Posted 2:36 PM by Scoobie Davis

Sean Hannity Drops the Ball With Pat Robertson
Last month I was listening to Rush-clone Sean Hannity decrying the efforts by Democrats to take on the sectarian right (see my 2/12 blog for the reasons I use this term). Hannity’s pathetic apologia for the activities of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell (whom Hannity called “the real deal”) really stuck in my craw. So I called Hannity’s show, got past the screener, and confronted Hannity about Falwell’s fraudulent infomercial and libelous video. Also, while I applauded George W. Bush’s criticism of the Taliban’s anti-Hindu bigotry, I pointed out that Robertson, a major Bush ally, had called Hinduism “demonic” and suggested that Hindus not be allowed into the United States (click here for the full story). My reward for, at long last, informing talk radio listeners about the sectarian right's hate and bigotry was for Hannity to accuse me of “[making] up phony lies about [Falwell and Robertson]". Nevertheless, I consider my call a success not only because I was right but also because I was able to relay some information to talk radio listeners--information they certainly would not receive if talk radio jocks had their way.

Today, Hannity had Robertson on his show to discuss his recent comments about Islam that many view as one-sided and bigoted. I held out the dim hope that Hannity would have done some follow-up on the charges I brought up about Robertson's bigotry against Hindus (a simple keyword search would lead to many reputable sites documenting my charges as well as many other instances of Robertson’s religious bigotry). To take Robertson to task on these matters would not only make for great radio but it would also be newsworthy. To no surprise, Hannity dropped the ball: Robertson prattled on about how his anti-Islamic statements were unfairly maligned as bigoted. Because Hannity wasn’t doing his job, I called the show to confront Robertson about his statements. The screener said that Hannity wasn’t taking any calls during the Robertson segment. Once again, undiluted propaganda was being broadcast to the people without a chance for an informed rebuttal.