Heart-ache: Rush notes HA’s “liberal” criticism of “The Half-Hour News Hour”? Update: Report contradicted! Update: Audio added
posted at 1:07 pm on February 20, 2007 by Allahpundit
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I should caution that I didn’t hear this myself so I’m not sure what was said. But here’s the e-mail we just got:
At the top of the program, Rush mentioned Hot Air in the context of “liberal” comments related to the FNC program opening on Sunday night. You were lumped in with YouTube. I believe he was responding to the initial post on HA which was not very positive on the opening segment. There was nothing derogatory in the monologue – he stated it matter-of-factly.
Was anyone listening who can confirm/deny? I suspect it’s more a case of him having mentioned criticism of the show and referred to YouTube as “liberal,” which our correspondent mistakenly thought was aimed at us too. I’ll check the audio later when it’s posted at RL.com. If he did call us liberal, though, does that mean David Frum’s a liberal too? Because he thought the show reeked. In fact, the only guy I’ve read who’s raved about it — “flat-out, gut-wrenchingly funny,” “some of the funniest, most outrageous moments I’ve seen on a major TV network,” “a damn sight funnier than anything I’ve seen on TV in a while” — is Jason Apuzzo of Libertas, who also happens to be co-director of the Liberty Film Festival at which THHNH debuted last year.
Here’s a little more from the pilot that I didn’t get to post on Sunday.
Update: As I suspected, another e-mailer says El Rushbo said nothing of the sort:
I was just listening to Rush and he was not criticizing Hotair.com for comments on the show. He was just mentioning that his portion was posted on “Michelle Malkin’s Hotair.com” his exact words. In the context of liberals wanting him to die because of his cold symptoms and his appearance as president on THHNH. The comments he was referring to were Youtube’s comments and email’s he received. When he said it, I took it as more of a promotion of Hotair.com and not a criticism.
In case Rush fans are stopping by, here’s the clip with him and Ann Coulter:
Update: Here’s the audio. He didn’t call us or our commenters liberal at all; he said he got hate mail from liberals after the clip of him and Coulter was posted here and on YouTube and that you should have seen some of their comments.
Update (Ian): Rush has posted the whole segment here.
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I believe he was commenting on the comments left by you disagreeing libs (at Hot Air and You Tube) that the show was not going to be that funny. Keep in mind that any conservative who disagrees with Rush is considered a liberal or seminar caller.
Valiant on February 20, 2007 at 1:12 PM
Any publicity is good publicity?
Slublog on February 20, 2007 at 1:13 PM
Busted! Shame! Oh woe!
I thought some of the show was funny, and some, well, ‘uneasy.’ All in all, I enjoyed it.
james hooker on February 20, 2007 at 1:13 PM
So not our actual post, in other words, but the comments to the post?
Allahpundit on February 20, 2007 at 1:14 PM
make that MOST of the show was funny.
james hooker on February 20, 2007 at 1:14 PM
I watched a recording of the pilot episode last night and stand by my original criticism: That pilot wasn’t good enough to be aired on FNC from Day One but should have been posted as digital video on MySpace first, then allowed to gain the audience share that warrants a major network’s attention.
Rush Limbaugh started out in Sacramento and worked up to national syndication, so this shouldn’t be an alien concept to him.
ScottMcC on February 20, 2007 at 1:19 PM
I didn’t hear it, I had it on in the background but did not hear Hot Air mentioned.
The, “you’re” a lefite if you don’t like the show has been repeated quite a bit this last week. I’ve never been accused of being a liberal before, I don’t know whether to feel offended or “liberated”. Sorry, but the HANH has lowered my funny threshold.
That clip does include just about the only funny line in the entire show — polar bears drowning and seals barking all night and keeping up tanker crews.
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 1:21 PM
Yes, that is my take. Ian’s initial post was without editorial comment but some of the criticism below was withering. Your post was fair to the show so it had to be the comments section.
Valiant on February 20, 2007 at 1:22 PM
It was on at the very top of the first hour.
Valiant on February 20, 2007 at 1:24 PM
I liked the show, look forward to seeing it again, but believe it needs some work. I stand by my original comment:
A good start, had some good lines, but needs work. Where is Dennis Miller when you need him?
