The Document Sean Hannity Doesn't Want You
To Read
Center for American Progress
June 16, 2004
Speaking at the Take Back America conference on June 3,
American Progress CEO John Podesta said, "I think when you get so
distant from the facts as -- as guys like Limbaugh and Sean
Hannity do, yeah, I think that tends to -- it kind of -- it tends
to corrupt the dialogue." Apparently he struck a nerve with
Fox News' Sean Hannity. Hannity challenged Podesta to "defend and
explain one example where I -- where I said something that was so
false." Since choosing just one of Hannity's distortions is
too difficult, here are fifteen examples:
All Hannity quotes from Hannity and Colmes unless otherwise
noted.
1. WMD
HANNITY: "You're not listening, Susan. You've got to learn
something. He had weapons of mass destruction. He promised to
disclose them. And he didn't do it. You would have let him go
free; we decided to hold him accountable." (4/13/04)
FACT: Hannity's assertion comes more than six months after
Bush Administration weapons inspector David Kay testified his
inspection team had "not uncovered evidence that Iraq undertook
significant post-1998 steps to actually build nuclear weapons or
produce fissile material" and had not discovered any chemical or
biological weapons. (Bush Administration Weapons Inspector
David Kay, 10/2/03)
2. Colin Powell on Iraq
HANNITY: "Colin Powell just had a great piece that he had in
the paper today. He was there [in Iraq]. He said things couldn't
have been better." (9/19/03)
FACT: "Iraq has come very far, but serious problems remain,
starting with security. American commanders and troops told me of
the many threats they face--from leftover loyalists who want to
return Iraq to the dark days of Saddam, from criminals who were
set loose on Iraqi society when Saddam emptied the jails and,
increasingly, from outside terrorists who have come to Iraq to
open a new front in their campaign against the civilized world."
(Colin Powell, 9/19/03)
3. Saddam/Al-Qaeda Connection
HANNITY: "And in northern Iraq today, this very day, al Qaeda
is operating camps there, and they are attacking the Kurds in the
north, and this has been well-documented and well chronicled.
Now, if you're going to go after al Qaeda in every aspect, and
obviously they have the support of Saddam, or we're not."
(12/9/02)
FACT: David Kay was on the ground for months investigating the
activities of Hussein's regime. He concluded "But we simply did
not find any evidence of extensive links with Al Qaeda, or for
that matter any real links at all." He called a speech where
Cheney made the claim there was a link "evidence free." (Boston
Globe, 6/16/04)
4. 9/11 Investigation
HANNITY: "[After 9-11], liberal Democrats at first showed
little interest in the investigation of the roots of this massive
intelligence failure...[Bush and his team] made it clear that
determining the causes of America's security failures and finding
and remedying its weak points would be central to their mission."
(Let Freedom Ring, by Sean Hannity)
TRUTH: Bush Opposed the creation of a special commission to
probe the causes of 9/11 for over a year. On 5/23/02 CBS New
Reported "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to
Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special
commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings
before Sept. 11." Bush didn't relent to pressure to create a
commission, mostly from those Hannity would consider "liberal"
until September 2002. (CBS News, 5/23/02; ABC News, 9/20/02)
5. The Recession
HANNITY: "First of all, this president -- you know and I know
and everybody knows -- inherited a recession...it was by every
definition a recession" (11/6/02)
HANNITY: "Now here's where we are. The inherited Clinton/Gore
recession. That's a fact." (5/6/03)
HANNITY: "The president inherited a recession." (7/10/03)
HANNITY: "He got us out of the Clinton-Gore recession."
(10/23/03)
HANNITY: "They did inherit the recession. They did inherit the
recession. We got out of the recession." (12/12/03)
HANNITY: "And this is the whole point behind this ad, because
the president did inherit a recession." (1/6/04)
HANNITY: "Historically in every recovery, because the
president rightly did inherit a recession. But historically, the
lagging indicator always deals with employment." (1/15/04)
HANNITY: "Congressman Deutsch, maybe you forgot but I'll be
glad to remind you, the president did inherit that recession."
