I Came Out of Rehab Because Sean Hannity's A Liar

I've often posted here about the horrors of Fox News. Each time I do, friends ask me a very simple and valid question: "If Fox News upsets you so much, why do you continue to watch?"

I always give them the same answer -- "Fox News is the train wreck from which I am unable to avert my eyes."

But, let's face it, my friends have a good point. Do I enjoy the high blood pressure? Do I need it? No. Even though it does give my face a welcome bit of color, there's really no up side.

So I have been in Fox Detox. I've been voluntarily avoiding the network in hopes of improving my health. No Doocy, Kilmeade or Kelly. No Morris, Kristol or Krauthamer. No Wallace, Hannity, O'Reilly or Beck. No Ailes mis-infotainment of any kind. I've been going cold turkey. And, to be honest, I've been feeling better. Much better.

So I just stuck to reading The Huffington Post. I thought that would be safe.

I was wrong.

I've been like an alcoholic staring at all the delightfully tempting bottles of amber liquid behind the bar then forcing himself to order a glass of soda. It's healthier but without much buzz.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I fell off the wagon. I honestly didn't mean to. I didn't even think I was. After all, it was Huffington. They wouldn't hurt me, would they? Well, they didn't mean to, but they did.

I followed a link to Jason Linkins' recent post about the way Sean Hannity selectively edits film to make it tell whatever story he wants to tell instead of telling the truth. Jason's piece is upsetting, but wonderful.

He included film from Media Matters showing how Hannity sliced and diced an interview that Major Garrett did with President Obama. Garrett's questions elicited thoughtful responses. But apparently they were too thoughtful for Sean so he took the President's words out of context and gave his audience a totally different and dishonest accounting of what was said. He also played with Obama's words from various speeches so that he could portray the President as an un-American terrorist sympathizer.

Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address said of our fallen soldiers -- "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." Sean and his editor would have had Lincoln say that "The world will little note what they did here," then use the clip as proof of how little regard he had for our troops. That's because Hannity's a liar.

If you haven't seen Jason's post, I invite you to take a look.

Horrible, right? You bet. Taking someone's words and rearranging them to tell a completely different story is wrong. It's not journalism, reporting or even commentary. It's lying. It's Hannity, once again, proving himself to be a revolting manipulator of the facts. No surprise there.

What I don't understand is why this story isn't the lead on every newscast in the country. Why isn't it on the front page of every paper? Why isn't everyone being shown what a truth-bending biased psuedo-news organization Fox really is?

I fear I know the answer. We collectively don't care. We're numb. We don't think it matters.

It does. Believe me, it does.

Like Obama or hate Obama, that's your choice. But Fox is not telling the truth about who he is or, even more importantly, who we are.

Having recently traveled out of the country I was stunned to find that Fox is often the only television station one can receive. Why? Because in many places they do not charge for their services. Fox makes their satellite feed available for free. So in many places Fox is the only representative of American society and its political views. In many places around the world, people think that Fox fairly represents all of our opinions.

Of course, they do not.

Please, read Jason Linkins' post here at Huffington and watch the clip he included. Then... please... send it to as many people as you possibly can and ask them to do the same.

Comments

[Banger]

I believe that FOX news is by far the best news coverage on television today. They give both side equal time and are not angry cheerleaders like the ladies and gentleman on MSNBC. There is a reason why their rating have been and will continue to be better than many of their competitors added together. We need to stop all of the destroy your opponent , started by Carville and Begala in the 90's and get back to have civil disagreements , discuss diverse ideas and come to the best decision for our great country. All of the hateful post do nothing but continue to divide our great country.

[Dave Hackel - Huffpost Blogger]

Obviously, we have a fundamental disagreement. That's fine. And, obviously, your comments makes it clear that you've given this a lot of thought. So I won't try to change your mind about the entire network. But my post was specific -- is it or is it not okay with you for Hannity to lie to his audience about what Obama has said...to manufacture clipis...and then respond to his own invention? That's not a hateful question. It's a real one. And I'm hoping that at least in that specific instance you'd agree that it's wrong for a news organization to endorse telling lies to their audience.

[Doug1000X1]

Fox news may be different in that it's the best. There's much evidence of Sean Hannity's deceptive practices like that at http://mediamatters.org/research/200812170007.

Sean Hannity says his job is to stop his opponents. You say 'civil disagreement' is more appropriate than persuasion using hateful invectives. Banger you are right, you aren't advocating Hannity's practices of infulencing masses through lies. You were referring to uniting the country by considering all viewpoints. How about if we would just use the ones that aren't lies. Fox management should establish policy of not lying. That would entail ridding themselves of liars. That would draw viewers interested in new objective reporters.