I would love to see this show develop into a really funny hit from beginning to end. Some of the pieces, especially abou the ACLU were so right on, but too close to the truth to be funny.
The show needs better material, better presentation, and more emphasis on humor than political content. The show is a big step in the right direction however.
For an example of some excellent conservative humor may I suggest Shire Network News, link in Hot Air’s “Hot Links”. I enjoy their material very much.
omegaram on February 19, 2007 at 12:34 PM
It amuses me to think someone would think I am a Liberal! (choke, gasp …… )
omegaram on February 20, 2007 at 1:26 PM
Go ahead, just throw us overboard.
Separating the wheat from the chaff a little quickly.
/snark
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 1:26 PM
All I heard was that HA had some liberal comments about the .5HNH, not that HA was liberal or that the post was liberal.
icelandicfarmer on February 20, 2007 at 1:28 PM
I did not listen to Rush, but the Half Hour Newshour was extremely funny, original, and well-written from start to finish. The two people I was watching it with were hardly stereotypical conservatives, but they thought the show was great as well. There were many laugh out loud moments. It was far, far better than SNL or the Jon Stewart show; that’s for sure.
Yet when I came to Hot Air for the topic, it was evident there were dozens of liberal trolls posing as conservatives, saying they hated the show. I had never seen half of the names of the commenters before. It was immediately suspicious, as the show received so many good reviews, even from Tom Shales, who rarely gives anything good reviews.
Liberals often do the same thing on Amazon. A new book that is not politically correct comes out, and immediately a slew of “1-star” reviews comes out. They were trying to do the same here at HotAir.
januarius on February 20, 2007 at 1:49 PM
Rush made the mistake of stumping for the show to his audience. He should have known better as a conservative and free marketeer, but I really think he’s trying to keep what happened to him on T.V. from happening to HHNH (i.e. pre-caste as a failure only to be engineered as such). I don’t think that applies in this case, though, as FNC is hardly the same as the alphabet networks that Rush was trying to survive on.
The problem with the HHNH is that it’s engineered. The Daily Show was one of many outlets in the MSM for the lefty POV, most of which failed. The DS was the most fit of a bad lot, so it survived, only to become and even better show. It’s just more robust for that reason. The HHNH is more like a golem constructed as a defense against the DS, much like AirAmerica was to Rush. Shows like Red Eye are much more likely to survive, in my opinion.
spmat on February 20, 2007 at 1:53 PM
The canned laughter has to go.
p0s3r on February 20, 2007 at 1:53 PM
It was a quick comment…HA wasn’t getting dissed…
As for the show itself, some liked it, some didn’t. I’m with the latter…it had it’s moments, like the t-shirt thing, and of course Rush & Coulter’s intro…but this show doesn’t belong on a News channel. It only give the liberals more kindling for the “FOX News is biased” fire.
Why not air it on FOX TV instead?
I just think it lowers the News channel…
JetBoy on February 20, 2007 at 1:56 PM
jetBoy’s got some points that I gotta agree with.
james hooker on February 20, 2007 at 2:05 PM
And they’re doing it right now on YouTube. If H-Squared-NH clips were posted on any other video sharing service the same thing would happen. These jackoffs don’t have real jobs but can somehow afford the broadband Internet access needed to 1-star vote anything they disagree with out of existence.
I was hoping LiveVideo and Israeli-owned Metacafe wouldn’t default to leftism, but now everything there is the same Chimperor Hitlerburton crap too…
ScottMcC on February 20, 2007 at 2:07 PM
I finally show this show. There were some funny parts (like the Hillary and lesbian news item) and the ACLU “commercials” were funny, but then sad when you thought about it because the content was TRUE.
But a lot of it wasn’t funny.
Rightwingsparkle on February 20, 2007 at 2:10 PM
Fox TV would never air it.
Because it sucks.
They turn down hundreds of shows that are a lot more funny every year.
The show is a bad idea, running it on FoxNews is a terrible idea.
CNN doesn’t run liberal comedy skit shows. For good reason.
Some may think this is funny, but this will backfire in the long run. It’s the middle that wins elections, FoxNews should not alienate them.
Dumb.
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 2:26 PM
CNN doesn’t run liberal comedy skit shows.
