Got a first-hand lesson in why talk show host Sean Hannity dislikes Obama so much. It's because their personalities are so similar - incredibly thin-skinned, committed ideologues who are willing to say outlandish things to advance their agendas with zero tolerance for anyone who might dissent. Why do I say this? It seems the folks at hannity.com frown on someone calling bullshit on the host in one of the forums where the politically interested can voice their opinions. At least some of their opinions.
I don't remember the exact context of what got me banned - for life - but it likely had to do with one of two things: Sean's pathetic insistence that Rick Santorum represents the vanguard of small govt conservatism or the unspoken reason he and the other talkmeisters can't stand Romney. Since I am not sure which, might as well address both.
If Ricky from PA represents fiscal conservatism and small govt, then Barack Obama is a moderate. Santorum voted for EVERY excess of the Bush years: No Child, Medicare Part D, Homeland Security and its evil offspring, the TSA, along with a series of increases in the debt ceiling. But as the talkocracy watched every hoped-for conservative son or daughter (that would be anyone NOT named Mitt Romney) either not run at all or self-immolate while doing so, Santorum was all that was left of the fire-breathing brigade come Iowa.
They conveniently ignore - or hope you are too stupid to figure out - that the only reason Ricky from PA was the last of the bunch was that he was the last one voters intended to support. But after Bachmann flamed out, Perry proved unready for fringe time let alone prime time, Newt kept being Noot, and a slew of others never got in, the former Senator who lost his Congressional seat by the largest defeat ever suffered by a Repub was suddenly Ronald Reagan in sweater vests. On social issues, Ricky is a one-man Taliban but few people are concerned with gays and abortion when unemployment remains high, gas prices creep upward, and govt power over our daily lives is growing.
Which leads us to the antipathy toward Romney and anyone who claims it is due to RomneyCare is, here's that word again, lying. When Romney was governor in MA, the legislature was almost exclusively Dem and health care was going to happen; Reagan himself could have been governor and some bill would have still passed. Non-believers are welcome to do their own research; count the provisions Romney vetoed but did not have the votes to sustain. Add up the money MA was losing to a combination of the purposely uninsured, the deadbeats, and illegals. When someone is stealing from you, one approach is theft prevention. But that's not why the talkers and the Catholic Channel (Fox) dislike Romney.
Oh, they won't say out loud but it comes down to his being Mormon. In fact, seems the only people who WILL say that aloud are Franklin Graham and Mike Huckabee. Graham, for some reason, went on MSNBC and was, predictably, asked if he believes Obama to be a Christian. Graham said he didn't know and, again predictably, liberals who usually hate anything having to do with organized religion began howling at the moon. Seems the only thing they hate more than the church is even the faintest of hints that their guy is not part of it. I know, sounds like the old Groucho Marx line about club memberships but without the humor. The right, of course and just as predictably rallied round the reverend.
What virtually no one mentioned was Graham's answer regarding Romney. According to Franklin, the House of Mormon does not have a place inside the House of God. But, neither Fox nor the talkocracy cared much about that since - as they often accuse the left of doing - they agree with Graham. At some point, you have to wonder if the Romney folks notice the antipathy with which he is treated. Look, I am not going to cast him as a modern-day Washington but Mitt seems like a nice man, certainly an extremely capable business exec, and someone with zero personal dirt that anyone can find. If being dull is the worst anyone can say about him, then perhaps we should embrace dull, especially when remembering what Greek columns and delusions about the oceans receding the and the planet healing got us.
Four more years of Obama and we'll look at Greece as something to aspire to, but you can never underestimate the ability of the Repub party or the conservative establishment to manufacture defeat in the face of certain victory. Ricky from PA cannot win; his brand of statism is no less repugnant than the left's. Newt has a million ideas but is unable to see a single one of them to fruition. Which leaves a business exec with a nice family who does not scare anyone and has a track record of producing chickensalad from less palatable alternatives. But, the radio folks want to feed you the notion of Ricky as Ronnie, which is offensive to an exponential level. And, I'm banned from the Hannity forums which is just as well; it helps complete my transformation to libertarian and frees up a lot of time for far more productive things than trying to reason with folks who are just as obstinate as the most self-entitled Occutard.