[tm68]

I'm another American frustrated by Fox News. I posted Jason's article on my FB page, but really, what will that do? I don't have many acquaintances who watch Fox, so I'm basically preaching to the choir.

It's a very impotent feeling to know that Fox is spewing lies to our country and the world, misrepresenting our President on a regular basis. All I can do is not watch it. My husband, for some ungodly reason watches it(perhaps it has something to do with his military status? IDK, I can't explain it and neither can he to my satisfaction), but I will not be in the same room with him when he does. To his credit, he always chooses me over Fox and changes the channel. Smart man.

[delta queen]

PS. I read HuffPo several times daily and somehow never saw this on its publish date.

[Doug1000X1]

I bother to help. You don't see what all the bloggers write. However, if you make yourself a friend of a celebrity blogger, then you get an email notifying you that that celebrity blogger has posted. This will enable you to see that post immediately. Also you can use a search string like 'Hannity' or even 'delta queen' to find messages with that content. After I complete this message to you I will search for 'delta queen' and look at what other messages you have posted.

[delta queen]

I avert my eyes and ears too. For the most part, Fox makes me physically ill. And yes, I am part of the problem; I feel there is nothing I can do and hope somebody else takes care of it. Until. Until I hear people quoting Fox. I live in rural Arkansas on some very beautiful land; cheaply! I love it here and don't want to live elsewhere, yet I drive past homes that still have their McCain / Palin signs up. THEY MOW AROUND THEM. I have aquaintences that quote Sean Hannity. I still do nothing. I choose my meager battles wisely- and gererally win them. Big cheers to you in the infantry; I respect you soldier.

[Doug1000X1]

Preachers on TV telling how evolution of species is an inadequate theory, are like Hannity. Preachers criticize scientists, Hannity criticizes presidents. Preachers use half-baked explanations. Hannity uses what, excerpts that mislead?

[efmo]

Just fyi - news corp owns myspace.

[aquarius2001]

I absolutely agree with you. This should be getting mass attention, but sadly, it does not. It really angers me as well that they can get away with this kind of deceit.

[gsteinum]

i read about and watch people struggling with big fat liars in various media venues.i applaud you, mr. hackel for repeatedly outing hannity and others like him. factual and news used to be somewhat synonymous. or at least news reporters projected a thicker veneer of credibility. it's common knowledge that faux noise is not news. even so, we still need individuals who point out liars and cons when they see them. your point(s) bear repeating.

[rsprags]

You will have to talk directly to the Fox viewers; and, maybe these folks want to be lied to by Fox News. These rethugs are that 19% of individuals that are willing to call themselves conservatives as well as all the companies that put any TVs in their businesses on FOX news networks.

[Dave Hackel - Huffpost Blogger]

You're right -- directly to Fox viewers. But how? My experience has been that people who watch and Fox and believe they really are "fair and balanced" don't really want to hear differently. They don't believe it's possible that the people who've been lying to them are lying to them.

[Nooneyouknow]

Or we could simply press to have Fox News' corporate charter revoked. Sadly, Fox just won a lawsuit and now has no legal need to tell the truth. It is openly a propaganda channel, not a news channel.
In theory, American citizens control the FCC. Why not reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and even go farther--make it a crime for a media source to deliberately lie?

[serena1313]

How anyone take Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the others seriously is beyond me. Hannity is not the only one who dices and splices videos, O'Reilly does likewise. Their air of self-righteousness makes it all that much more infuriating when they lie. Their behaviour is atrocious and their "reporting" is likewise.

While living in Los Angeles (1980 - 1987) O'Reilly had a nightly segment (I've forgotten the name of the programme) that I used to watch and enjoy. He was different then -- normal, sane. However he completely changed when he joined Fox News which I refuse to watch.

Citizens need to be informed and educated on the issues otherwise democracy becomes unhealthy and eventually dies. Perhaps that is the goal because Fox is doing everything possible to dumb-down the public.

[Doug1000X1]

You said, '...democracy becomes unhealthy and eventually dies.'
I don't know, argument seems simple. To argue or discuss, a person makes an assertion, then states why the assertion is true or why he believes it. The mass of people should be able to identify people trying to mislead, allowing democracy to survive. Hannity has apparently been lying when he gives the reason for his assertions.

Here's something to think about. When Obama took the field to toss out the first ball of the All-star game in the packed Cardinal stadium in St. Louis, there was an 'boo' under the cheer. Booing may be a reaction or a "gathered" response, gathered from collected knowledge or conclusions.

