T
Tyrone Cannon
Guest
Hannity Denies Past Association With White Supremacist But Evidence Suggests
Otherwise.
Reported by Ellen - March 20, 2008 - 451 comments
Another night, another high tech lynching of Barack Obama on Hannity &
Colmes. It was the usual attacks on Obama over those with whom he
associates. But last night (3/19/08), Sean Hannity was confronted about his
own past association with white supremacist Hal Turner. First Hannity denied
knowing Turner, then he said he had long ago banned Turner from his show.
While it's probably true that Hannity banned Turner, what Hannity didn't
mention is that before Turner got banned, he was regularly welcomed on
Hannity's show, even after saying on the air that if it weren't for the
graciousness of white people, "black people would still be swinging on trees
in Africa." Updated with video.
Malik Shabazz, of the New Black Panther Party, was the guest. FOX News
frequently hosts members of that organization, usually as objects of
derision. Last night, Shabazz was there because his organization had
endorsed Barack Obama. It was an endorsement that Obama specifically
rejected but FOX News deliberately trumped up the endorsement by inviting
Shabazz on the program (See, look what kind of extremists Obama associates
with), playing a clip from one of Shabazz' more incendiary confrontations
with Hannity (Jews knew about 9/11 and got out of the way), and repeatedly
running the "news" on the crawl that the Obama campaign had rejected the
endorsement because the New Black Panther Party is considered to be an
organization that advocates violence.
But last night, Shabazz wisely toned down his rhetoric and confronted
Hannity on his own bias against Obama. "Why won't you acknowledge the
brilliance of Barack Obama's speech? Why won't you accept his call to come
out of the divisive throngs of racism?" Shabazz asked.
Hannity praised Obama as a very effective politician. Then Hannity added,
"What I don't think you're understanding here, Malik, is that when you hear
the minister of him for 20 years, when you hear the associations with Louis
Farrakhan, one of the biggest racists and anti-Semites in the country, what
you're not understanding is, America hears extremism at its worst."
Shabazz responded, "Let me ask you this. Are you to be judged by your
promotion and association with Hal Turner?"
Hannity waved his arm around. "I don't know anybody named - this is
nonsense. I don't." Then Hannity changed his tune. "Sir, sir. That was a man
that was banned from my radio show ten years ago, that ran a Senate campaign
in New Jersey."
Then, as Shabazz refused to stop talking or back down, Hannity, in a tacit
admission, said, "I'm not running for president."
"A neo Nazi, you backed his career," Shabazz said.
Hannity answered, "That is an absolute, positive, lie and you've been
reading the wrong websites (presumably, he meant ours), my friend. Good
try."
In fact, the information about Hannity's association with Turner comes from
an article by Max Blumenthal in the online version of The Nation magazine,
dated June 3, 2005. And while it may be a stretch to say that Hannity
"backed Turner's career," there's little doubt that Hannity promoted
Turner's views. To quote from the article:
Turner was once a prominent activist in New Jersey's Republican Party.
To area conservatives, he was best known by his moniker for call-ins to the
Sean Hannity Show, "Hal from North Bergen." For years, Hannity offered his
top-rated radio show as a regular forum for Turner's occasionally racist,
always over-the-top rants. Hannity also chatted with him off-air, allegedly
offering encouragement to Turner as he struggled to overcome a cocaine habit
and homosexual leanings. Turner has boasted that Hannity once invited Turner
and his son on to the set of Fox News's Hannity and Colmes. Today, Turner
lurks on the fringes of the far right, spouting hate-laced tirades on his
webcast radio show. Hannity, meanwhile, remains mum about his former
alliance with the neo-Nazi, homing in instead on the supposed racism of
black and Latino Democrats.
.On WABC Hannity inherited (Bob) Grant's fan base of angry white males,
who listened to his show in the New York City area. Hannity recognized his
audience's thirst for red meat, racist rhetoric. However, he knew that if he
wanted to avoid Grant's fate, he needed an air of deniability. When "Hal
from North Bergen" began calling his show, Hannity found he could avoid the
dangers of direct race-baiting by simply outsourcing it to Turner.
During an August 1998 episode of the show, Turner reminded Hannity that
were it not for the graciousness of the white man, "black people would still
be swinging on trees in Africa," according to Daryle Jenkins, co-founder of
the New Jersey-based antiracism group One People's Project. Instead of
rebuking Turner or cutting him off, Hannity continued to welcome his calls.
On December 10 of the following year, Turner called Hannity's show to
announce his campaign to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives
from New Jersey, and to attack his presumptive opponent, Democratic
Representative Robert Menendez, as a "left-wing nut."
