Sean Hannity's been transmitting his Fox News show from Planet Wingnuttia all week, but last night managed to bring on a guest who comes from the even more distant galaxy of Outer Wingnuttia: Cincinatti talk-show host Bill Cunningham, who proceeded to mount a display of complete crackpottery over the course of the "All American Panel" segment.
What really sets Cunningham off is Ed Beckel's declaration that "this was the greatest presidential 100 days since Franklin Roosevelt, bar none". Cunningham is outraged by this, and proceeds to indulge every anti-Obama smear in the book he can concoct:
"Sean, what we have here is this little boy who grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the age of 6 to 10, rejected by his own father, rejected by his own mother, rejected by his stepfather, raised by his grandparents, bowing before the King of Saudi Arabia, kissing the behind of every European socialist, saying okay to people like Ahmenijad -- we have the most dishonest, the most disreputable 100 days in American history, and this guy actually believes it's good!"
The Panama Canal Treaty (a fight that was over in 1979) comes up: "Another mistake of Jimmy Carter's. We've got Jimmy Carter's second term right now! ... I want the canal back! Can I go back and get my canal back? It's our canal! That's another mistake of your guys! It was our canal! We fought and died for that! We built the damned thing!"
Geraldo Rivera responds: "What about the Statue of Liberty? France built it. Is the statue France's?"
Cunningham: No! It's our Statue of Liberty. I say the Statue of Liberty belongs in Cuba, and it belongs in Venezuela.
He goes on to declare that the Tea Parties will prove "the seeds of destruction for Obama," and astutely analyzes Obama's 20-percent disapproval rating as proof that "he is such a divisive character":
Cunningham: He is very divisive! For normal Americans, he's very divisive! I'm a normal American! He's normal! [points to Hannity] I'm not so sure you guys are normal.
You know how bad it is when Geraldo Rivera, fergawdsakes, winds up being the hero of the segment by castigating Cunningham for his ongoing efforts to "foreignize" Obama, including the Jakarta reference.
Don't you just love it when right-wingers insistently claim to represent the "genuine" national identity -- in this case, of being a "normal" American -- and therefore have the right to stand in judgment of others' "authenticity"? Gee, nothing authoritarian about that ...
