EMAIL OF THE DAY

“I think conservatives need to discuss the rise of the Hannity right. I was drawn to the conservative side by Bill Buckley’s relentless and civilized dismantling of liberal orthodoxy and by Ronald Reagan’s sunny faith in individual effort, private enterprise and the goodness of America. I was cemented in the cause by the thought of lesser though still very bright lights such as Tom Sowell, Walter Williams, Charles Krauthammer, Newt Gingrich and just about the whole 1980s NR crowd.
Hannity is a significant departure from this serious tradition. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, whose genius is to approach familiar issues with unfamiliar arguments, Hannity approaches familiar issues with entirely familiar arguments. His points have been made a thousand times before, far more effectively and successfully. He is a bore, and a bully whose attempts to adopt a “nice guy” persona fall flat. Whereas I always sense Rush’s innate humility even when at his theatrically bombastic best, Hannity’s self regard is overwhelming even when assuring us that he owes all to his listeners. In fact, he owes all to his interesting line-up of guests, without whom his show would be entirely worthless.
His national tours, so far as I can tell from the radio, tend to attract the yobbo element — all shouting, cheering and hissing. Can you imagine such a thing from the audience at Firing Line? Was there even an audience?
Hannity is several steps backward for conservatives. We have been, are, and must remain, far better than this.”