Rosie O'Donnell Leaves The View, Sean Hannity

ROSIE THE DIVERSION?

Lefties Accuse Talkers Of Avoiding Iraq







One of the more interesting conspiracy theories to emerge from yesterday's Rosie O'Donnell implosion is the idea that conservative talkers have used her to avoid talking about Iraq.

Think we're joking? From the anti- FOX News Channel News Hounds site, here it is:

What Will FOX News Do Without Rosie? Cover Iraq? Nah.


Hannity & Colmes spent the first half of their show last night (5/25/07) on Rosie O’Donnell’s departure from the view. Sean Hannity described it as “a major development in a story we have been covering for quite some time.” There was even a video montage of their “favorite” Rosie moments. Although I hated to see Rosie give Hannity and his henchmen such an opportunity to crow, it was almost worth it to be done with the obsessive coverage. Then I thought about what would and would not replace it.

In a reprise of the previous night’s discussion, Curtis Sliwa was back, dressed up in the same red crime-fighting costume he wore as a young man in the 70’s and looking every bit as ridiculous as if he had shown up in tie-dye and granny glasses. Joining him again was Ellis Henican. Sliwa was just as obnoxious and hammy as he had been the night before. He even repeated the same jokes about Rosie reminding him of Jabba The Hutt and calling Iran’s president “I’m in the mood for Jihad,” among others.

Once again, Henican, a FOX News contributor, seemed more interested in being one of the guys than he was in confronting the hate speech coming from those “entertainers.”

The only moment of interest came when Colmes confronted Sliwa again over his comment the night before in which he stated that he wished he’d had a bat with which to beat O’Donnell “like a human piñata.” The slick Sliwa, who has admitted to lying when it suits his PR purposes, this time claimed that the piñata comment had been “hypothetical.”

Meanwhile, the show continued to ignore the war in Iraq, the same war Hannity and his fellow conservatives purported to support. There was no coverage, for example, of a CBS Evening News report (H/T Think Progress) about the Bush administration’s unconscionable delays in sending blast-resistant vehicles to Iraq.

In fact, a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism revealed that FOX News spent the least time of any cable news network covering the Iraq war. It also spent the least amount of time on the 2008 presidential campaign. It spent the most time of any cable network covering Anna Nicole Smith. PEJ’s report also noted, “Fox also stood out for its lack of coverage on the firings of the U.S. attorneys, compared with the other channels. The story, which gained real momentum in mid March, consumed a mere 2% of Fox’s total airtime.”

In other words, FOX refuses to participate in round- the- clock verbal attacks against our troops overseas and has somehow avoided catching the Bush Derangement virus.

FOX exists to counter the mainstream media's agenda, yet these people still express shock when it doesn't follow their lefty playbook.

Yes, the Anna Nicole coverage got way out of hand, but every network was guilty in that instance, along with newspapers and websites. As for the US attorney firings, the "outrage" was manufactured by the left and it clearly failed to resonate with the American people.

When it comes to increasing coverage of Iraq, your Radio Equalizer is all for it, as long as it includes pointing out where things are actually going well in the country. Be careful what you wish for, News Hounds!


Finally and most importantly, Rosie remains a major topic because she thrust herself into the spotlight. Nobody forced her into that role. Her recent antics have proven highly entertaining, which is good for ratings. That's the news biz.

ELSEWHERE: at Olbermann Watch, Olby himself is called on the carpet for his weak defense of Rosie.


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