The Stream

Ted Koppel Thinks Sean Hannity is Bad for America

By Al Perrotta Published on March 27, 2017 •

Al Perrotta

Former Nightline host Ted Koppel thinks Fox News host Sean Hannity is bad for America.

A confession before moving an inch further: I was about to type “conservative Fox News host.” Not that Hannity isn’t a proud conservative. Rather, it’s that I was perfectly willing to describe Hannity as conservative without similarly describing Koppel as a “run-of-the-mill media liberal with little respect for anything to the right of Pravda.” That’s how completely we’ve been indoctrinated. That’s our bias conditioning.

Moving on. The Koppel-Hannity exchange took place on CBS Sunday Morning. The segment was intended to show viewers the danger of what the mainstream media calls “fake news.” (In general, this is taken to be any news consumed by any person not convinced Lena Dunham is the greatest female to grace TV screens since Lucille Ball.) The theme was how conservative pundits like Hannity might be contributing to broad societal confusion.

“Do you think I’m bad for America?” Hannity asked. “Yes,” said Koppel.

Koppel is so convinced of Hannity’s ill effect on our nation he said “yes” twice.

Hannity called Koppel’s attitude “sad” and”cynical,” adding, “You are selling the American people short.”

(Note to Sean: If the IRS could collect taxes on media figures selling the American people short we’d have enough to build Trump’s wall.)

Koppel also said Hannity “attracts viewers more interested in ideology than facts.” On the one hand, duh. Hannity hosts an opinion show. An opinion show on cable news, by definition, is a bunch of people venting and pontificating. The facts are just there to kick off the episode, only to be shoved aside as soon as convenient. Kind of like Kris Humphries when he married Kim Kardashian. You no more watch cable opinion shows for facts than you watch Duck Dynasty for hunting tips. (Admit it: Has any reality show been as entertaining as Rachel Maddow’s “Great Trump Tax Return Bust of 2017”? We’ve gone from Honey Boo Boo to one Honey of a Boo-Boo.)

More seriously, Koppel’s comment is meant to demean Hannity’s viewers. Heck, conservatives in general. It’s the snobbish suggestion that traditional conservative Americans don’t care about the truth. Don’t care enough to hear it, let alone accept it.

What’s amusing about the Left’s sudden love affair with “truth” is that progressives have spent decades insisting that truth is relative. There’s only “my truth,” “your truth” and even trees and bees and fleas have “their truth.” I welcome them back to the world of truth. The Truth shall set you free.

Tomi Lahren Burns Out Her Welcome at TheBlaze

In related news, it looks like “my truth” has set Tomi Lahren free … at least from her responsibilities at TheBlaze. The nominally conservative Millennial firebrand has been permanently banned from the network, the New York Post reported Sunday. Lahren had been suspended a week after she went on The View and tossed conservative pro-lifers under the bus.

To refresh: Lahren declared, “I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I’m for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies.” 

If she were auditioning for a spot on the View panel she couldn’t have done a better job had she produced documents proving she was Barbara Walter’s love child.

However, is being pro-choice what’s getting her tossed? When the story broke, Glenn Beck insisted Lahren’s pro-choice position was not an issue. He pointed to former news anchor Amy Holmes as being a loud and proud supporter of abortion rights. “If you’re pro-choice, you can have a job at TheBlaze,” Beck told his radio audience,” I don’t hire people who are sycophants or have my opinion.”

So why is Lahren toast at TheBlaze? The NY Post story today quotes a source as saying Beck is “trying to remind the world of his conservative principles.” Perhaps. But you get a better clue from Lahren’s tweet after the first wave of criticism hit after her View performance.

“My” truth? First off, that’s not a conservative idea. It’s a disqualifier. Hearing “my truth” out of a conservative is like hearing “Make America Great Again” out of Elizabeth Warren.

Second, note how her tweet got an instant rebuttal from her own Blaze colleague Kate Scanlon. And Kate didn’t send it as a personal message. But it sure is personal.

A second female at TheBlaze also took a shot at Lahren.

Beck himself retweeted a video contrasting Lahren’s pro-life statements from a couple months back and her new, View-friendly position.

When a colleague messes up you can either have their back or shove them in the back. Clearly the good folks at TheBlaze are shoving Lahren halfway to New York.  The Daily Caller reported Lahren’s “inflammatory, oftentimes angry style has placed her increasingly at odds with coworkers at TheBlaze.” Even Beck has tweeted about “personality” clashes with Lahren. That’s not on-camera theatrics. (As if Beck couldn’t relate to that.) That’s not opposing political views. That’s “She’s not worth the headache.”

Here’s a free life tip, Lahren: Getting into personality clashes with your bosses and coworkers does not make for job security regardless of your ability. Here people were thinking you could be the next Megyn or Greta. You may even think you’re the next Whoopi or Joy. Learn from this or you may well be the next Keith Olbermann.

But look at the bright side. God has given us the opportunity to learn and grow, both in our opinions and our personal interactions. And someday, you may become so seasoned and successful a conservative pundit you will have a liberal media legend like Ted Koppel declare you “bad for America.” And that’s the truth.

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