Sean Hannity Out on the Campaign Trail

I have a confession. I don’t like Fox News. Is that a shock? I won’t go on it — why be the Democratic fire hydrant for the right-wing shock jocks? I used to, but several years ago I stopped going on “Hannity & Colmes,” O’Reilly, Gibson, etc. We Report, You Decide became We Distort, You Decide. Fair and Balanced was really Unfair and Unbalanced. 

Now to the point, after that admission.

Sean Hannity is in the line of fire for endorsing Rudy Giuliani and appearing at a fundraiser for him in Cincinnati on Aug. 9. The criticism is that he is a journalist and should not be supporting candidates. Wrong criticism. Hannity is not a journalist and makes no real claim to be personally fair and balanced. He is a political gladiator, an entertainer, a man with a shtick. So the fact that Rudy has had 115 minutes on Fox in the last few months, half of it on “Hannity & Colmes” and 25 percent more than any of the other presidential candidates, is irrelevant. If Hannity chooses to be Rudy’s mouthpiece, that is his business, and of course Fox’s and ABC radio’s.

It is also an interesting subject for the other Republican presidential candidates, who may want to cry foul. I have to confess that I would love to hear the Republicans going after Fox for not being Fair and Balanced. That would warm the cockles of my heart.