Oops

Radley Balko | September 3, 2008

Sean Hannity, referring to the attacks on Palin on his show Monday night:

...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.

Here's none other than John McCain, wowing them at a GOP fundraiser, circa 1998:

Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?

Because Janet Reno is her father!

Chelsea Clinton was 13 18 at the time. Going to need a new set of talking points, Sean.

Comments

Elemenope|9.3.08 @ 9:59AM|#

Yah. Chelsea was *eaten alive* by talk radio and right-wing TV assholes (I recall a particular gem where Limbaugh called her the "family dog"). Thankfully for her it was before the age of the blogosphere.

But that can't stop Sean Hannity! Hannitize it, motherfucker! Facts can't stand up to the Irish Media Pugilist!

|9.3.08 @ 10:09AM|#

Hannity is such a partisan, shitbag hack that I'm amazed he can look at himself in the mirror. He's so aggressive and devoid of real argument that he might as well be a chimp on amphetamines in a suit.

That said, McCain's joke was pretty funny. However, the fact that he said it about a 13-year-old should make you question his judgment.

DADIODADDY|9.3.08 @ 10:13AM|#

yeah but she was pretty ugly

SIV|9.3.08 @ 10:17AM|#

That said, McCain's joke was pretty funny. However, the fact that he said it about a 13-year-old should make you question his judgment.

If McCain told the joke in 1998 she would have been 18 at the time.

Bob A|9.3.08 @ 10:19AM|#

According to Wikipedia, Chelsea Clinton was born February 27, 1980 which made her 18 in 1998, not 13.

|9.3.08 @ 10:22AM|#

I was listening to Hannity yesterday go on and on about how DARE the media bring this up.
I mean, come on, what does he expect? The "media" to learn about the fact that her 17-year-old daughter has a bun in the oven and then just sit on the story?

|9.3.08 @ 10:26AM|#

I'm surprised that Hannity stopped fellating GWB long enough to utter any statement at all.

|9.3.08 @ 10:29AM|#

If McCain told the joke in 1998 she would have been 18 at the time.

This is what happens when I trust Radley.

OK, McCain's joke is still funny and now he wasn't ripping on an 8th grader.

|9.3.08 @ 10:30AM|#

Elemenope-

You, sir, have not been properly Hannitized! Don't you know that you can not be called "a great American" until you have been Hannitized?

|9.3.08 @ 10:34AM|#

I'm surprised McCain didn't get Fosterized!

Anyway, even a the GOP never made a peep about Chelsea, they hounded Amy Carter enough to make Hannity a liar. And what about Kerry's daughter and the see-through dress?

|9.3.08 @ 10:35AM|#

Radley... "Hannity is a douchebag" isn't news. It isn't even novel. "Hannity says something insightful and relevant" - now that's news. I guess you people with TV's just get pissed off at him afresh all the time, explaining why he's so talked about.

Waquoit|9.3.08 @ 10:36AM|#

Don't forget the one where Rush referred to the White House dog and held up a picture of Chelsea. That was on his TV show. But no one is "attacking" Bristol, the point is Republican
hypocrisy about teen sex.

hamilton|9.3.08 @ 10:36AM|#

Sean Hannity said something moronic, totally incorrect, and one-sided, and was a total asshole about it.

Well, that's news.

hamilton|9.3.08 @ 10:37AM|#

Oops. galthran beats me to it.

|9.3.08 @ 10:38AM|#

Ele,

In case you were wondering, the Hannitization process applies a thick, fact-proof layer of talking points to your undercarriage. You won't be able to use the bathroom in a regular fashion, just cough up Colmes-sized hair balls of concentrated feces and kidney-chunks.

|9.3.08 @ 10:40AM|#

I confess I'm amazed that anybody thinks that joke is funny Episiarch. But hey, you can't explain humor.

So if the tables were turned, and Obama had a 17-year-old pregnant daughter, does anybody seriously not believe that the entire Republican universe would rise up in a chorus of, "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE LOOSE LEFTY MORALS!"?

Walsh|9.3.08 @ 10:41AM|#

One off color joke is the same as an unrelenting media barrage?

SIV|9.3.08 @ 10:41AM|#

SugarFree,

The GOP hounded Amy Carter? When? I don't remember that when her father was in office.I do have some vague memory of the Secret Service whining about having to wait in the car while Chip Carter bought weed and got high with his friends.

|9.3.08 @ 10:42AM|#

fish,

Radley was just being nice, here's the unedited transcript.

...dey thried t mah-ke de athack thap she 'as ah yo-hung da-ter, phreg-nant ah engah.

|9.3.08 @ 10:45AM|#

SIV,

I remember her being made fun of all the time as a hippy, slut, granola, pot-head. These were still conservative insults in the late-70s. They just didn't have the blogosphere to archive them.

It might have been more noticeable out here in the boonies.

|9.3.08 @ 10:46AM|#

Hannity is such a partisan, shitbag hack that I'm amazed he can look at himself in the mirror.

True that. He's always seemed genuinely stupid to me, incapable of anything more than rattling through random party-line talking points.

So if the tables were turned, and Obama had a 17-year-old pregnant daughter, does anybody seriously not believe that the entire Republican universe would rise up in a chorus of, "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE LOOSE LEFTY MORALS!"?

Probably so. Doesn't make it right, though. See, that's the great thing about not being a partisan hack - you get to call out both sides when they're being dickheads.

SIV|9.3.08 @ 10:47AM|#

B24,

Well we know the "entire Republican universe" in your head would.

