Video: Hannity: Swearing on the Koran may lead to swearing on Mein Kampf

[Ian_rd]

Newly elected Congressman from Minnesota and muslim Keith Ellison prefers that he take the Oath of Office with the Quran instead of the Bible. This seems like a non-issue in a society that cheers freedom of religion as a central tenet of our national character. And, of course, it happens to be in the First Amendment of that pesky Bill of Rights. But predictably, right wing champions such as Sean Hannity and Dennis Prager are doing their best to help us understand that freedom sounds good on paper, but practicing it is dangerous.

In the video below at C&L you will see Sean Hannity warn that allowing officials to swear on the Quran could lead to someone wanting to swear on Hitler's Mein Kampf! This is because Hannity is incapable of defending his weak opinion that Ellison should not be allowed to swear on the Quran, so he instead changes the argument completely from the actual to the hypothetical in order to artificially weaken his opponent's position into one of defending the use of Hitler's infamous manifesto instead of a perfectly legitimate holy book of a religion held by billions of people.

This is one of the standard debate tactics used by right wing pundits when they know their argument is weak and must therefore change their opponent's position into one even weaker than their own using dishonest hypotheticals.

It's the same with Tucker Carlson and his famous argument that allowing same-sex marriage could lead to people wanting to marry box turtles. Carlson can't defend his position with reason and logic, so he demands that supporters of same-sex marriage defend the marriage of people to box turtles instead. He ends up looking reasonable in comparison.

Unfortunately this tactic usually works. As you can see, Hannity's guest, Mr. Shabazz, tries to deflect the analogy with a brief comment, walking right into Hannity's trap and prompting Hannity to jump on Shabazz as if he were ducking a legitimate question. This effectively put Shabazz on the defensive with a verbal slight-of-hand when before he had the clearly stronger position in a no-brainer of an issue.

Watch it: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/01/dennis-prager-please-go-away/

[dubykc]

1. Only for the Fascist Rethuglicans.

[bleedingheart]

2. I hear that at Faux News they make you swear on Mein Kampf already..

before you take your oath of service and start your job there....

:evilgrin:

[BushOut06]

3. Sheer utter stupidity - these fucking assholes can't even see their own hypocrisy

How fucking stupid. If someone were to try to deny them the right to swear on a BIBLE, they'd be the first to run around screaming religious intolerance. But they have no fucking problem telling someone else that they can't use their holy book. Nevermind that the Koran is well established, having been around for almost as long as the New Testament. Porky Pig's analogy is stupid, and he should have been slapped across the face for it. Mein Kampf does not form the basis for any major world religion, and he knows it.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. no book is required by law, 'holy' or not

Mein Kampf would be just as legal to use as any flavor of the bible, or the latest issue of Juggs, or a magic rock that keeps away tigers.

[mikeytherat]

7. "I'd like to purchase your rock, Lisa!"

- Homer Simpson

:rofl:

mikey_the_rat

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "Mein Kampf" has a helluva lot less blood and slaughter than the bible.

"The bible is a book with some beautiful poetry, a bloodstained history, a wealth of obscenity, and upwards of 10,000 lies." - Mark Twain

[zulchzulu]

5. Why does a college dropout bartender jock get such a big megaphone?

Hannity truly is the dullest knife in the drawer. His self-importance and Coulterish ego keeps him armed and ready with continuing examples of his stupidity.

Maybe Ellison should just swear on my book from college about Comparative Religions with his pinkie bookmarked on the Islam chapter. That should do just fine.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Swearing on a copy of Mein Kampf?

Is Hannity hinting that he's running for office?

[MidwestTransplant]

9. I am surprised he and Rush don't the the Salomon Rushdie treatment

from Iran and others.

[A Simple Game]

10. If someone who is openly a Nazi, like Keith Ellison is openly

a Muslim, then they should be able to swear in on a copy of Mein Kampf if they want to.

The funny part is most don't even swear in on a bible, do they hate America?

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. What's his position on those who take their oath on the Tanakh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Wasserman_Schultz

"Schultz was victorious, taking 70.2% to Hosteller's 29.8%. When Wasserman Schultz was sworn in on January 4, 2005, she insisted on using the Tanakh. Because Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert only had a Christian Bible, she procured a copy of the Tanakh from Congressman Gary Ackerman. She was unopposed in 2006, and it is not likely that she will face serious opposition in the near future."

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Just Who Considers Mein Kampf To Be A Holy Book?

At least there are a billion people who consider the Bible, and another billion who consider the Koran to be a holy book. Who does Hannity know that considers Hitler's rantings to be a holy book? Hannity, perhaps.
The Professor

[librechik]

16. Apparently Hannity does. I'm surprised he admits it

let alone call attention to it on the air.

[Sapere aude]

13. This is a non issue. They don't swear on any book. This is red meat for the knuckle draggers.

It's like the war on Christmas. The freeper knuckle draggers need this to have a reason to get up every day. The need a bad guy. Be it Hillary, or whomever. They need to feed their victim complex.

It's what keeps people like Hannity on the air. I doubt Hannity really believes what he says, he just knows it punches the freeper's buttons and makes a lot of money for his sponsors.

[Bandit]

14. You don't believe if he knew the difference he would not willingly

make himself appear to be an idiot? I think he is just an ignorant rumor monger. He doesn't bother to stop and check to see if it is true or not. You are correct they do not use a bible or any book to swear in. They simply raise their right hand and swear; the same as in a court room. Right wingers just can't help themselves..

[KansDem]

15. Agreed. But the Corporate Media (ala FoxNews) will make it "an issue."

They don't let minor annoyances like fact and truth get in their way.

Fox must have had to look far and wide to find someone who would not simply say, "Congressional representatives don't swear on a bible, or any religious book for that matter, Dennis, so your bitching and moaning is unwarranted."

[jumpoffdaplanet]

17. All Shabazz had to say

is the nothing but the Constitution is use in the swearing in. It would short circuit all this bullshit.

I'm really getting tired of this lie being continued.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. This is actually a very important issue.

It's the moral equivalent of demanding that Barak Obama and Charlie Rangel enter the capitol building through the service entrance.