Sean Hannity Challenges Guest And Viewers To Find Evidence Of Right-Wing Boycotts. I Accept.

By Karoli Kuns — March 4, 2012

Much of Sean Hannity's Friday show was devoted to complaining that the left-wing is loaded with haters who do things right-wingers would never, ever do, like organize boycotts to do harm to those who say right-wing things. He was, of course, continuing the ongoing smear campaign against Media Matters, who must just be driving them all crazy over at Fox News now that there's a book out exposing their strategies.

But really, Sean Hannity should try the Google before he lays down challenges like this one. While I'm unimpressed with "Democratic strategist" Julie Roginsky's response, it's his challenge I really want to look at more carefully. After asking why it is the left "always goes after conservatives" without going after their own, Roginsky tosses off a rather careless response, saying, "that's the left. The right does the same thing."

And that begins the Sean Hannity pissing contest challenge.

HANNITY: Have they [Newsbusters] ever gone after people and started boycott campaigns?

ROGINSKY: I have no idea what Newsbusters does --

HANNITY: But Media Matters has, haven't they?

Some back and forth about first amendment rights, etc, and then the Hannity Challenge:

HANNITY: But here's the difference. I don't know any conservative, and you can't name one, that's hiring private investigators, that's organizing with the White House and collaborating with them, and attempting to get advertisers to pull out of shows in an attempt to silence voices. Can you name a conservative equivalent?

ROGINSKY: I don't follow conservative media, so I don't, but I can say this --

HANNITY: I can tell you, I can't name one, and I know conservative media.

Let's leave aside Hannity's lies about collaboration with the White House, which is just nonsense. He cannot seem to name one conservative organization that organizes boycotts? Really?

Let me take that challenge, because Sean Hannity doesn't seem to know conservative media or conservative infrastructure as well as he thinks he does.

One Million Moms first threatened a boycott of JC Penney's to force them to remove Ellen DeGeneres as their new spokeswoman. Their more recent effort is against Toys 'R Us for selling a newly-published Archie comic featuring a gay wedding. Their purpose, as stated on their website: "OMM is strictly an online campaign focusing primarily on the entertainment media (television, music, movies, etc.). The goal of this campaign is to stop the exploitation of children by such media." One Million Moms is a project of the Family Research Council, featured often on Fox News. Current boycott projects include Lifetime Television, ABC and Disney, and Clorox bleach.

In 2009, Rush Limbaugh called on his listeners to boycott GM, saying "nobody wants to support an Obama company." Rasmussen Reports immediately followed up with a poll to see how many would support such a boycott.

Last month the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute called for a boycott of Girl Scout cookies because they support Planned Parenthood.

Newsbusters, the conservative activist wing of the Media Research Center, criticized networks for playing up a boycott of Lowe's Corporation. The reason for the boycott? Lowe's had advertising placements on TLC's "All-American Muslim", and that outraged right-wing critics. Lowe's bowed to the pressure from enraged right-wingers and pulled the ads. Newsbusters chided networks for "playing up Lowe's outrage."