| |
Mediamatters.Org - On the September 1 edition of Fox News'
Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity said, in reference to Internet rumors about Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin's daughter, "[T]hey tried to make the attack that she
has a young daughter, pregnant and engaged. Is that fair that they would attack
that? I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember
Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that
children of candidates ought to be left alone." In fact, Chelsea Clinton
was not "left alone" -- not by Sen. John McCain, and not by Rush Limbaugh, who has hosted numerous prominent
Republicans on his syndicated radio show.
McCain reportedly told a
"joke" about Chelsea Clinton in 1998, saying: "Why is Chelsea
Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." The late columnist Molly Ivins reported of Limbaugh:
On his TV
show, early in the Clinton administration, Limbaugh put up a picture of Socks,
the White House cat, and asked, 'Did you know there's a White House
dog?' Then he put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton, who was 13 years old
at the time and as far as I know had never done any harm to anyone.
When viewers objected, he
claimed, in typical Limbaugh fashion, that the gag was an accident and that
without his permission some technician had put up the picture of Chelsea -- which I found
as disgusting as his original attempt at humor.
As Republican
strategist Mary Matalin noted on Hannity & Colmes, Sen. Barack Obama denounced public discussion
of Palin's family, saying it had no relevance to her qualifications as
governor or vice president. He said: "Let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I
will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits and people's
children are especially off limits."
From the September 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: Let's talk a little bit
about the vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin, and your thoughts on her. I
can tell you every person that I have met here -- there is an energy. Conservatives,
they love her. And there have been numerous attacks by different liberal
organizations --
National Organization for Women and some others against her. How do you think
they're going to stand up?
MATALIN: Well, you know that there
were -- the Democrats
are worried by this
choice, because they don't know how to attack her. They've tried every which way. They've tried the kitchen
sink, but all it's done
is revealed their elitism, their sexism, their hypocrisy. They're not going to
make it stick. And it's not just about conservatives, although that's a big
chunk of it and her position on life,
and the obvious talking
the talk, not just
walking the walk. It's regular mainstream women who've prioritized their families, but wanting to have good jobs, don't want to be overtaxed,
get the energy issue.
HANNITY: We're running out of time,
but they tried to make the attack that she has a young daughter, pregnant and
engaged. Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don't remember
Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being
attacked. I thought there
was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone. And Alan
knows I've said that
many times.
MATALIN: Right, and in fairness,
Barack Obama did --
HANNITY: He did say that, yeah.
MATALIN: -- pretty fast out of the box, said,
"off-limits,
off-limits." So,
credit to him. Credit to every -- let
the games begin.
HANNITY: Let the games begin.
Media Matters - Hannity's memory lapse: "I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked" {...} On Hannity & Colmes , Hannity said, in reference to Internet rumors about Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter, "[T]hey tried to make the attack that she has a young daughter, pregnant and engaged. Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone." In fact, Chelsea Clinton was not "left alone" -- not by Sen. John McCain, and not by Rush Limbaugh. {...} Published: September 2, 2008, 10:55 pm - Indexed: September 2, 2008, 11:27 pm - Page Size: 21KB |