By this time, according to Jenkins, Turner and Hannity had bonded
off-air. In 1998 Hannity received an anonymous e-mail linking to an AOL
discussion board on which Turner had allegedly confessed to a cocaine
problem and alluded to past homosexual trysts. Turner (or someone claiming
to be Turner) wrote in an August 4, 1998, Google discussion forum that
Hannity called him to clear the air: "Just last week, Sean phoned me at home
from his job at FOX News to continue a conversation we'd begun earlier while
he was at WABC," Turner wrote. "Sean advised that one of you sensitive souls
sent him an e-mail about 'revelations I had made' here on the internet. He
told me it was obviously and [sic] attempt to 'poison the water.' " Turner
continued, "I told him that I've done things I'm not proud of, and had dark
times in my life; and those experiences helped shape the way I live
today...the right way. He [Hannity] laughed and commented that he knew the
feeling." Turner added that such chats with Hannity were "not unusual,"
often occurring while Hannity held his calls during commercial breaks.
But Turner and Hannity's relationship collapsed in 2000 after the Hudson
County Republican Party endorsed Turner's primary challenger, Theresa De
Leon, an accomplished businesswoman and dark-skinned Latina. "I had never
judged people on their race, not prior to that point," Turner recalled in a
February 23, 2003, article in the Bergen County Record. "And there I was, on
the receiving end--in America--of a decision that I wasn't good enough
because I was a white male." Turner finished last in the primary, just as
Hannity was hitting his stride as a major Fox News personality. When WABC's
screeners began blocking Turner's calls, he realized he was no longer of use
to Hannity.
Co-host Kirsten Powers jumped into the fray for a fraction of the time with
Shabazz that Hannity got. But, as we have come to expect from her, her
advocacy on behalf of Obama (or any Democrat) took a back seat to cozying up
to conservatives. It was her third day subbing for Alan Colmes, every day
has been a full-out attack against Obama and, by extension, the Democrats'
chances to win in November. Surely, Powers was politically savvy enough to
understand why Shabazz had been invited. But instead of thinking of some way
to advocate for her own side (She could have, for example, pointed out that
while she rejects Shabazz' organization, that Obama's message that we have
to work together to solve the serious problems facing the country is an
important one they can both agree on, that it's more important to have a
real dialogue about issues such as the war in Iraq, the economy and health
care than to dwell on what Obama's pastor says and whether or not Obama
denounced it soundly enough.) Instead, she used her portion of the interview
to further fan the flames of divisiveness. "First of all, the Obama campaign
says it doesn't want your endorsement. You were just saying to Sean how
Barack Obama wants to move past all this racial divisiveness." Smiling
scornfully, she continued, "I mean, I've read some of the stuff that you've
said about white people and about Jews. Do you think that that's moving past
racial division?"
http://www.youtube.com/v/YKNGBFCZNYw
Otherwise.
Reported by Ellen - March 20, 2008 - 451 comments
Another night, another high tech lynching of Barack Obama on Hannity &
Colmes. It was the usual attacks on Obama over those with whom he
associates. But last night (3/19/08), Sean Hannity was confronted about his
own past association with white supremacist Hal Turner. First Hannity denied
knowing Turner, then he said he had long ago banned Turner from his show.
While it's probably true that Hannity banned Turner, what Hannity didn't
mention is that before Turner got banned, he was regularly welcomed on
Hannity's show, even after saying on the air that if it weren't for the
graciousness of white people, "black people would still be swinging on trees
in Africa." Updated with video.
Malik Shabazz, of the New Black Panther Party, was the guest. FOX News
frequently hosts members of that organization, usually as objects of
derision. Last night, Shabazz was there because his organization had
endorsed Barack Obama. It was an endorsement that Obama specifically
rejected but FOX News deliberately trumped up the endorsement by inviting
Shabazz on the program (See, look what kind of extremists Obama associates
with), playing a clip from one of Shabazz' more incendiary confrontations
with Hannity (Jews knew about 9/11 and got out of the way), and repeatedly
running the "news" on the crawl that the Obama campaign had rejected the
endorsement because the New Black Panther Party is considered to be an
organization that advocates violence.
But last night, Shabazz wisely toned down his rhetoric and confronted
Hannity on his own bias against Obama. "Why won't you acknowledge the
brilliance of Barack Obama's speech? Why won't you accept his call to come
out of the divisive throngs of racism?" Shabazz asked.
Hannity praised Obama as a very effective politician. Then Hannity added,
"What I don't think you're understanding here, Malik, is that when you hear
the minister of him for 20 years, when you hear the associations with Louis
Farrakhan, one of the biggest racists and anti-Semites in the country, what
you're not understanding is, America hears extremism at its worst."
Shabazz responded, "Let me ask you this. Are you to be judged by your
promotion and association with Hal Turner?"
Hannity waved his arm around. "I don't know anybody named - this is
nonsense. I don't." Then Hannity changed his tune. "Sir, sir. That was a man
that was banned from my radio show ten years ago, that ran a Senate campaign
in New Jersey."
Then, as Shabazz refused to stop talking or back down, Hannity, in a tacit
admission, said, "I'm not running for president."
"A neo Nazi, you backed his career," Shabazz said.
