Infotainer Sean Hannity is fond of the word "reprehensible" in describing the words and actions of America's left, and as his ideological bedfellow I can't resist nodding in agreement. But Sean, welcome to their club.
It appears that vociferous lefty Alec Baldwin's ex-wife, Kim Basinger, slipped to the press Baldwin's profanity-pumped voicemail to his daughter after she missed yet another phone date. Hannity, whom Baldwin once called on the air a no-talent construction worker, had his payback, and today spent a goodly portion of his radio show and evening Fox News show making that payback a goodly hell.
Look, all's fair in love, war, and partisan politics, but family is out of bounds. Reprehensible, and when Hannity rhetorically linked the Virginia Tech obscenity to Baldwin's relatively tame profanities under the guise that Baldwin is somehow dangerous to his daughter, "reprehensible" started to seem not strong enough.
But that's Hannity's lookout. An infotainer makes his living on the edge, and if and when he goes too far, the market decides his punishment. Don Corleone wouldn't judge how a man makes his living and feeds his own family, so neither will I.
But there is a growing connection between the toy department of infotainment and the real world of politics. I still get a guilty pleasure from Ann Coulter, who dares to say some things that need to be said. But she's lost her place at the grownups' table---I don't want her anywhere near any Republican Party function, whose electoral success isn't a matter of entertaining debate, but of life and death.
As for Sean Hannity, I don't want him around either unless he backs down, which I think won't happen because it would be out of character. If he'll use a man's family troubles to settle a personal vendetta, then he's a bedfellow I want at arm's length.
I never expected the Democratic Party to repudiate Al Sharpton for the sake of mere decency. Votes are votes, and throwing them away is unilateral political disarmament. Sean Hannity is immensely popular, with a fiercely loyal following; the best thing about Bill Clinton's Sister Souljah moment was that it cost him absolutely nothing. (Who the hell was Sister Souljah, anyway? No Sean Hannity, to be sure. Not even an Al Sharpton.)
Reputed Christians Hannity and Sharpton are debating this very night, which is entirely fitting and proper. Each side has its strange bedfellows, and crosses to bear. I just wish one or both would repent, but I don't think either one ever will. For my part, if and when Sean Hannity gets away with this (and he will, sort of), and is a celebrity host at a party function, I'll feel a little less proud of being a Republican.
5 comments:
I used to listen to Sean Hannity in the car while I was picking up my daughter from school. A few months ago I realized that I was habitually turning him off after she'd been in the car for a few minutes, because I was uncomfortable with her being exposed to some of the rhetorical devices he habitually employs.
Then I got a new car with a Sirius satellite radio, and we listen to Channel 22. Sean Hannity needs to be worried if I think the B-52s and Siouxie and the Banshees are healthier fare for a twelve year old than he is.
Wow, Miz H. As a mother, you adjudged him not fit for impressionable human consumption.
I used to float an idea to my lefty friends that we could somehow forge an "alliance of the decent."
First we gotta find some "decents."
(Lordy, do I love the B-52s too. Cosmic Thing remains one of the greatest American albums in human history.)
Tom, I heard about 20 minutes of his riff on Baldwin, and I also made the connection to their past battles.
The classy thing for Hannity would have been to "recuse" himself from this subject.
Neither Baldwin nor Basinger behaved very well in this episode; it's a sad, sad situation all around. And the kid, Ireland, is hurting the people closest to her just so she can overcome her sense of powerlessness; that is human nature, but still very sad.
Actually, the classy thing for Hannity to have done would have been to do the right thing: say that although he disagrees intensely with Baldwin's politics, he sympathizes with the man's family problems and wishes Baldwin and his family the very best and hopes that they will be able to resolve their sad and ugly public conflict very soon.
That was my initial reaction, and I am surely no great saint.
How can a guy named ST not be a saint?
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