Mar 27 2006
Pot meet Kettle-Part Deux
I have noted in the past that while I still think that liberals trend toward insult and ad hominem attacks a little quicker then their conservative counter parts, those conservative counter parts are certainly not inexperienced in vitriol and invective.
This exchange between Hollywierd liberal Alec Baldwin and conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin helps me make my case clearly that there is room for maturity on both sides of the curtain.
Reading through this dialog I am stumped as to who behaved worse. Vituperation was apparently in vogue.
I would note that the host, Whitman, could have hung up on Hannity, and not allowed him back on the air and ended the debate, but not only did he keep Hannity on, he also let Levin dial in for the fun. Baldwin got mad and left, but Whitman was the one who allowed the situation to get so heated, likely loving every second of it..
Whitman wanted drama and conflict, IMHO, and he got it. But as Whitman appears aligned with Hannity, was this just a setup for Baldwin? Sure makes me wonder.
Alec Baldwin v. Sean Hannity in Radio Donnybrook
Hollywood liberal Alec Baldwin stormed out of an in-studio radio interview Sunday night after he was confronted on the phone by radio hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
Baldwin was 30 minutes into a planned two-hour-plus sitdown with WABC Radio’s Brian Whitman when Hannity called in.
The fireworks commenced almost immediately.
HANNITY: Alec, I wanted to give you an official WABC welcome considering you were supposed to come on my program last week and you didn’t show up. What happened?
BALDWIN: No, I wasn’t supposed to come on your program, Sean Hannity.
HANNITY: No, actually you were supposed to come on the program because a deal was made with your agent that if you were going to come on with Brian, first you’d come on with me.
BALDWIN: I wouldn’t dream of coming on your program, Sean Hannity. I’m here with Brian. I’m here with a really talented broadcaster.
HANNITY: [Crosstalk] that you are, you don’t tell the truth.
BALDWIN: Why would I want to come on the show with a no-talent, former construction worker hack like you?
HANNITY: Are you the guy that said of our vice president, while we’re at war, while we’re leading troops in harm’s way - are you the reckless, third-rate Hollywood actor who said that Dick Cheney is a terrorist? Are you the guy . . .
BALDWIN: Yes I am.
HANNITY: … who said to stone Henry Hyde to death? Are you the guy who said our president is a CIA mass murderer? I wanted you to come on the program and defend that, you gutless coward.
BALDWIN: At first I thought this was a joke. But you can hear all the acid venom spewing hatred. It is Sean Hannity. [END EXCERPT]
The exchange got even hotter when Mark Levin joined in.
LEVIN: We’ve only just begun - are you 40 or 50 pounds overweight now?
WHITMAN: Oh, C’mon now . . . .
HANNITY: Once and for all you need to be challenged. You want to call our vice president a terrorist - fine. You want to talk about stoning people to death, say it on my program. If you want to be irresponsible and call our president a mass murderer while he’s at war leading troops in harm’s way …
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do about it, Sean Hannity?
HANNITY: You don’t have the courage to answer questions.
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do? And what are you going to do about it, Sean Hannity. If I come on your program, what are you going to do?
LEVIN: He’s going to show that you have a two digit IQ - that’s what he’s gonna do.
BALWIN: What are you going to do?
LEVIN: I just told you - you’ve got a two digit IQ.
BALDWIN: And who’s that - who’s your little cabin boy there with you.
LEVIN: I’m not a cabin boy, butt-boy.
BALDWIN: What are you doing there, cabin boy? … I now dub you Sean Hannity’s cabin boy.
LEVIN: And you know what you are? You’re "Brokeback" Alec. [END EXCERPT]
The confrontation continued to spiral out of control, with Whitman intermittently trying to make peace and Baldwin repeatedly urging him to move on to other callers.
BALDWIN: Listen, Sean - you incredibly ignorant boob from Long Island …
HANNITY: Oh, ouch, Alec.
BALDWIN: No, no, no, you’ve spoken, let me talk, Sean. Cause you’ve been spewing your …
HANNITY: You’re a third-rate Hollywood egomaniac.
BALDWIN: You’re a no-talent, ignorant fool from Long Island. You should go back to building houses in Hempstead.
LEVIN: Why was your [former] wife [Kim Basinger] so pissed off at you, anyway?
WHITMAN: Now, c’mon guys.
BALDWIN: OK. We’re done. [Gets up and leaves the studio]
WHITMAN: Come back. Come back. Alec? They’re gone. Alec? Alec has walked out of the studio. Alec, please come back.
Children, please…….
Also blogged at Sister Toldjah
7 Responses to “Pot meet Kettle-Part Deux”
It seems that while one can find many on the left who are quick to attack, there are specific people on the right, such as Hannity, who revel in being harsh and hateful. I don’t know if it’s that they are so confident they are right, they feel superior…or if they are just mean. But the talk radio has seemed to foster a very viscious group within the right.
When Rush started, he cloaked it under joke-he was just having fun …Hannity has apparently thrown aside any attempt to play his attack dog style as jest.
Well, dont forget Hannity is TV too.I am not sure I want to catagorize Hannity as without restraint, but on this day he was fairly brutal.
I still think the left has the numbers on their side, but the right knows how to play the game.
In this case I still blame Whitman.
Well, Hannity is TV and Radio. He’s got a three hour block each day via ABC.
Oh I know. I don’t listen to his radio show often, if I listen to anyone it’s either Medved or a local Radio show I enjoy.
But I also think more people know who he is from Hannity and Colmes on Fox.
And Ior is his TV persona a bit better behaved? What is it about radio that unhinges some people.
In contrast, Rush was much more interesting on TV, because his video clips and facial expressions were more interesting then listening to him blab on the radio.
I kind of miss his TV show really….it was entertaining.
I liked it, plus it had a "variety" show feel to it.
Hannity is slightly less inclined to do outright name calling on TV, but he is still inclined to be immensely condescending to any guest he disagrees with. Just once though, I would like to see him meet a guest that is to crazy on the right for him to agree with. I’ve seen him not question some of the worst suggestions by conservative guests without batting an eyelash (not so much as a "Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?") but a normally conservative guest who opposes Bush will get read the riot act.
Shameful, just shameful. Sean Hannity has become so full of himself it isn’t even funny. Baldwin was a guest on Whitman’s show. Whitman allowed Sean and Levin to call in and ambush Baldwin. I could care less about Baldwin, I think he is a loon. What Whitman did is unforgivable. If I were a prospective guest for his show, I’d have to think long and hard about appearing on there. Sean and Levin came off as two 13 year olds who got into daddy’s liqour cabinet and attempted to do a cheap imitation of Beavis and Butthead. How Sean thinks this advances his causes are beyond me. He is losing his grip on reality.
kuxegoruvoxucn…
nice post…