The Hollywood Liberal

Celebrity Obsessed Culture

By Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons

Related Entries

• February 25, 2011 Thai PM Is a British Citizen
• February 24, 2011 What to Do About the Mad Colonel

U.S. Freezes Gaddafi’s Assets
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration froze assets of the Libyan government, leader Muammar Gaddafi and four of his children Friday, just hours after it…

Tim Geithner’s Gamble
LOS ANGELES — In a recent interview, United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out his view of the nature of world economic growth and…

Banks Expect To Be Punished By Government
Three of the nation’s largest banks said Friday that they expect to be sanctioned by the U.S. government for their foreclosure practices, securities filings show….

U.S. Embassy In Libya Closes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States shuttered its embassy in Libya on Friday and readied stiff financial and other penalties against Muammar Gaddafi and his…

Sean Hannity Forecasts World War III

Sean Hannity recently joined his Fox News colleague Glenn Beck in pushing the theory that Middle East protests may lead to global unrest and, in Hannity’s words, “World War III.” Hannity previously claimed in 2006 that World War III (or possibly World War V) was already here.

Hannity: World War III May Be Upon Us

Hannity: Egyptian Revolution Could Lead To “A Modern-Day Holocaust” That Could Evolve Into “World War.” From the February 7 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

HANNITY: Let me ask a worst case scenario. Let’s say — we got Jordan, obviously now has their problems.

K.T. McFARLAND (Fox News contributor): Right. They’re in play. Yeah.

HANNITY: They’re in play. Egypt, Tunisia —

McFARLAND: Algeria.

HANNITY: — Algeria, Lebanon —

McFARLAND: Absolutely.

HANNITY: We’ve got Syria, and then we look at this little country Israel. And the desire of radical Islamists to take Israel and wipe it off the map. What is the worst-case scenario? If Israel gets surrounded like that, it’s — they’re going to feel cornered, weapons are going to start flying.

McFARLAND: Yeah. And in 1973 where I was in the White House at the time, Israel — all the Arab countries united against Israel, fought against it —

HANNITY: Went to their borders.

McFARLAND: — went to their borders, attacked Israel. Israel took the first blow so that they wouldn’t be accused of anybody by starting this war.

HANNITY: And won. And kicked the living daylights out —

McFARLAND: But when the Israelis needed to be resupplied, the United States attempted to resupply. All of the European countries said you cannot stop here and refuel on your way to Israel.

HANNITY: Unbelievable.

McFARLAND: What would happen in an environment where the Arab world-producing countries say we don’t want to have anybody resupply Israel. Then you’d see a situation where Israel could slowly choke to death without —

HANNITY: We could see a modern — you’re saying we could see a modern-day holocaust.

McFARLAND: Yeah. Well —

HANNITY: Does this have the potential on a worst-case scenario to evolve into a world war?

JOHN BOLTON (Fox News contributor): I think it certainly it could.

McFARLAND: Yeah.

BOLTON: When you combine this with Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the likelihood, if they get nuclear weapons, that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey will get nuclear weapons as well, you could see a very volatile situation even under the best of circumstances. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/7/11]

Hannity Asked Rumsfeld If “World War” Is A Possibility. From the February 8 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

HANNITY: As we look now at the current conflict emerging in Egypt, in Jordan, and Yemen, and Tunisia, and — you obviously are following events very closely.

If the Muslim Brotherhood gets power there, do you think they would try and follow through on [Iran leader Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad’s desire to wipe Israel of the map? And do you think that then becomes “they are the little Satan and America is the big Satan”? Do you think that we could have a world war out of this?

RUMSFELD: Well, if you think of the Iran model where there was a popular revolution, and it wasn’t the populace that ended up in charge — it was a very small, radical extremist clique — that risk exists. I think it was Winston Churchill who said that autocrats or dictators ride a tiger and they’re afraid to get off.

It — you don’t know what’s going to happen. And you naturally sympathize with the desire for people to have freer political systems and freer economic systems. I remember the old saying that there’ll be no peace in the world until every man is free because to every man he is the world.

HANNITY: Well, in that sense, is the Obama administration making a mistake — it seemed like they were ready to dump [Hosni] Mubarak and throw him overboard as soon as, you know, they saw these images coming out of Egypt.

Now it looks like Mubarak will at least hang on ’til elections. And then, now they’re re-examining their relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. And the Muslim Brotherhood will have some power, influence now in Egypt. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/8/11]

Hannity: “Is This The Potential For World War III?” From the February 10 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

DOUG SCHOEN (Fox News contributor): Jihad is not only an international phenomenon, it is domestic, sleeper cells. We have to face the reality.

HANNITY: Is this the potential for World War III?

