L'affair Robertson: Media Cesspool Dept.

Hannity (and a limping Colmes) Gallop In To Do Some Damage Control

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Hannity: "Some say" Robertson advocated Chavez's assassination; "some" includes the videotape and Robertson

On the August 24 (2005) edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity stated that "Pat Robertson caused a bit of a media firestorm this week when he advocated, some say [sic], the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez." But what Hannity cast as a matter in dispute -- whether Robertson actually advocated the assassination of Chavez -- is not, in fact, in dispute. He did.

Moreover, the "some" who say that Robertson did advocate Chavez's assassination includes Robertson himself, who on August 24 acknowledged that he had made those remarks, after initially denying it.

In discussing Robertson's August 22 statements and the resulting controversy, guest and former CIA operative Wayne Simmons endorsed the assassination of not only Chavez but also Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il.

From the August 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: But first, Pat Robertson caused a bit of a media firestorm this week when he advocated, some say, the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Now Pat Robertson apologized for those remarks today, but who is Hugo Chavez? Is he a threat to the United States that must be dealt with?

[...]

ALAN COLMES (co-host): Should we assassinate him?

SIMMONS: Well, listen, if a stray bullet from a hunter in Kentucky should find its way between these guy's -- this guy's eyes --

COLMES: Just by accident?

SIMMONS: -- no American --

COLMES: Who knew?

SIMMONS: Yes, who knew? No American should lose any sleep over it.

COLMES: Let me ask you this. Pat Robertson considers himself a good Christian. We -- some people consider us a Christian nation. Would assassinating a leader of another country be the Christian thing to do?

SIMMONS: Listen, this is not about Christians. I'm a Christian, as well, but I'm about protecting this country and protecting Americans.

COLMES: Do you want him dead?

SIMMONS: Anyone who -- I absolutely would -- he should have been killed a long time ago.

COLMES: By whom?

SIMMONS: And anyone who blames other -- by anyone, Alan.

COLMES: It's against the law.

SIMMONS: By anyone, Alan. It doesn't matter to me who kills this guy.

COLMES: It's against the law.

SIMMONS: He needs to go.

COLMES: We have an executive order, 12333, Executive Order 12333, put in place in the '70s. We don't do that to other --

SIMMONS: The president can -- the president can order that.

COLMES: Well, should --

SIMMONS: It should have been ordered. This guy -- this guy needs to go.

COLMES: Well, if we're going to kill him, aren't there some dictators even a little more dangerous to us? Khamenei in Iran? Should we kill him? Should we kill Kim Jong Il in North Korea? Should we knock those guys off, too?

SIMMONS:Yeah, absolutely. Listen -- listen, this is what's happened, Sean.

COLMES: This is Alan.

SIMMONS: I'm sorry, Alan. This is what's happened.

COLMES: If someone's a target, I want to know exactly who the target is. Don't get people mixed up here. It makes me very nervous.

SIMMONS: I'm sorry about that. OK, look, what's happened here is -- on a very serious note -- things are getting all convoluted and out of control. And what I mean by that is, terrorism is a very, very, very real part of our lives today. This is not something where we have a terrorist dictator that we can go negotiate with.

COLMES: But you want to go kill people. You want to go after a guy who's not an imminent threat to the United States. You want to be in the assassination business.

[crosstalk]

SIMMONS: Come on, Alan. Alan, you know that's not what I want to do.

COLMES: That's exactly what you said.

SIMMONS: I want to protect America. I want to protect America. These are our enemies.

COLMES: How many people should we kill?

SIMMONS: Alan, if I'd have had the opportunity to assassinate Hitler or Mussolini, I would have done it. This situation is no different.

CODA: I'm sure that many people on the left have wondered what Alan Colmes is doing on the Hannity-Colmes show. He's clearly an intelligent man, but it's obvious that there are plenty of deficiencies elsewhere. Still, what's Colmes' role in this perennially fixed fight? To simply furnish the fig leaf of a "balancing viewpoint" to the torrent of lies and assorted manure issuing from the resident loudmouth, Sean Hannity, a low-class bully, who, like O'Reilly, proudly showcases a repulsive personality that makes even Mussolini look mild...? As the exchange with the pathetic Simmons clearly demonstrates, Colmes is paid to pull his punches. As an educated man, he's potentially capable of a fierce repartee. But obviously Colmes knows damn well that if he started winning those pseudo-debates...he'd soon find himself on the street, looking for a new job. As they say in the sport, "the fix's in," and he knows it.

—P. Greanville

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