Petulant MSNBC Crew Sneers at 'Shameless,' Mindless,' 'Stunning' Sean Hannity

NewsBusters.org ^ | June 20, 2013 | Scott Whitlock

[Kaslin]

A sneering group of MSNBC hosts and analysts on Thursday berated Sean Hannity for his "mindless" anti-government attitude, mocking him as "pathetic." The Fox News host gave an interview to Playboy magazine in which he dismissed much of the federal government as "dysfunctional." Ex-Newsweek editor Howard Fineman, who has bragged about "steering clear of partisanship," slammed Hannity for having a "deliberate lack of self-awareness [that] is just stunning."

Speaking of the federal government, Fineman continued, "One of the reasons why the system is so dysfunctional is because of the mindlessly accusatory nature of what he...what they [conservatives] do." The journalist, who has prided himself on "keeping an even keel ideologically," accused Hannity of being "an enthusiastically, vigorous user of that style of rhetoric and politics and it's one of the main reasons why things aren't working." Fineman exhorted viewers, "Wake up! Wake up!" [MP3 audio here. See video below.]

Petty MSNBC Crew Mocks 'Shameless,' Mindless,' Stunning Sean Hannity

Time columnist Joe Klein excoriated Hannity: "There are an awful lot of scared people out there in this country right now. He preys on them, just as Rush does and the others. He's shameless."

Perhaps one reason the MSNBC crew had such anger for the Fox News host is that in the Playboy interview, Hannity mocked MSNBC's low ratings.

A transcript of the June 20 segment is below:

12:55pm ET

ALEX WAGNER: What do Donna Summer, Braveheart, the Grateful Dead, Angelina Jolie, meditation and the Passion of the Christ have in common? They're all a few of Sean Hannity's favorite things. In an interview with Playboy this month, Hannity talks politics, pot smoking and Obama the Muslim. Joy, because we never tire of talking about how people are convinced President Obama is a Muslim.

JOY REID: That's right.

WAGNER: Hannity plays playboy, "Obama did grow up in Kenya and he told the New York Times he went to a school there and one of the beautiful things on the planet is Islamic prayer at at sunset. He went to a Muslim school in Indonesia or wherever it was. Kenya. I forget. Now you've got me. I think it was Indonesia." The problem with this is it's still in the water supply.

REID: Not only that, but he's got no geography education in, like, school because–

WAGNER: Indonesia, Kenya. Whatever. It's pathetic.

REID: Indonesia, Kenya.

JOE KLEIN: Television should be an educational tool. Let me say to Sean, Indonesia is Asia. It's just off of Asia. It's an archipelago of a lot of different islands.

WAGNER: Do we have a map?

KLEIN: And Kenya is in Africa, so they're, you know, very, very far apart and very, very different cultures.

HOWARD FINEMAN: I think you lost him– You lost him at archipelago.

KLEIN: A bunch of islands.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: He doesn't read the articles, so he's not going to read the maps. He's looking for other pictures.

WAGNER: Oooh! Going there. Playboy. I do know just because someone thinks, Howard, that Islamic prayer is beautiful at sunset doesn't actually mean they're a Muslim.

FINEMAN: No. I mean– There are many things that strike me about this. One of them is he says, "I don't know why people put faith in government. The system is dysfunctional. It doesn't work." That's like somebody saying, you know, "this bicycle that I just stuck a, a, a--"

WAGNER: Twig in the spokes of.

FINEMAN: "Twig in the spokes of won't go anywhere." I mean, the lack of sort of self-awareness, deliberate lack of self-awareness is just stunning. One of the reasons why the system is so dysfunctional is because of the mindlessly accusatory nature of what he--

WAGNER: People like Sean Hannity!

FINEMAN: --what they do. What they do. Listen, nobody is innocent in all this, I will grant that. But he is a, for better or worse, he's an enthusiastically, vigorous user of that style of rhetoric and politics, and it's one of the main reasons why things aren't working. Wake up! Wake up!

KLEIN: The reason for it. The reason is there's an audience for it.

FINEMAN: Of course. I know that.

KLEIN: There are an awful lot of scared people out there in this country right now. He preys on them, just as Rush does and the others. He's shameless.

[hadaclueonce]

MSNBC guy said last week, they were not there for breaking news.

[Izzy Dunne]

If Newsbusters stopped watching, the audience would drop by half.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Why would Hannity talk to Playboy if he’s so principled? Geesh.

[Maelstorm]

Its funny. You’d almost think that the President wasn’t playing on the fear of single white women and minorities when he was campaigning in 2008 and 2012. There is something to fear and where the President was or wasn’t born is the least of it.

These smug leftist twerps on MSNBC act as if they never flub a word or get geography wrong. Hell Obama has made huge flubs on geography and the man is using a teleprompter 98% of the time.

[o2bfree]

State led Solution for the Red States:

RAISE TAXES
on TV ADVERTISMENTS
for GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA NEWS CHANNELS.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

well, they do write articles, you know. that is why everyone reads playboy, after all.

[metafugitive]

Russell Brand who is a bit of a fool in his own right, mocked and made fools of Mika and everyone who was on MSNBC set the other morning. I read about in Guardian which had You Tube link to video. He makes them look so STUPID.

[Sarah Barracuda]

This from a Network that NO ONE WATCHES..Watching poop dry in the hot sun is more informative than watching MSDNC

[BenLurkin]

This is why nobody watches MSNBC — nothing there but shrill loons.

[clintonh8r]

I think that’s what they call a circle jerk. Or a target-rich environment. Maybe both.

[Kaslin]

You have an excellent point. *L*

[DanielRedfoot]

I’ve never heard Hannity say O is a Musilm. Pretty sure that’s a lie.

I do KNOW that O is our first non-Christian President.

This because I have personally seen him on many occasions say his salvation is directly linked to the salvation of everyone else.

This is collective salvation, the antithesis of Christanity.

[Kaslin]

Did he talk to Playboy? The link doesn’t really say

[TLI]

"One of the reasons why the system is so dysfunctional is because of the mindlessly accusatory nature of what he...what they [conservatives] do."

Oh, I see.

The reason the neo-communist O'bammy administration is a Three Ring Non-Stop Cluster **** is because conservatives actually have the nerve to point out, VERBALLY OF ALL THINGS, that the neo-communist O'bammy administration actually IS a Three Ring Non-Stop Cluster ****.

The intensity, depth and breadth of the typical O-bot’s stupidity strains the limits of conceptual visualization.

.

[Sivad]

I hate to defend Hannity because when all is said
and done he can’t ever get past the first level
of any argument. His pre-occupation with lists
makes him especially annoying. But if he causes
these bedwetting MSNBC liberals to get their
panties in a twist then more power to him.

What really irks them is that Playboy expended
the effort to publish an interview with him.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

I’ve never heard Hannity say O is a Musilm. Pretty sure that’s a lie.

What, that Hannity said it, or that he's a moslem?

If the latter...when did he stop being a moslem?

[bigbob]

Sean ain’t very bright but next to the MSNBC crowd, he’s friggin’ brilliant

[Red in Blue PA]

He also called Kim Kardashian a “role model” during an interview with her. He will say anything to kiss up to a guest if they come on his show.

[Future Snake Eater]

Russell Brand who is a bit of a fool in his own right, mocked and made fools of Mika and everyone who was on MSNBC set the other morning. I read about in Guardian which had You Tube link to video. He makes them look so STUPID.

I had to look up that video. Wow.