SCHOEN: It is the potential for the systematic attack on our values and on our nation. We don’t know enough to answer that. It is all heading in the wrong direction. We have to stand up for our interests. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/10/11, accessed via Nexis]

Hannity: “My Fear Is We Would Literally Have The Potential Of A World War Emerging If Things Go Entirely The Wrong Way.” From the February 22 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

HANNITY: I really fear, in a worst-case scenario, that these democracy movements don’t evolve as some are telling us — remember, some members of the Carter administration told us Gandhi was going to take over when the Ayatollah came out of hiding in France.

And my fear is we would literally have the potential of a world war emerging if things go entirely the wrong way. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but the possibility —

SCHOEN: Every development we’ve seen has been bad for the United States and bad for democracy. We’re for freedom, but we’re also for our values and our democracy.

HANNITY: Is it possible? If the stars align in the wrong way, does this become a potential for world war — the west versus radical Islamic states?

SCHOEN: It certainly becomes possible that we could have regional conflicts with North Korea, with Iran —

HANNITY: And Sudan — North Africa, the Middle East?

SCHOEN: — which could potentially spread. Yes, they could spread. Look, I’m not here to say World War III is coming, but this is a grave situation for our country.

HANNITY: The price of oil — oil, now, the energy —

SCHOEN: — is spiking.

HANNITY: — the economy’s lifeblood. You got 10 seconds.

DAVID BRODY (CBN News White House correspondent): Yes. Doug said it’s about values, Judeo-Christian values here in the United States, but where is it in the Middle East? And that — the underpinning is the problem.

HANNITY: So I’m not off base?

BRODY: Not at all.

HANNITY: Am I on base?

BROOKE GOLDSTEIN (attorney): No, I think we’re already in the middle of World War III.

HANNITY: All right, we got to run. [Fox News, Hannity, 2/22/11]

Beck Also Sees Possible World War. On the January 31 edition of his Fox News show, Beck said that the uprising in Tunisia is the “Archduke Ferdinand moment I’ve been telling you about.” The assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand precipitated World War I. [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 1/31/11]

Hannity Also Warned That We Were On Brink Of World War III, Or V In 2006

Hannity: “The Middle East [Is] On The Brink Of World War V.” In July 2006, Hannity declared: “We are loaded up today, as the Middle East on the brink of World War V, here.” Hannity did not explain what he regarded as World Wars III and IV. But earlier in the show, Hannity had suggested that the escalation of violence in the Middle East and a terrorist attack in Mumbai, India is evidence of World War III, stating: “[I]s World War III breaking out in the Middle [East]? It may very well be.” [ABC Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 7/14/06]

At The Time, Beck Also Thought We Were In The Middle Of World War III. From the December 19, 2006, edition of CNN Headline News’ Glenn Beck:

BECK: Do you believe that if — first of all, do you believe we`re in a World War III? I think we`re in World War III, and I think it is an end game that they`re trying to play, just like Hitler was trying to play an end game with the West. Do you believe that, if we lose this, this is the end of the West as we know it, or that`s at least what our enemies would like to bring about?

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (member of UK parliament): Well, I don`t know if it`s the end of the West, but it would be so devastating. If we cut and run in Iraq, the demoralization of the American nation, the demoralization of the U.S. Armed Forces, it will be something every bit as traumatic as the defeat in Vietnam 40 years ago.

And it will be something that will be with us for decades, and it will do untold damage to the interests of the West, to the interests of the United States.

BECK: OK. Thank you, Mr. Churchill. What a pleasure. Thank you very much, sir. [CNN Headline News’ Glenn Beck, 12/19/06]

Town Hall Attendee Asks GA Republican When Someone Is Going To Shoot Obama
An audience member at a town hall hosted by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) on Tuesday asked the Tea Party congressman who was going to shoot President Barack Obama.

Witnesses: Republican Laughed When Asked ‘Who’s Gonna Shoot Obama?’
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) laughed when a man in a red shirt at his town hall meeting this week asked “Who’s gonna shoot Obama?” witnesses tell TPM.

The Conservative Group Behind The Poll Of Walker’s Budget Plan
The mysterious poll of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal making the rounds today was commissioned by the Franklin Center For Government and Public Integrity, a conservative not for profit based in North Dakota and Virginia that was founded by a former Republican operative.

Walker – Lexus Ranger

Obama Waving Grudgingly
New York: “The president is supposed to be a friendly and folksy character, and waving as if he gives a shit helps to foster such an image. Usually, Obama pulls it off just fine, with a big happy grin. But sometimes, he just can’t fake it, and the look on his face reveals how grudgingly and unenthusiastically he is performing this charade for us.”

A Look Inside Obama’s Apartment
The New York Daily News took a tour of President Obama’s former apartment in Harlem which he shared with a roommate while attending Columbia University in 1981.