Hannity answered, "That is an absolute, positive, lie and you've been
reading the wrong websites (presumably, he meant ours), my friend. Good
try."
In fact, the information about Hannity's association with Turner comes from
an article by Max Blumenthal in the online version of The Nation magazine,
dated June 3, 2005. And while it may be a stretch to say that Hannity
"backed Turner's career," there's little doubt that Hannity promoted
Turner's views. To quote from the article:
Turner was once a prominent activist in New Jersey's Republican Party.
To area conservatives, he was best known by his moniker for call-ins to the
Sean Hannity Show, "Hal from North Bergen." For years, Hannity offered his
top-rated radio show as a regular forum for Turner's occasionally racist,
always over-the-top rants. Hannity also chatted with him off-air, allegedly
offering encouragement to Turner as he struggled to overcome a cocaine habit
and homosexual leanings. Turner has boasted that Hannity once invited Turner
and his son on to the set of Fox News's Hannity and Colmes. Today, Turner
lurks on the fringes of the far right, spouting hate-laced tirades on his
webcast radio show. Hannity, meanwhile, remains mum about his former
alliance with the neo-Nazi, homing in instead on the supposed racism of
black and Latino Democrats.
.On WABC Hannity inherited (Bob) Grant's fan base of angry white males,
who listened to his show in the New York City area. Hannity recognized his
audience's thirst for red meat, racist rhetoric. However, he knew that if he
wanted to avoid Grant's fate, he needed an air of deniability. When "Hal
from North Bergen" began calling his show, Hannity found he could avoid the
dangers of direct race-baiting by simply outsourcing it to Turner.
During an August 1998 episode of the show, Turner reminded Hannity that
were it not for the graciousness of the white man, "black people would still
be swinging on trees in Africa," according to Daryle Jenkins, co-founder of
the New Jersey-based antiracism group One People's Project. Instead of
rebuking Turner or cutting him off, Hannity continued to welcome his calls.
On December 10 of the following year, Turner called Hannity's show to
announce his campaign to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives
from New Jersey, and to attack his presumptive opponent, Democratic
Representative Robert Menendez, as a "left-wing nut."
By this time, according to Jenkins, Turner and Hannity had bonded
off-air. In 1998 Hannity received an anonymous e-mail linking to an AOL
discussion board on which Turner had allegedly confessed to a cocaine
problem and alluded to past homosexual trysts. Turner (or someone claiming
to be Turner) wrote in an August 4, 1998, Google discussion forum that
Hannity called him to clear the air: "Just last week, Sean phoned me at home
from his job at FOX News to continue a conversation we'd begun earlier while
he was at WABC," Turner wrote. "Sean advised that one of you sensitive souls
sent him an e-mail about 'revelations I had made' here on the internet. He
told me it was obviously and [sic] attempt to 'poison the water.' " Turner
continued, "I told him that I've done things I'm not proud of, and had dark
times in my life; and those experiences helped shape the way I live
today...the right way. He [Hannity] laughed and commented that he knew the
feeling." Turner added that such chats with Hannity were "not unusual,"
often occurring while Hannity held his calls during commercial breaks.
But Turner and Hannity's relationship collapsed in 2000 after the Hudson
County Republican Party endorsed Turner's primary challenger, Theresa De
Leon, an accomplished businesswoman and dark-skinned Latina. "I had never
judged people on their race, not prior to that point," Turner recalled in a
February 23, 2003, article in the Bergen County Record. "And there I was, on
the receiving end--in America--of a decision that I wasn't good enough
because I was a white male." Turner finished last in the primary, just as
Hannity was hitting his stride as a major Fox News personality. When WABC's
screeners began blocking Turner's calls, he realized he was no longer of use
to Hannity.
Co-host Kirsten Powers jumped into the fray for a fraction of the time with
Shabazz that Hannity got. But, as we have come to expect from her, her
advocacy on behalf of Obama (or any Democrat) took a back seat to cozying up
to conservatives. It was her third day subbing for Alan Colmes, every day
has been a full-out attack against Obama and, by extension, the Democrats'
chances to win in November. Surely, Powers was politically savvy enough to
understand why Shabazz had been invited. But instead of thinking of some way
to advocate for her own side (She could have, for example, pointed out that
while she rejects Shabazz' organization, that Obama's message that we have
to work together to solve the serious problems facing the country is an
important one they can both agree on, that it's more important to have a
real dialogue about issues such as the war in Iraq, the economy and health
care than to dwell on what Obama's pastor says and whether or not Obama
denounced it soundly enough.) Instead, she used her portion of the interview
to further fan the flames of divisiveness. "First of all, the Obama campaign
says it doesn't want your endorsement. You were just saying to Sean how
Barack Obama wants to move past all this racial divisiveness." Smiling
scornfully, she continued, "I mean, I've read some of the stuff that you've
said about white people and about Jews. Do you think that that's moving past
racial division?"
http://www.youtube.com/v/YKNGBFCZNYw
