TED RALL VS. INSANNITY

I posted about this over a year ago but I never retrieved the transcript.

SHOW: FOX HANNITY & CO 9:00 PM EST
February 3, 2006 Friday
TRANSCRIPT: 020301cb.253
SECTION: NEWS; International
LENGTH: 2981 words
HEADLINE: Interviews With Issandr El-Amrani, Ted Rall
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes
GUESTS: Issandr El-Amrani, Ted Rall


HANNITY: All right, let me step in here, because you know something? You have every free right to put this garbage in print. And this is what this is, Ted. This is garbage.

I want you to just -- I don't know if you're capable of doing this. I know you liberals say you have all of this compassion. I want you to put yourself in the position, and that you're a quadruple amputee, and you pick up your newspaper in Bethesda, you pick up your newspaper in Walter Reed -- you ever been there? You ever seen these kids, you ever talked to them?

RALL: I haven't been to Walter Reed.

HANNITY: I have. I have. I've seen -- this is exactly what the injuries they have.

RALL: And have you asked them about this cartoon?

HANNITY: I have not. But I just wanted -- I'm asking you, forget about them. You put yourselves in their position, and you imagine you just had your arms and legs blown off.

RALL: Yes.

HANNITY: And then you have to be used as a prop to make a political point, you, mister, you know, social liberal, Mr. Compassion yourself, are you saying that that may not impact them negatively?

RALL: Well, according to the troops themselves, two-thirds of...

HANNITY: What troops? Who do you talk to?

RALL: ... two-thirds of the respondents to a recent poll in "Military Times" say that people...

HANNITY: You didn't answer my question.

RALL: ... that they feel stretched, that the Army is stretched out...

HANNITY: I didn't ask you that. I'm not asking...

RALL: That's the point of this cartoon.

HANNITY: I don't really care about your liberal military views or war.

RALL: It's about the point. It's not about who gets offended.

HANNITY: Look, you're missing the point.

RALL: It's about whether or not it's true.

HANNITY: I'm asking you to put yourself -- and you're sitting in the hospital with your legs blown off. And I'm asking how you would feel being used as a political prop by a left-wing propagandist that wants to make a political point at your expense? Would that bother you?

RALL: I don't think that's how I would look at it.

HANNITY: You wouldn't?

RALL: I'd probably look at it as finally here's a guy trying to point -- trying to show what's really going on, showing the real cost of this war...

HANNITY: Really?

RALL: ... that's trying to be covered up by the administration.

HANNITY: So you'd sit there without your arms and legs and you'd say, "What a great little point he's making at my expense." It wouldn't bother you?

RALL: Here we have an administration that won't even let the American people...

HANNITY: I don't really care about...

RALL: ... see flag-draped coffins or people who have lost arms and legs.

HANNITY: I know you hate Bush and you're obsessed with it.

RALL: We should talk...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I know you don't like the war. You're obsessed with it. This is beyond the war.

RALL: This a powerful image for a reason.

HANNITY: This...

RALL: ... because it's really sad and tragic.

HANNITY: But you know something? Here's what you're missing. The reason that you have the right to be mean -- and you were mean to this guy, Tillman, who gave up a football contract to save his country -- the reason you have the right to be mean in your cartoons and Toles has a right to be mean and insensitive in his cartoons is because of people like this, that literally put their lives on the line so you have the right to free expression.

RALL: See, now that's...

HANNITY: ... and you insult them and use them as props so you can make your left-wing political points.

RALL: Sean, you could not possibly be more wrong about the nature of this country.

HANNITY: More correct!

RALL: We do not owe our liberties to the military. We owe them to the Constitution.

HANNITY: No.

RALL: We have civilian rule in the United States.

HANNITY: The military preserves the Constitution. They put their lives on the line so that you have free speech. You do owe them.

RALL: The military doesn't give us free speech.

HANNITY: Yes, they do.

RALL: Thomas Jefferson and the founding fathers gave us free speech.

HANNITY: No, because if they don't defend that Constitution, you don't have the right to be so wrong in your cartoons.

RALL: Well, who's threatening our free speech more?