Confirmed: Union-Bashing Right-Wing Media Stars Hannity, Limbaugh and O’Reilly Are AFL-CIO Union-Affiliated Members
In spite of their criticism of unions in Wisconsin, AlterNet has confirmed that leading right-wing pundits are American Federation Television and Radio Artists union members.

Decades After ‘The Feminine Mystique,’ Many High-Achieving Women Find Satisfaction in Marriage
A new book explains why Betty Friedan might have paved the way for equal marriages by blowing the roof off the feminine mystique.

Wisconsin Uprising Continues Under a Barrage of Disinformation and Dirty Tricks
As the nationwide attacks on state workers continue, protesters in Wisconsin keep up the resistance.

Obama Says U.S. Will Veto UN Resolution Condemning Settlements
The Obama administration is clearly desperate to avoid vetoing the United Nations Security Council Resolution condemning illegal Israel settlements. And it’s not hard to see why. Given the turbulence in the Middle East, and the universal and strong opposition in…

Why We Should Raise Taxes on the Super-Rich and Lower Them on the Middle Class
My proposal to raise the marginal tax to 70 percent on incomes over $15 million, to 60 percent on incomes between $5 million and $15 million, and to 50 percent on incomes between $500,000 and $5 million, has generated considerable…

Big Main Street Movement Protests Planned For This Weekend To Push Back Against Ideologically Driven Cuts
Thousands of people will rally this weekend in several states in opposition to steep, ideologically driven budget cuts. A major labor rally is planned for today in Trenton, New Jersey, where Republican Gov. Chris Christie released a budget this week that “stepped up the pressure to slash [public employees’] health and retirement benefits.” In Indiana […]

Thousands of people will rally this weekend in several states in opposition to steep, ideologically driven budget cuts. A major labor rally is planned for today in Trenton, New Jersey, where Republican Gov. Chris Christie released a budget this week that “stepped up the pressure to slash [public employees’] health and retirement benefits.” In Indiana today, union members and their supporters are rallying against a bill by Republicans in the state legislature that would drastically reduce public employees’ collective bargaining rights.

In New Jersey, public employees clearly see Christie’s cuts as an ideological attack on their ability to organize and influence the political process — by weakening the unions ahead of upcoming elections, Christie may be able to flip the currently Democratic state legislature Republican, thus paving the way for a direct assault on collective bargaining rights:

“I think if there’s a huge Republican sweep, collective bargaining laws for public employee unions could very much come under threat in New Jersey,” said Jeffrey H. Keefe, a professor at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations.

Union membership in the state has seen a steady decline since 1983, when 822,000 workers, or 27 percent of the state’s workforce belonged to unions, according to unionstats.com. At the end of 2010, 637,000 workers or just 17 percent of the workforce were union members, according to the website. […]

“We gotta get this guy Christie out of office, he’s killing us,” said John Dunphy of Kearny, a 25-year member of Local 194. “It seems like they’re picking on the little guy more than the big guys.”

In Indiana, though the Republican-controlled legislature says it will not advance a bill stripping public employee unions of collective bargaining rights, state House Democrats have vowed to remain out of state “until the ‘radical attack’ on working Hoosiers is over.” They want other bills on unions and education killed before they return, and union workers will gather at the state capitol for the fifth straight day to protest the legislation “they consider an attack on the working class.”

Over the weekend, MoveOn.org is planning rallies in all 50 states to “Save the American Dream.” MoveOn says the rallies “demand an end to the attacks on worker’s rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.”

The Main Street Movement protests will also move to Florida in the coming days, where Gov. Rick Scott (R) has proposed dramatic $5 billion cuts to the state budget while at the same time reducing tax revenue by $1.7 billion, mostly for corporations and the wealthy. Labor, civil rights, and Democratic grassroots groups are planning a day of action outside government office complexes and parks in major cities in the state on March 8. The movement began online: “It’s sort of an organic movement started on Facebook,” said one activist. “There’s a big movement afoot to oppose what’s going on in Tallahassee right now.”

The National Journal has a map of union protests going on across the country.

White House names Jeremy Bernard social secretary
WASHINGTON — After two female social secretaries, the Obama White House has hired a man for the job.

Gingrich: If it comes to a shutdown, the GOP should stick to its principles
The Washington establishment believes that the government shutdown of 1995 was a disastrous mistake that accomplished little and cost House Republicans politically.

Little criticism from GOP over Obama’s reversal on Defense of Marriage Act
President Obama has faced little criticism from Republicans over his reversal on the Defense of Marriage Act, showing the complicated and shifting politics of gay rights issues.

Democratic governors criticize Wisconsin’s Walker
With the Wisconsin state Assembly taking the first major legislative step toward enactment of a controversial law to sharply curtail collective bargaining rights of public workers, Democratic governors meeting in Washington offered pointed criticism of the plan’s architect, Republican Gov. Scott …