments

[Ted Magnuson]

Thank you Bernie for calling out Sean Hannity. He has a sharp wit, but sometimes I think our cutesy curmudgeons are much like the old Roman Emporer Nero who fiddled while Rome burns. While the fringes are entertaining, it's the steady-eddy moderates who really need to get to the work that needs to be done, and put out all the fires..

[Heru1]

Hey Hannity, i see Bernard Goldberg's tea bags on your chin

[americanalien]

Why do people like Sean Hannity hate America?

[fulanita]

They hate people who don't agree with their world view unfortunately.

[sugarfree]

Sean Hannity;
Stop talking about President Obama Adminstration until you take a look at the last 16 years of the
Republications Adminstration.
Every problem that pops up these days some how some-way the Bush Admiinstration is associated with the problem.
A captian almost died because this problem wasn't taken care off in 1993, was unble to copy the
the whole document. read it at "www.cod.edu/people/faculty/yearman/somalia'



Document Collection
Conoco: "This goose laying golden eggs"

"Petroleum Exploration: Conoco Searches for Oil in Somalia." Cable from US Embassy in Mogadishu to State Department Headquarters. 21 March 1990. Cable Number: Mogadishu 02844. Source: Freedom of Information Act release (2006-01-286) to Keith Yearman.


"The largest and most purposeful enterprise going on in Somalia at the present time is Conoco's quest for oil...Conoco is investing in oil exploration in Somalia on a scale unmatched by its rivals, building roads and airstrips, chartering one of the national airline's three planes full time, and sending seismic survey teams to the edge of [Somaliland National Movement]-­controlled territory... The benefits to all if Conoco finds oil, and the immediate benefits to the economy of Conoco's spending, whether oil is found or not, are so apparent that no one has tried to kill this goose laying golden eggs...

[Bienville]

I wonder how many teabags would fit into that mouth.

[Anonani]

One can conclude that the people who keep the ratings high for Sean Hannity feed on his vitriol and need to hear something.­..anything­...bad about the President. Otherwise, there would be no Sean Hannity.

[maigoro]

Sean, Rush, Bill et al have a income to earn. The only skill they have is what comes out of their mouthes and they need to keep the words flowing to keep making that money. I think of them as cult leaders that need to keep their flock motivated to sustain the cash flow. Even with a good foundation and good ideas, time tends to force cult leaders tend to become more and more extreme to keep the flock from drifting. Eventually their words and actions drift towards the ridiculous and eventually what comes out borders on the insane. We all evolve.

[cj60]

I hope Sean want get Goldberg banned from the Foxnews Comic Show. It was really refreashing to hear another side since that station is so removed from reality. This was my first time hearing about the remarks made. Keep up the good work Huffington Post , since this is the ONLY way I will hear anything coming from that Foxness Comic Show.

[genia]

Personally, I'd rather see Hannity left alone ...he's way over the edge and no one outside the 28%ers will ever be converted by Sean. Goldberg lost me when he started warning the right not to act like the left did when Bush was in office.
I'm so sick of that spin.

[jcole]

Me two.

[2008FedUP]

Headdity needs a head reduction so he can think and take less room on my 46inch TV screen.

[nomoneynoworries]

It could so easily have gone wrong.I place the blame on the captain for putting himself in that situation.There was no need to fight the pirates,a ransom would have been paid,with nobody hurt.I see people who have problems with a death sentence carried out by an American state,and then I see people froth with pride that the seals killed 3 young men who had not harmed anybody.Sometimes I wonder at the hypocrisy.The navy wants me to believe that they shot the boys because they pointed guns at the captain,is stretches my credibility to believe that guns were only pointed at the captain once,everybody knew that these boys were only interested in money,not harm to the crew,way to go tough America,you sure showed em,just as you showed Saddam Hussein.

[coultersnemesis]

i agree with the sadness about the needless death..but come on--blame the victim? From the Left? I thought we hated that stuff?!

[pokey11]

This fool has NO IDEA how much he is despised in the black community across this country. I remember one night he made a comment, with a smile on his face, to Bob Beckel that he was thinking of visiting Trinity United Church to see what it was actually like. Bob Beckel then shook his head and said you really don't want to do that buddy. I believe if he ever made that mistake it would be the first time you would see on TV a church congregation actually take part in the mob beating of another person.

[Wiseup2Day]

Let's face it politicians always take credit where they can get away with it..but the real heroes are the 3 guys who got the head shots simultaneously.

[Vermontah]

Which is exactly what Obama said. To his credit.

[kennyfasugbe]

It is a good day to be an American when Bernard Goldberg starts making sense. Join the party Hannity!

[uperko]

I can just hear the collect "***dammit!" when the Seals successfully killed the pirates and got the captain back. It must really frustrate the hell out of the right wing crackpots when Barack Obama succeess at anything. They would have had major boners if the operation had failed and the captain had died. That was what they were really wishing for--Obama's failure, not matter what the cost in human life. They are pathetic.

[msblkwidow]

This is a first for Bernie. Good job! I think the real republicans are getting as sick of the Sean Hannities and Limbaughs as I am. NOBODY wants to hear their hate-mongering messages any longer.

I pray that Sean Hannity wake up one morning and discover HE'S BLACK. Whoa! That'll fix his a$$.

[phylliscooper1]

You don't want to condemn a whole race of people to being associated with Sean Hannity. I prefer to consider him a race and species all unto himself. God only knows what to call it.