(1/20/04)
HANNITY: "He did inherit a recession, and we're out of the
recession." (2/2/04)
HANNITY: "The president inherited a recession." (2/23/04)
HANNITY: "The president inherited a recession." (3/3/04)
HANNITY: "Well, you know, we're going to show ads, as a matter
of fact, in the next segment, Congressman. Thanks for promoting
our next segment. What I like about them is everything I've been
saying the president ought to do: is focusing in on his
positions, on keeping the nation secure in very difficult times,
what he's been able to do to the economy after inheriting a very
difficult recession, and of course, the economic impact of 9/11."
(3/3/04)
HANNITY: "All right. So this is where I view the economic
scenario as we head into this election. The president inherited a
recession." (3/16/04)
HANNITY: "First of all, we've got to put it into perspective,
is that the president inherited a recession." (3/26/04)
HANNITY: "Clearly, we're out of the recession that President
Bush inherited." (4/2/04)
HANNITY: "Stop me where I'm wrong. The president inherited a
recession, the economic impact of 9/11 was tremendous on the
economy, correct?" (4/6/04)
HANNITY: "[President George W. Bush] did inherit a recession."
(5/3/04)
HANNITY: "[W]e got [the weak U.S. economy] out of the
Clinton-Gore recession." (5/18/04)
HANNITY: "We got out of the Clinton-Gore recession."
(5/27/04)
HANNITY: "We got out of the Clinton-Gore recession."
(6/4/04)
FACT: "The recession officially began in March of 2001 -- two
months after Bush was sworn in -- according to the universally
acknowledged arbiter of such things, the National Bureau of
Economic Research. And the president, at other times, has said so
himself." (Washington Post, 7/1/03)
6. The Hispanic Vote
HANNITY: "The Hispanic community got to know him in Texas.
They went almost overwhelming for him. He more than quadrupled
the Hispanic vote that he got in that state." (9/16/03)
FACT: Exit polls varied in 1998 governors race, but under best
scenario he increased his Hispanic vote from 24 to 49 percent
– a doubling not a quadrupling. He lost Texas Hispanics to
Gore in 2000, 54-43 percent. (Source: NCLR , NHCSL)
7. White House Vandalism
HANNITY: "Look, we've had these reports, very disturbing
reports -- and I have actually spoken to people that have
confirmed a lot of the reports -- about the trashing of the White
House. Pornographic materials left in the printers. They cut the
phone lines. Lewd and crude messages on phone machines. Stripping
of anything that was not bolted down on Air Force One. $200,000
in furniture taken out." (1/26/01)
TRUTH: According to statements from the General Services
Administration that were reported on May 17, little if anything
out of the ordinary occurred during the transition, and "the
condition of the real property was consistent with what we would
expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an
extended occupancy." (FAIR)
8. Patriotism
HANNITY: "I never questioned anyone's patriotism."
(9/18/03)
FACT:
HANNITY: (to attorney Stanley Cohen) "Is it you hate this
president or that you hate America?" (4/30/03)
HANNITY: "Governor, why wouldn't anyone want to say the Pledge
of Allegiance, unless they detested their own country or were
ignorant of its greatness?" (6/12/03)
HANNITY: "You could explain something about your magazine,
[the Nation]. Lisa Featherstone writing about the hate America
march, the [anti-war] march that took place over the weekend..."
(1/22/03)
HANNITY: "'I hate America.' This is the extreme left. There is
a portion of the left -- not everybody who's left -- that does
hate this country and blame this country for the ills of the
world..." (1/23/02)
HANNITY: (speaking to Sara Flounders co-director of the
International Action Center) "You don't like this country, do
you? You don't -- you think this is an evil country. By your
description of it right here, you think it's a bad country."
(9/25/01)
9. Separation of Church and State
HANNITY: "It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution this
idea of the separation of church and state." (8/25/03)
FACT: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." (1st
Amendment)
"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the
Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several
States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this
Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a
Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United
States." (Article VI)
10. James Madison
HANNITY: "You want to refer to some liberal activist judge...,
that's fine, but I'm going to go directly to the source. The
author of the Bill of Rights [James Madison] hired the first
chaplain in 1789, and I gotta' tell ya' somethin', I think the
author of the Bill of Rights knows more about the original
intent--no offense to you and your liberal atheist
activism--knows more about it than you do." (9/4/02)
TRUTH: The first congressional chaplains weren't hired by
James Madison--they were appointed by a committee of the Senate
and House in, respectively, April and May, 1789, before the First
Amendment even existed. James Madison's view: "Is the appointment
of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the
Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom?
