Hannity and Colmes: Sean Hannity and Robert Kuttner Face off

VIDEO: Sean Hannity tries to bully Robert Kuttner

When it comes to encapsulating what PunditFight is all about, this video probably sums it up best.
It ticks off a lot of the subjects I deal with in this blog:
1) Features an APF pundit
2) Framing the debate
3) It's theatrically combative
4) It's meta

1) APF Pundit - Sean Hannity

2) Framing. The first half of the clip, guest Robert Kuttner does a good job of framing the debate in progressive terms as he speaks to the sympathetic Alan Colmes

...If people are going to vote on whether Sarah Palin is better at shooting a moose, the Democrats are toast... this is a fight about whether the election is about culture or (inaudible) issues...I think Democrats need to run on a narrative. And there's a narrative of the ordinary hard-working family just getting the short end of the stick... I think sometimes he (Obama) tries to be too high minded.

Read the full transcript from FoxNews - Book Urges Obama to Transform America
3) Theatrics. When Sean Hannity enters the frame the conversation devolves into name calling and bravado. There seems to be a lot more raw emotion in this exchange, Kuttner obviously prepared himself for Hannity's run-in and puffed his chest to match his rhetoric

HANNITY: Stop it. Stop it. This is -- this is garbage you're spewing here.
KUTTNER: No name calling yet.
HANNITY: No, it's not name calling. But it's garbage you're spewing.
HANNITY: ... You are voting for Obama, by the way. This is a pro-Obama book. You are voting for Obama.
KUTTNER: But I'm not here to do Obama...
HANNITY: Stop it. You -- when you say...
KUTTNER: I'm not here to be insulted either. You're doing RNC talking points, Sean.
HANNITY: Excuse me. I don't have RNC -- these are Hannity talking points. I write the talking points.
KUTTNER: Right. Yes, yes. Where do you get them from?
HANNITY: Here's what we have. You say -- you spew this line, DNC talking points.
KUTTNER: I don't spew any goddamn line.
HANNITY: You said the economy...
KUTTNER: Stop insulting me or I'm walking off the set.
HANNITY: Go ahead. Go. Good-bye. Walk off.
KUTTNER: Are you going to let me have my two minutes?
HANNITY: Please. I don't care. Go right ahead. Walk off. You said the economy is in dire straits.
KUTTNER: It is in dire straits. You want to deny that, you fool?
HANNITY: You fool, you idiot.

4) It's meta. The irony of this clip is the point Kuttner made about substance being overshadowed by presentation was realised once the name calling and Hannity's supposed meltdown became the story. In effect the 2nd half of the clip nullified the first. Rather than the guests' points being discussed, attention is drawn to the presentation

Did this man just call Sean a FOOL??? WHOA! That CERTAINLY was NOT necessary. This is such a problem with liberals- they just don't know how to behave like adults, even on national television!
They really are losing it!

Read the discussion on Sean Hannity's official forum - Robert Kuttner on H&C

Robert Kuttner describes the experience on his blog

You do all kinds of dubious things when you're promoting a book. But when my publisher suggested that I accept an invitation to appear on Fox's "Hannity and Colmes," I was a bit skeptical. I've been on O'Reilly a few times over the years, and have stopped doing it, because these people play with such a stacked deck. They control the format, the timing, they flat-out lie, and they're rude as hell. Even if you win the debate, you're lending credibility to a propaganda act...

Read his entire post here - Shaggy Fox Story