HANNITY: Threatening nothing. Go ahead.

RALL: The Iraqis?

HANNITY: Go ahead. You could be the biggest fool you want to be...

RALL: Or the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

HANNITY: ... you can have insult them. They give you the right to do it. But where is your heart, is the question?

[SNIP]

HANNITY: As we continue on "Hannity & Colmes," I'm Sean Hannity.

We continue now with syndicated political cartoonist Ted Rall.

I want to be clear about something. I don't care if it's this Toles cartoon that is using injured soldiers as a prop like they are there, quadruple amputees, or we'll put up your controversial cartoon that you had from some time back when you were talking about Pat Tillman, who had given up, you rightly pointed out, a football contract...

RALL: You're unbelievable, Sean.

HANNITY: Can I finish? I'm not finished with my question.

RALL: You're unbelievable.

(CROSSTALK)

RALL: Before we came on the air, I talked to your producer. And your producer...

HANNITY: We don't...

RALL: ... your producer...

HANNITY: No. I have producers in my ear saying, "No, no, no."

RALL: ... specifically said...

HANNITY: We don't make promises to anybody before anyone comes on the air.

RALL: ... that my cartoon was not going to be queued up...

HANNITY: No promises. Are you ashamed of it?

RALL: Not at all. Read the whole thing.

HANNITY: Are you ashamed of what you said about Pat Tillman?

RALL: Read the whole thing. Read the whole thing.

HANNITY: You said he was a cog.

RALL: You're unbelievable.

HANNITY: He was in a cog in a low-rent occupation army...

(CROSSTALK)

RALL: You lie as much as the Bush administration. You're incredible.

HANNITY: ... that shot at civilians. You said that about a football hero...

RALL: I can't believe it. I can't believe...

HANNITY: ... an American hero?

RALL: I can't believe that -- your word is worth nothing.

HANNITY: No wonder you're embarrassed.

RALL: You have no integrity whatsoever.

HANNITY: Did I ever promise you that? My producer never promised you that. You're lying through your teeth!

RALL: Your producer -- oh, yes, I'm lying.

HANNITY: Absolutely. We don't make promises to anybody.

RALL: The American people who watch this show don't know me, but they know you.

HANNITY: We never make deals with anybody on this show, ever. Why are you afraid -- why are you ashamed of your own cartoon?

RALL: I'm not ashamed of this cartoon. It came out two years ago, dude.

HANNITY: And you ought to be...

RALL: It's boring to talk about this now.

HANNITY: Are you going to apologize? Why don't you apologize now, apologize to Mr. Tillman?

RALL: Why don't you apologize for yet another ridiculous, cheesy ambush on this show?

HANNITY: Oh, an ambush. If I tell the truth about what you said, it's an ambush?

RALL: It's completely irrelevant. Why don't we talk about the Tom Toles cartoon?

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: You said about Pat Tillman, a low-rent occupation army...

(CROSSTALK)

RALL: You're out of control.

[SNIP]

HANNITY: What you said about Pat Tillman is beyond disgraceful. You don't have a conscience...

RALL: There you go again. You're unbelievable.

HANNITY: ... you don't have a soul, and you ought to apologize...

RALL: Do you have any other lines?

HANNITY: ... to his family that is suffering.

RALL: This is exactly what you said a year ago.

HANNITY: Why don't you look in the -- why don't you apologize to his family?

RALL: A year ago, you said the same exact thing.

HANNITY: You're laughing at a dead soldier.

(CROSSTALK)

RALL: I'm laughing with incredulity at you.

HANNITY: You made fun of a man that died for his country.

RALL: I did not do any such thing. You're misrepresenting this cartoon.

HANNITY: Put it up on the screen.

RALL: Put it up. I mean, why don't we go into cartoons from the Clinton years?

HANNITY: You're a disgrace.

RALL: Why don't we talk about this stuff?

HANNITY: You're a disgraceful human being.

RALL: This is -- don't you have anything to actually say...

HANNITY: You have no soul.

RALL: ... that's original? This is exactly what you said last time.

HANNITY: Good-bye.