In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative."
(James Madison)
11. Alabama Constitution
HANNITY: "But the Alabama Constitution, which Chief Justice
Roy Moore is sworn to uphold, clearly it says, as a matter of
fact that the recognition of God is the foundation of that
state's Constitution." (8/21/03)
FACT: While the preamble of the Alabama Constitution does
reference "the Almighty," section three provides: "That no
religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be
given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or
mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend
any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate
for building or repairing any place of worship, or for
maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test
shall be required as a qualification to any office or public
trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges,
and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected
by his religious principles." (Alabama Constitution, Section
3)
12. Rent for Public Housing
HANNITY: Betsy, they're not going to lose it [public housing],
because if you work less than 30 hours a week -- if you work more
than 30 hours a week, you don't have to do it. If you're between
the ages of 18 and 62 and you're not legally disabled and you
have free housing -- in other words...
BETSY MCCAUGHEY: No. Wait a second, Sean. Let me correct you.
Most people in public housing are not receiving free housing.
Many of them are paying almost market rates.
HANNITY: Betsy, that is so ridiculous and so false, it's
hardly even worth spending the time. (10/23/03)
FACT: Residents of public housing pay rent scaled to
their household's anticipated gross annual income, less
deductions for dependents and disabilities. The basic
formula for rent is 30 percent of this monthly adjusted income.
There are exceptions for extremely low incomes, but the
minimum rent is $25 per month. No one lives in public
housing for free. (Department of Housing and Urban
Development)
13. Kerry Tax Plan
HANNITY: "The Kerry campaign wants to cut taxes on people who
make two hundred thousand dollars. She [Teresa Heinz Kerry] only
paid 14.7 percent of her income in taxes, because their plan
doesn't go to dividends, only income. So they don't want to tax
themselves." (5/12/04)
FACT: Kerry's plan would "Restore the capital gains and
dividend rates for families making over $200,000 on income earned
above $200,000 to their levels under President Clinton. (Kerry
Press Release, 4/7/04)
14. Kerry and Weapons Systems
HANNITY: "He's [Kerry's] flip-flopped all over the place... on
the issue of Iraq. All the munitions that we have built up, most
of them wouldn't be there." (1/30/04)
HANNITY: "But he wanted to cancel…every major weapons
system. Specific votes that he would have canceled the weapons
systems we now use." (2/26/04)
FACT: "In 1991, Kerry opposed an amendment to impose an
arbitrary 2 percent cut in the military budget. In 1992, he
opposed an amendment to cut Pentagon intelligence programs by $1
billion. In 1994, he voted against a motion to cut $30.5 billion
from the defense budget over the next five years and to
redistribute the money to programs for education and the
disabled. That same year, he opposed an amendment to postpone
construction of a new aircraft carrier. In 1996, he opposed a
motion to cut six F-18 jet fighters from the budget. In 1999, he
voted against a motion to terminate the Trident II missile."
(Slate, 2/25/04)
15. Kerry and the CIA
HANNITY: "If he (Kerry) had his way and the CIA would almost
be nonexistent." (1/30/04)
FACT: John Kerry has supported $200 billion in intelligence
funding over the past seven years - a 50 percent increase since
1996.
Kerry votes supporting intelligence funding:
FY03 Intel Authorization $39.3-$41.3 Billion
[2002, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 9/25/02]
FY02 Intel Authorization $33 Billion
[2001, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 12/13/01]
FY01 Intel Authorization $29.5-$31.5 Billion
[2000, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 12/6/00]
FY00 Intel Authorization $29-$30 Billion
[1999, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 11/19/1999]
FY99 Intel Authorization $29.0 Billion
[1998, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 10/8/98]
FY98 Intel Authorization $26.7 Billion
[1997, Senate Roll Call Vote #109]
FY97 Intel Authorization $26.6 Billion
[1996, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 9/25/96]
(Source: CDI)
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