I couldn't believe my ears today when I heard a talk show host in America dissuading an entire group of people from voting. http://mediamatters.org/items/200610200001
On his radio show today, Sean Hannity addressed any Democratic listeners with:
"I want you to stay home on Election Day because you must accept the fact that your party has abandoned you. You've gotta accept the fact that your vote doesn't matter anyway. So all you Democrats, stay home. So, you know, why don't you stay home on Election Day?"
Does this sound like thoughful speech that should be broadcast through airwaves that belong to the citizens in a democracy that is soon to hold an election--or transparent propaganda from the state-run radio station in a dictatorship? I honestly can't remember anything said in the media that I found to be more irresponsible, reprehensible and unpatriotic.
Then again, judging how he treats his callers with dissenting viewpoints http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/25/talk-radio-dissenting/, it should be no surprise. These are not the actions a person who respects democracy.
Or maybe Sean was simply regurgitating the Republican "talking points" and marching orders he received from his 90-minute meeting with "President" Chimpy last month: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/us/politics/17radio.html. Gee, I'll bet the family and friends of the 2,973 Americans who died on 9/11 wished that almost-President Bush had spent 90-minutes with the CIA briefer who brought him the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing entitled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Bush listened to the briefing, then told the CIA briefer: "All right. You've covered your ass now." Apparently, the president didn't find the subject matter interesting or important enough to really engage with and act upon. And then the barely-president resumed his month-long vacation and went fishing.
Did Bush also go fishing after your meeting, Sean? Did he get you, Boortz, Gallagher, Medved and Laura Ingraham whipped into line so you could go back to your microphones and dupe the stupid (like you do every day anyway)? Did Rumsfeld come in with dogs nipping at your crotch while he ordered you all to form a naked human pyramid? Did Cheney come in and ask to put electrodes on anyone's testicles while rubbing his own crotch? Yeah, you sick bastards, I've got your number.
Obviously, Republicans know that they can't win in a straight fight. That's why they constantly need to steal elections (why else would Sean have blurted out "You've gotta accept the fact that your vote doesn't matter anyway"? Oops! Has Sean been clued in on the GOP strategy for stealing the election THIS time? Was he in a different naked human pyramid with Karl Rove and the C.E.O.s of Diebold, Sequoia and E.S.&S.?) and use deception artists like Limbaugh, Hannity and the other people in the naked pyramid.
Mr. Hannity also said: "I don't want everybody to vote; I want well-informed people to vote." He suggests that:
1) His listeners and viewers are better informed than those who are spared from his show; and
2) Democratic voters are not as well-informed as Republican
Yet research indicates the exact opposite to be true. I know how much science scares you right-wingers, but the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) out of the University of Maryland does extensive polling of Americans and their perceptions on many issues. A few years ago, they released their findings after polling 9,611 Americans about their beliefs about different aspects of the Iraq War (such as evidence of al-Qaeda links to Iraq , if WMDs had been found, if world public opinion of the war was favorable). There are a lot of interesting charts and graphs in that document, but if you don't want to look through all of that, here are some of their findings:
--Respondents with one or more misperceptions:
80% of FOX viewers
71% of CBS viewers
61% of ABC viewers
55% of NBC viewers
55% of CNN viewers
47% of Print media
23% of PBS-NPR viewers
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Under the heading of "Evidence of Links Between Iraq and al-Qaeda" the question read: "Is it your impression that the US has or has not found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al Qaeda terrorist organization?"
For FOX "News" channel viewers, 67% believed that the U.S. has found evidence of a Saddam-al Qaeda link.
For PBS-NPR channel viewers/listeners, 16% believed that the U.S. has found evidence of a Saddam-al Qaeda link.
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Under the heading of "Weapons of Mass Destruction," the question read: "Since the war with Iraq ended, is it your impression that the US has or has not found Iraqi weapons of mass destruction?"
For FOX "News" channel viewers, 33% believe the U.S. has found WMDs.
For PBS-NPR channel viewers/listeners, 11% believe the U.S. has found WMDs.
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Under the heading of "World Public Opinion," the question read: "Thinking about how all the people in the world feel about the US having gone to war with Iraq , do you think: The majority of people favor the US having gone to war?"
For FOX "News" channel viewers, 35% believe the world was with us.
For PBS-NPR, 5% believe the world was with us.
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See a pattern? It's no wonder why I can so easily beat dittoheads in a debate. Thanks to you and your ilk, they don't know jack.
PIPA did another study that showed that likely voters in the 2004 election had many misperceptions. This study made my jaw drop. Only about 70% of Democratic voters in the survey understood their own presidential candidate's (Kerry) position on major foreign policy issues. Republican/Bush voters? They did WAY worse! Typically only 30% of Bush supporters understood his stance on the same major issues! Duh!
PIPA did yet another study called The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters which showed even more starkly how misinformed and ignorant Republican voters are compared to Democrats.
And we have people like Sean Hannity to thank for that. Here are over 210 examples of Hannity knowingly disseminating or contributing to the dissemination of misinformation to his audience: http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=&start_month=&start_day=&start_year=&end_month=&end_day=&end_year=&issue=&subissue=&topic=&person=Sean+Hannity&show=&outlet =
Additionally, in less than a 30-second period of time, he also made the following statements about the Democratic Party today:
--they want to "give amnesty" to illegal immigrants
--they engage in "tax raising"
--engage in nothing "beyond bashing Bush"
--"they have literally not a single solitary policy or idea that's going to benefit this country, keep you safe, and make the country stronger."
--"abandoning our troops on the battlefield"
--"closing your eyes to enemy communications or listening to enemy communications in our country"
--"killing the economy"
--"supporting illegal immigration"
I could undoubtably refute each of these statements, but combating the sheer number and severity of Hannity's lies would be a full-time job. It's too time-consuming and exhausting. Plus, this email would be twice as long. And it's not my responsibility to put a leash on an irresponsible broadcaster in my employ--that's YOUR responsibility.
Mr. Hannity is too irresponsible to be given such a platform as a talk show on major broadcast networks. There is no tactful way to say this: Sean Hannity is a pathological liar. I am a licensed clinical professional counselor. So that's not just an insult, that's a clinical judgment.
Don't believe me? Try an experiment. Ask Hannity to go one hour without telling a lie that is either pro-GOP or anti-Dem. Then ask the people at MediaMatters.org to verifiy that he didn't lie. I guarantee you, Hannity cannot pass that test. Pathological liars can't help it. They lie and lie and lie. That's what they do.
Please consider one of the following three actions: 1) provide a real progressive talk show host (not a weak centrist like Alan Colmes) as a counter balance; 2) have Mr. Hannity offer corrections and apologies for all lies and misinformation (too impractical--that could take the entire show); or 3) remove Mr. Hannity from your broadcast line-up. He continually performs a disservice to the citizens of our democracy. And you, as his employers, hurt our nation with each broadcast you allow by perpetuating his lies and misinformation. His listeners grew more ignorant each day.
With as much respect as I can muster considering the circumstances,
(Leave Steve Peeved)
cc: The Sean Hannity show
bcc: dozens of caring Americans who I hope to dissuade--not from voting--but from consuming Hannity, ABC and FoxNews media.
