Lib Dem Congressman Ellison Loses It on Hannity (VIDEO)

I present for your enjoyment, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) going absolutely bananas from the moment an “interview” with Sean Hannity begins.  As Ed Morrissey at Hot Air aptly stated, this is precisely “what a safe Democrat district will produce.”

A word of CAUTION:  This video will actually make you lose brain cells.  Not just a little damage.  We’re talking instant stupid, folks.

Painful, right?

In full disclosure, I’m anything but a Hannity fan.  He lost me somewhere back around Bush v. Kerry; and his behavior here will hardly bring me back.  Playing the “I’m not a registered Republican” card is a cheap dodge tactic and a cowardly one at that.  Yes, I realize in parts of New York (where Hannity lives) the Conservative Party has a role in politics affording him the opportunity to be a “Conservative” rather than a “Republican.”  And yes, I realize that – in his mind – gives him a modicum of “objectivity”; but seriously?  Who buys that nonsense?

I’m frequently asked why this site is called Republican Redefined.  Check that.  I frequently catch hell for calling this site Republican Redefined.  And my typical answer generally goes something like this.   Philosophically and ideologically speaking, I’m a conservative.  When I vote, I’m a Republican.  I’d just kinda like the party I vote for to more accurately represent my political philosophy and ideology.  Thus, Republican Redefined is my attempt to promote the direction I’d like to see the Party move in.

How’s that different than Hannity’s dodge?  Because I’m not disavowing my Party to win an argument or appear objective.  I’m a Republican; and a proud Republican at that.  I just think a few minor tweaks are in order.  Hannity’s trading on the Party name while completely dismissing it when convenience mandates such a distinction.  Something about that smells a little funny to me.

All that said, this video’s not about Sean Hannity or even my frustrations with his enigmatic party affiliation.  It’s about a liberal Congressman absolutely losing it on national television.  (And the fact that if Ellison was a Republican, every news outlet would be covering it.)  In a matter of minutes, he summed up nearly every frustration I have with our liberal friends and demonstrated the go-to tactic the Left has been using for the last four years.

Shout over your opponent.  When they begin to make a point that will expose a weakness in your argument, attack their credibility.  Deny, deny, deny.  And don’t forget to blame someone else.

Ignoring the Congressman’s behavior – which was shameful and disgusting – just look at the arguments he tried to make to defend President Obama’s record on the federal debt and sequestration.

But before you even get to that, look at how Ellison opened the “conversation.”  He immediately began by saying (to Hannity) “You are the worst excuse for a journalist I’ve ever seen.”  That’s quite an insult.  The problem is that libs like Ellison confuse TV and Radio “talkers” for actual journalists; perhaps, because they get their “news” from the likes of Maddow and Matthews over at MSNBC.  They view Fox News as an adversary to their liberal agenda because the network features commentators that share a different view, politically.  Other networks feature liberal commentators that they agree with; so, naturally, they view those networks as journalistic institutions.  In a nutshell, this interview was doomed from the word go.

When Hannity asks him to defend the $6 trillion in debt piled up on the president’s watch, Ellison responded with “what about the other $10 trillion?”  $6 trillion in four years and the esteemed congressman is worried about the other $10?  We’re talking about $10 trillion in the entire history of this great nation versus $6 trillion in the last four years; and he’s worried about the damage our ancestors did?

On the sequester, he refused to acknowledge that the president had any role in advocating the fiscal maneuver.  Frankly, I think he’d like the American People to believe the president never even signed the legislation.  So, instead of owning his party’s role in this mess, he chose to blame Republicans for “forcing” it on the American people.  Those evil Republicans and their 1/3 stronghold on government.

In fairness, I blame Republicans for this nonsense too.  I just don’t casually dismiss the fact that this was a cowardly tactic orchestrated by both Houses of Congress and the President to avoid or delay making any tough decisions.  To do so is both disingenuous and dangerous.  Because folks like Ellison are out there attempting to play the blame game rather than actually solving the problem of mounting debt and fiscal irresponsibility, sequester (which was meant to be a we’re never going to let that happen fail-safe) is about to become a reality.

Both sides can argue about the actual impact sequestration will have on our government’s ability to do its job; but what neither side can do is wash their hands of the mess they’ve created.  Blaming the other side does little more than serve as a distraction from actually doing the People’s Business.  We’ve elected politicians like Ellison to represent us – our interests and the interests of future generations.  The more time they spend trying to score political points, the more they are taken away from actually working to fix the things that ail us as a nation.

When I see interviews like this, I can’t help but worry that our best times are truly behind us.  If this is what a member of the United States House of Representatives believes to be acceptable public behavior, I’m inclined to believe things are certain to only get worse before they get better.  And because this interview’s not making headlines around the political news world, I’m fairly certain we may fall so far before that time that “better” may truly become a relative term.

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