It is kind of a lame argument to defend yourself by saying "but they said it too".Totally ineffective to say "they didn't say it but we all know they would".I would expect congratulations on not scraping the baby but since it didn't happen why speculate?

|9.3.08 @ 10:47AM|#

For the record, I don't really care if anyone goes after the candidate's kids or any other aspect of their personal life. Just stop fucking pretending that both sides don't do it.

Abdul|9.3.08 @ 10:48AM|#

Obama had a 17-year-old pregnant daughter,

Pshaw, his daughters are not going to be punished with a baby.

For some reason, tasteless jokes about chelsea clinton's early adolescent unattractiveness were prominent. Even "wayne's world" made jokes about it, and I doubt Mike Meyers or Dana Carvey are card carrying Republicans. Not sure why the poor girl was such a target for something beyond her control, when Al Gore's son was ignored for making poor choices.

|9.3.08 @ 10:51AM|#

Alright I'll say it. Against odds and all early indications, Chelsea Clinton looks pretty damn good these days.

SIV|9.3.08 @ 10:51AM|#

SugarFree,

That would have been well after Carter was in office and she was an adult. She was 13 y/o when Carter left office.Considering her appearance and demeanor I doubt the "slut" slur was used.Amy carter could remain celibate in a men's prison.*

*I am not,and have never been a member of the GOP.

|9.3.08 @ 10:53AM|#

I confess I'm amazed that anybody thinks that joke is funny Episiarch. But hey, you can't explain humor.

Nope. To each their own.

Just stop fucking pretending that both sides don't do it.

This is the truly annoying aspect to these idiotic arguments. To someone who isn't a partisan hack, hearing them scream "they do it but we don't" is laughable, insulting, and moronic all at once.

SIV|9.3.08 @ 10:55AM|#

When Hannity was a local ATL talker you couldn't flip to his program without hearing how the militant homosexuals wanted to "ram their values down the throats of Americans". Ailes must have got him to drop that line

|9.3.08 @ 11:02AM|#

SIV,

I was young, maybe I collapsed the years. But there was a bit of Carter-looks bashing, even as a kid. Chelsea got that too. McCain didn't come up with the "Chelsea's ugly" idea all by himself.

Anyway, until you have a parody album come out about you, maybe you shouldn't worry too much about what people say.

|9.3.08 @ 11:10AM|#

Alright I'll say it. Against odds and all early indications, Chelsea Clinton looks pretty damn good these days.

*shudder*

I can't wait for the first newsie to get in trouble for calling a joke about Obama "off color". Good times! Wait, was that inappropriate too? Shit...

:)

Rhywun|9.3.08 @ 11:54AM|#

Ailes must have got him to drop that line.

Colorful imagery aside, the sentiment is still pretty tame. I'm pretty sure I've heard O'Reilly expressing the same opinion more than once. Hell, use the codeword "lifestyle" and you can even get it on the GOP platform.

|9.3.08 @ 12:06PM|#

When Hannity was a local ATL talker you couldn't flip to his program without hearing how the militant homosexuals wanted to "ram their values down the throats of Americans". Ailes must have got him to drop that line

Well, they want to ram SOMETHING down the throats of Americans.

|9.3.08 @ 12:06PM|#

I mean, come on, what does he expect? The "media" to learn about the fact that her 17-year-old daughter has a bun in the oven and then just sit on the story?

Next thing you know, we'll find out one of the Democratic Presidential Candidates was having an affair with his Court Videographer, but the "Media" didn't think it was "news".



Don't pretend I'm taking sides; I just really really despise John Edwards. And I'm not exactly wild about the "Media".

Mike Laursen|9.3.08 @ 12:25PM|#

Chelsea was *eaten alive* by talk radio and right-wing TV assholes (I recall a particular gem where Limbaugh called her the "family dog").

I remember Howard Stern stating that he considered jokes about Chelsea to be off limits. He said it wasn't her fault that she happened to be related to the President. I suppose it was because he had daughters of his own.

DADIODADDY|9.3.08 @ 12:49PM|#

Chelsea Clinton
13, 18, now...not an attractive human...isn't truth the perfect defense against libel?

|9.3.08 @ 12:50PM|#

I think Radley messed up on the age because when Chelsea was 13 Limbaugh called her the White House dog. Classy. Seriously, how do you make fun of a 13 year old girl's looks on national TV and look yourself in the mirror without vomiting?

Also, there's a big difference between a media firestorm over getting knocked up when you're 17 and being ugly when you're 13 (or 18). It starts with C and rhymes with voice.

You're not born a pregnant teenager, you have to make a decision.

J|9.3.08 @ 1:06PM|#

What Mo said, pretty much.

Travis|9.3.08 @ 1:14PM|#

"Alright I'll say it. Against odds and all early indications, Chelsea Clinton looks pretty damn good these days."

Her plastic surgeon is a miracle worker.

|9.3.08 @ 1:19PM|#

So if the tables were turned, and Obama had a 17-year-old pregnant daughter, does anybody seriously not believe that the entire Republican universe would rise up in a chorus of, "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE LOOSE LEFTY MORALS!"?

No, that's what they say if John Kerry had a pregnant teenaged daughter.

Obama? Sigh, it's that "ghetto culture." Did you ever read Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report?

|9.3.08 @ 4:04PM|#

Picking on the slut daughter is fine (although, personally, I am all in favor of slut daughters)--but just leave the retard baby out of it, OK?

DADIODADDY|9.3.08 @ 4:53PM|#

Joe
John Kerry got a teenage girl pregnant? would this headline surprize anyone?