Holder Tongue-Tied Over Waterboarding
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A quick trip around Hannity's America...
Tortured Answers
Attorney General Eric Holder has made no secret that he thinks waterboarding is torture. The National Review's Andy McCarthy pointed out that Holder took a beating at the hands of Republican Congressmen Dan Lungren and Louie Gohmert. The two men asked the attorney general why he thinks waterboarding is torture, given that we use the technique to train our own soldiers:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONGRESSMAN DAN LUNGREN, R-CALIF.: If we're causing them to undergo waterboarding, even under the guise of training them, aren't we subjecting them to torture if you have defined waterboarding as torture?
CONGRESSMAN LOUIE GOHMERT, R-TEXAS: If our officers when waterboarding had no intent to do permanent harm and in fact knew absolutely they would do no permanent harm to the person being waterboarded, and their only intent was to get information to save people in this country, then they would not have tortured under your definition, isn't that correct?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(END VIDEO CLIP)
This is how Holder tried to get himself out of this one:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: Not in the legal sense. I think that's a fundamentally different thing. It's not torture in the legal sense because we're not doing it with the intention of harming these people physically or mentally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So let me get this straight: Torture involves the intent to physically or mentally harm an individual and even though waterboarding does neither, it's still torture?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}I don't know, Mr. Holder, I’m guessing you weren't hired for your ability to reason clearly.
The Pelosi Problem
CIA Director Leon Panetta fielded questions at a luncheon Tuesday about the relationship between Congress and the CIA. Panetta was gracious and diplomatic, but what was he really thinking? We think we know:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CIA DIRECTOR LEON PANETTA: One of the things that I really want to do as director of the CIA is to improve the relationship with the Congress and to make the Congress a partner in this effort.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: Unfortunately, this Congress doesn't seem interested in the whole partnership thing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PANETTA: I realize that we've been through a rough period.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: Nancy Pelosi, take a bow!
PANETTA: And the problem with that is that when that relationship is not working, when the Congress and the CIA don't feel like they're partners in this effort, then frankly it hurts both.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LIBERAL TRANSLATION: Once Pelosi steps down, things should go much more smoothly.
PANETTA: And more importantly it hurts this country.
LIBERAL TRANSLATION: A lot of Democrats in Congress have more important concerns, like their reputations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(END VIDEO CLIP)
Mr. Panetta, good luck rebuilding that relationship with Congress. I'm guessing that, if and when Speaker Pelosi takes her leave, your job will become much easier.
Viva Las Hypocrite
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Remember back in February when President Obama made these comments, warning companies not to travel to Las Vegas?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you've paid taxpayers back. You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, now only a few months later, President Obama plans to hit up the Vegas strip on your dime, in order to headline a mega-fundraiser for Senator Harry Reid — who is not doing so well in the polls — alongside Bette Midler and Sheryl Crow.
But the president's visit isn't sitting well with elected officials there. In fact, Obama is refusing to meet with Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons while he's in town. Gibbons has called for the president to apologize for his comments and recently said, "President Obama stood for change, but all he has done is brought negative economic change to Nevada."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman agrees and believes the president's comments gravely damaged his city's economy:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAS VEGAS MAYOR OSCAR GOODMAN: My job is to protect Las Vegas. My job is to protect the economy in Las Vegas. This will contribute to that, so my job is to straighten it out. He has his job, I've got my job.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(END VIDEO CLIP)
According to the governor's office, after the president made those comments in February, more than 111,000 guests have cancelled their trips to Las Vegas.
Rude Little Pig
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Father of the year Alec Baldwin has always been known to stir up controversy with his left-wing views, but comments he made on a recent appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman" have all but triggered an international incident:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: So with a big family like that, do you ever think about having a bigger family yourself? You have the lovely daughter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I would love to have more kids. I think about getting a Filipino mail order bride at this point, or a Russian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That tasteless joke not only elicited gasps from the studio audience, it also caught the attention of one prominent politician in the Philippines, Senator Ramón Revilla, who happens to be a former action movie star.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the Associated Press, Revilla called Baldwin "arrogant" and said the joke was "insensitive and uncalled for and an insult to millions of Filipinos." The senator also sounded a warning to Baldwin, saying, "Let him try to come here in the Philippines and he'll see mayhem."
Baldwin has yet to apologize for his remark and, if his track record is any indication, I wouldn't hold my breath that the father of the year will be saying sorry anytime soon.
— Watch "Hannity" weekdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel