Sean Hannity's "reporter" asked leading questions to two random people protesting in Ferguson, a woman "with a job" and a kid in high school. They were not the most articulate, but that was obviously by design. Hannity could then extrapolate out of those two people his talking point that all the protestors are mis-fed information.
Even though Lt. Gov. Kinder is a fellow wingnut, he shook his head and blurted out "God, that is terrible TV."
He had no idea that he was live!
Hannity heard the comment and seemed startled by it, but continued with his introduction assuming Kinder was with him. As you will see in the video, Kinder wasn't listening and clearly thought he wasn't on camera yet.
When Hannity was done being a blowhard and explaining how people should think (we report, you decide my ass), Hannity asked Kinder a question. Realizing Kinder wasn't listening, Hannity asked, "Peter, can you hear me?"
Whoops! Kinder realized he was on and immediately began rattling off on Sean's talking point. Yes, yes, you are so right, Sean.
But the damage was done.
As I was watching this trainwreck, I couldn't help but compare the quality of Hannity's crap-fest with Rachel Maddow. Heck, I don't have a million lemming followers but even I really do put an effort into my posts to make sure they are accurate and respectful of the intelligence of my audience. God knows that if I make wild assumptions or exaggerate, I am called out by at least a dozen people.
Rachel Maddow holds a doctorate from Oxford in political science. Her show is intelligent and thoroughly researched. I would be embarrassed if she conducted her show as amateurishly as Hannity does his, even though I agree with her point of view. Hannity is a college dropout who was also a failed radio host until he was rescued by Fox News co-founder Roger Ailes. Ailes needed someone incapable of critical thought and would tow the conservative line unquestionably. Hannity fit the bill.
Unlike liberals, conservatives just don't have much of a standard when it comes to someone who spouts their point of view. It is one of the reasons Bill O'Reilly still has a job on Fox even though he is a proven liar. You can lie about everything and you can be terrible, just tow the line.
Deep down conservatives know this, apparently; but it was still refreshing to hear it live.
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