[exoevolution]

Solution: DO NOT WATCH FOX, EVER!

[lemonyashes]

The first time I heard O'reilly's name mentioned I thought I'd watch his show. Whoa, he had some Canadian guest on who was not so thrilled about George W. Bush and so O'Reilly started screaming at him to "Shut up, Shut up!!!!" I was in shock, what was going on? Since when is it ok to tell people to "shut up" especially guests on your "news" shows? Well my youngest 16 year old daughter asked me recently "Who is O'Reilly?" I showed her his recent interview of "Joan Walsh" on abortion as his guest on his show. She was shocked, same reaction as I had years ago, some things never change. If you have a guest on a "news" program to tell them to "shut up" or otherwise insult them as he did with Joan Walsh that is not "news" in any sense of the imagination other than O'Reilly was and still is some villainous cartoon character, that many are brainwashed by or addicted to to make sure we keep such villains in our sights so we can stay a step ahead of them. Anyone who takes these guys seriously including Murdock himself needs psychological and/or emotional help or intervention.

[cariintexas]

That would mean FOX has "Mental Health Coverage" in their healthcare plan.

[radiclib]

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You seem to be suggesting that Hannity is a sucker-puncher and a cheap-shot artist.
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[Dave Hackel - Huffpost Blogger]

No, not in this post. In this post I was simply making the point that he lied to his audience by editing some of President Obama's remarks and then commenting upon his edited version as though they were the truth. They, of course, were not. While I have no problem at all with all the commenters who are using this as a jumping off point to talk about the general lack of truth on Fox -- none whatsoever -- I'd ask those who find fault with the post to answer one simple on topic question: In the examples I sited in my article, was it okay for Hannity to lie to his audience and call it news or wasn't it? Pretty simple question.

[radiclib]

.
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No, of course it is not OK for Hannity to lie to his audience.
But he can't help it. It's what he does.

Another part of the Fox News method is to start with a loaded premise or a false assumption and then build a loaded question based on that.

Hannity is very good at this. He's also good at shouting down anyone who is smarter than him and at changing the subject when he starts to lose an argument.

Basically, he's a bully who cannot win a fair fight.
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[fedupinfla]

If the shoe fits....

[MaryKathO]

Of course there is something we can do. It's called a BOYCOTT. Since the only real ideology these corporate vampires understand or react to is the damage to their bottom lines, it is our responsibility to hit them where it hurts. Boycott the cash cows like "American Idol" and Sunday Football; ignore the movies that are financed and distributed by 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight; stop watching 'Hannity', O'Reilly' or Beck; and more importantly, boycott the products that advertise during these programs. Write, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, whatever it takes but stay active and loud until you are heard by Murdoch or any other corporate CEO who doesn't have the slightest interest in producing a NEWS program, but can only understand the $$$$$ said program makes for the shareholders. Until the public takes responsibility for keeping this garbage on the air, it is ALL of us who must suffer the consequences. There can be no democracy without an INFORMED public.

[andyg]

Real liberal's don't watch fox any way, They have the dial stuck to msnbc, so how can you boycott something you don't watch.

[protagonia]

Their sponsors.

[cafecat]

I tried corecting my comment by replying to it, but maybe you can't reply to your own comment, so here I go again...

After rereading your blog, I realized you were commenting about your travels outside the U.S. where feed of FOX news is free. Therefore, I have to assume that our citizenry is actually paying for FOX News (as we pay for other cable channels) and thus concede that my argument is flawed. I held onto the pollyannish view that as a culture, we wouldn't actually intentionally choose to watch distorted news. A bit naive of me, I know.

I can't explain the popularity of FOX news. It dumbfounds me. I am concerned that this blog has only received 37 comments since July 10th, however. Please HuffPo, keep this blog visible on every page. As Obama reminded us by quoting Moynihan, one is entitled to his own opinion, not his own facts.

[BBackSoon]

Let me start by saying I cut my addiction to FIX news a number of years ago when I realized I was being fed Bushco talking points. I fell into the trap of the best coverage on the Iraq war, not understanding that the unprecedented access was a payback to playing the war drums.

Since having the epiphany that Fix is Right Wing propaganda and not much more, I find that I am unable to watch because it makes me yell at my TV, this upsets my wife and scares the dog.

My parents will watch Fix and I see a little when I go over to visit, but in their defense they do watch other political shows on MSNBC but they still think MSNBC distorts the news more than FIX. We seldom get into political conversations because it only infuriates all of us with no real change in opinion.