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Look out Gallup, Harris and Zogby -- it's Sean Hannity!

Posted by Bob Geiger at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2006.


Hannity: Keeping Americans dumb for more than a twentieth of a century!

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[Special Hannity video at the bottom of this post...] It's no secret to anyone who's accidentally tuned into the Hannity & Colmes show on Fox News and thought they stumbled across an over-the-top Saturday Night Live sketch, that Sean Hannity doesn’t have a real firm grasp on reality. I mean, this is the same man who once offered a liberal guest the Hobson's choice of "Is it that you hate this president or that you hate America?"

Hannity's also been known to claim that the Constitution doesn't say anything about the separation of church and state and, in a May 2004 edition of his television show, asked a clergyman if they could "pray for the re-election of George Bush."

So it didn’t really surprise me today when I went to Hannity's web site and saw a poll on the front page that asked his erudite fans "What do you think about WMD's being found in Iraq?" This is on his main page right now, not four years ago.

Note to Sean: You may want to stop praying for Bush and give him a call with this news. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it.

Hannity started college but never finished -- he didn't drop out to join the military either -- so it looks like he never got to take a statistics class where one might learn about clean survey methodology, because the choices given to his viewers and listeners on the WMD question are, well, I'll just show you.

Now, there's some fine choices for the Rhodes Scholars who take in Hannity's twisted wisdom every day. The closest option to the truth in Hannity's world is evidently the choice that suggests you're a dummy and just didn’t know that Republican Senator Rick Santorum had recently made the WMD discovery that shocked the world -- and all but doomed his failing re-election campaign in Pennsylvania.

But digging into Hannity's polling archives kind of confirms what you already knew about the average Fox News consumer. Take a look at these poll results on global warming:

They're probably still scratching their heads at Fox trying to figure out where the hell that eight percent came from.

Take a look at this one from November of 2005 asking whether the U.S. should withdraw troops from Iraq or "stay the course."

All this poll tells me is that 94 percent of these people get all of their information from The National Enquirer and Fox News.

Oh, and if you're wondering how Hannity's rocket-scientist following answered his WMD poll, 92 percent either thought that "Bush was right" or "I knew Saddam had them!"

You'll see what kind of people are taking these polls on Hannity's site if you slum it on over into his discussion forums, where the very first post I saw was from a guy posting on Saturday and speaking of the crisis in Lebanon.

"I have no sympathy for those people on the news crying over the death of their family, friends or pets. They got what they deserved," said Sean's troglodytic admirer. How much you want to bet this guy left for church not long after writing that?

Of course, when you get done snickering at some of Hannity's polls, and wallowing in the forums, you could wander over to Hannidate, Sean's little network of conservative personal ads -- and no, I'm not kidding. It really exists. A place where these people can hook up and possibly reproduce.

Say, isn't that where Michael Douglas met Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction?

***Hannity fans, watch an AlterNet original video on the Hannity "Freedom" Concert HERE.

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Bob Geiger is a writer, activist and Democratic District Leader in Westchester County, NY. You can reach Bob at geiger.bob@gmail.com and read more from him at Democrats.com.


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from a Neanderthal who has no use for polls, of any sort
Posted by: Sojourner on Jul 23, 2006 12:07 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Even though I made a nice chunk of change in 1960 as a staw poller for the Chicago Sun-Times, because we had JFK winning Illinois by the hair's breadth of the final results. They paid a commission based on not only getting it right but accurately predicting the margin. As a suffering student, it paid tuition.

Online polls, however, are the biggest joke. I do not know for sure that one can vote as many times as one chooses, because I never was tempted to find out, but it is my assumption that the polls can be gamed.

I refuse telephone polls as well, which means that when you see results you can up them a millionth of a percentage point in the liberal direction because I refuse to recognize their legitimacy.

Maybe its because out here in California, during national elections, we get to see the predictions even before our polls close. What's it like in Hawaii? Why don't they demand that the voting begin one day earlier there. That way they can set the trend rather than walk with the shovel and broom at the end of the parade.

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Date? What date!?!
Posted by: Ruggedman on Jul 24, 2006 8:38 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So I went to 'Hannidate' and found no one! I tried to search for someone of my desired profile. NO ONE! Then I broadened the search to within 50 miles of me. Still NOBODY! 100? Nope! 200 Miles? Please? Nope! Finally 500 hundred miles( surely there'll be some woman that likes right-wing wackos within 500 miles of my home town that's millions and millions of people)! Alas, still not one solitary right-wingnutjob woman. So I conclude, there are no women on this sight. Sorry wingnuts. Good luck re-populating the Earth after WW III with only flacid neo-con males.

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» RE: Date? What date!?! Posted by: Echogirl
sickofsleaze
Posted by: ladybug1@carrollsweb.com on Jul 24, 2006 8:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Before you dismiss Santorum's WMD claim, there are WMDs in the mideast, they are Bush, Rummy, Cheney and Condi

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» RE: sickofsleaze Posted by: rdpaul
» RE: sickofsleaze sickof sleaze Posted by: ladybug1@carrollsweb.com
» RE: sickofsleaze sickof sleaze Posted by: auntiegrav
proPHannity
Posted by: Otis-Jack on Jul 24, 2006 8:39 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hannity is a leader of the Zombie Right, who are totally out of touch with reality. Zombie Right media, Fox News, Hannity, Limpy Limbaugh are to conservatives, what the internet chat rooms are to pedophiles: a place where they validate their perverse notions of right and wrong or in their case wrong and wronger.

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hannity has no opinions just agendas
Posted by: jettexx2000 on Jul 24, 2006 10:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
whenever or wherever you see a bully, of any ilk, you know you are dealing with a horribly flawed person, a pinhead..know that from the getgo..and then you ask yourself, why would anyone listen to a schoolyard bully, why not just take him out, neuter him so to speak, disarm him, before he brings trouble and shame into the village..because whatever drives a bully is in the end, bad for everybody else..because bullies just plain dont like themselves, or they would endeavor to know the real truths about events, not just win arguments, thru intimidation..hitler was a bully, and never listened to his detractors, look where it got him..people, learn to equate bullys with fascism, because thats what it is..and know bullys always want to control the flow of information, first and foremost..because in their own hearts of hearts they know they are dead wrong, they just don't want you to figure it out!!!

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More On Hannity
Posted by: JTD on Jul 24, 2006 10:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Great Post Bob

We take riffs on Hannity (and other Fox people) and the latest from last week, on The Garlic is;

Talk Host Hannity Blasts U.N., Lebanon Over Evacuation; “Again, They Let The Buses Sit Idle”
Gets Backed By Coulter; Evacuate All “Except Any liberals, New York Times Reporters, or Any of The Jersey Girls”
http://puregarlic.blogspot.com

Peace
JTD

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Hannity vs. Humanity
Posted by: Roverton on Jul 24, 2006 10:32 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
FOX is a tumor on Earth. It will kill us all.

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hobson's choice
Posted by: dmatson on Jul 24, 2006 10:30 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You appear to have used "hobson's choice" incorrectly, which is odd when you link to the wikipedia entry for explanation. I recommend reading the entry.

P.S. Yes, Hannity's an idiot.

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When You Tell Them What They Want To Hear...
Posted by: pelle_in_goal on Jul 25, 2006 8:29 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A new Harris Poll (quoted by the Washington Moon newspaper) now says half of all Americans believe that there were WMDs in Iraq after all. That's a 15% increase in national stupidity in just 12 months.

So if Fox News and Sean Hannity are tumors upon the earth, they must be brain tumors. But the statistic may show that too many people still believe that neither politicians nor Fox News can -- by law -- lie to the American people.

Still, I prefer to think of Hannity as a "pimple on the ass of humanity" rather than as a mere tumor. And Fox as how the earth must look to extraterrestrials on some distant planet. And that our TV signals must sound like farts to them.

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But it's actually working...
Posted by: KT on Jul 25, 2006 8:35 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Despite reality, note that people still believe it all...

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About hatred
Posted by: justgreenleaf on Jul 26, 2006 6:41 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In reading the things that Hannity says about others, in considering the kinds of accusations he makes, I can only conclude that HE is the one who hates, in a general knee jerk fashion.
Only someone who hates, could speak about others as he does. To belittle and besmirch someone isn't a sign of strength, but of weakness.
Perhaps that is why these men, these conservatives love war so much. They are weak and afraid.

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» RE: About hatred Posted by: viking
Can somebody help me out here???
Posted by: modowd21 on Nov 10, 2006 6:48 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've recently graduated college with a political science degree and over the past few years, i've kept my viewing of political shows to just msnbc and daily show. I've seen O'Rielly a few times but it seems that everytime I watch it for more than 2 minutes I spontaneously vomit.

As a result, I've distanced myself from Fox news, until an hour ago...which brings me to my QUESTION

I saw Sean Hannity speak for the first time and I was curious if anyone else had started to bleed from the ears after listening to this guy for the first time? I need some websites/info that really reflects the way this guy is, which is a possessed, deranged, dillusional, non-sensical lunatic. There may be some info. on this very site pertaining to that, but I think I'm still blacking-out after hearing him speak. Anything would be great, thx.

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