So you’ve not seen Nancy Grace then? :)
major john on February 20, 2007 at 2:38 PM
I guess you missed Jack Cafferty.
fogw on February 20, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Rush did say the second episode would be a lot better than the first.
Valiant on February 20, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Who cares if they run it on FOX NEWS? ….liberals are going to keep saying they are conservative no matter what they do.
EnochCain on February 20, 2007 at 2:39 PM
So Rush is calling us liberals?
Rick on February 20, 2007 at 2:42 PM
Nancy Grace & Jack Cafferty…gawd, imagine them with a canned laugh track…
Actually, it might make them better!
Anyone know the ratings yet for the HHNH? Guess that’ll be the deciding factor…
JetBoy on February 20, 2007 at 2:49 PM
A Rush to judgement
dinasour on February 20, 2007 at 3:03 PM
Fox news was promoting the show, and had the Rush and Ann clip on several times. I didn’t find it funny. It appeared to me to make both Rush and Ann look foolish. It looked like a liberal’s idea of making fun of stupid conservatives.
I watched Battle Star Galactica, instead, and was disappointed with that program as well. I want my heros to be heroic, not drunks in a failing marriage, and consumed with ‘angst’.
Adding to my misery, Brit Hume’s remarks about Murtha provoked Juan Williams to leap to a defense of the democrat world view, and I’m just tired of listening to it.
Bottom line is, I’m so fed up with everything, all the shouting matches, even on CNBC!, that I’ve just called Direct TV and shut off the service.
I’ve also learned a new definition of ‘liberal’. someone who challenges a ‘conservatives’ conclusion, taught to me by other commentators on other threads here.
Have a nice day.
rockhauler on February 20, 2007 at 3:55 PM
Yes, by all means, let’s turn sense of humor into an ideological litmus test.
Levy on February 20, 2007 at 4:11 PM
There are plenty of conservatives panning the show.
John from WuzzaDem on February 20, 2007 at 4:36 PM
Exactly. CNN can’t figure out where all their viewers are running off to while they put idiots like that on the screen.
I like it better when they are the one’s making fools of themselves.
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 4:39 PM
Unless Hot Air opened registration again, it’s not people who signed up just to comment.
I’ve been here since day one and I noticed quite a few names that have respectable blogosphere rep’s that did not like the show in the comments.
But, then again, I must be a liberal — so what do I know?
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 4:43 PM
Yes, by all means, let’s turn sense of humor into an ideological litmus test.
Levy on February 20, 2007 at 4:11 PM
Typical liberal response.
John from WuzzaDem on February 20, 2007 at 5:15 PM
Well, no one can call you a “chickenhawk” when it comes to writing conservative comedy.
Maybe they should hire you and frankj as consultants.
For that matter, Allah too. He was pretty funny before he got a real job.
dinasour on February 20, 2007 at 5:23 PM
I’m shocked, shocked that liberals would send hate mail to Rush for appearing on THHNH. (said in my best Claude Raines voice).
Mallard T. Drake on February 20, 2007 at 5:29 PM
Heh.
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 5:38 PM
… At Hot Air and You Tube? How can we see the comments in his private e-mail or was he speaking figuratively?
Valiant on February 20, 2007 at 5:45 PM
C’mon the show wasn’t that bad. A couple of chuckles (okay, bemused grins) on the debut show isn’t a total failure.
HHNH’s biggest failure was it wasn’t topical. Ed Begly jokes would be a lot funnier if anyone could remember who he is.
And it’s a couple of decades too late for Idi Amin jokes. They would have had better luck with a Hamilton Jordan-using-coke-at-Studio 54 bit.
billy on February 20, 2007 at 5:48 PM
Or Marion Barry, for that matter.
“Dad, who’s Marion Barry?”
“I don’t know son, let’s ask grandpa.”
John from WuzzaDem on February 20, 2007 at 5:59 PM
I liked the ACLU ads. They were the funny part of the show IMO.
NTWR on February 20, 2007 at 6:14 PM
So, is everybody coming out of the lib closet now?
Rick on February 20, 2007 at 6:44 PM
Their biggest downfall will be a lack of straight-men.
Colbert and Stewart can count on people like Bill O’Reilly and Rick Santorum being willing to go on those shows and come out on the losing side of the exchange. Embarassing to them but very funny.
Could you imagine Carl Levin or Olbermann having the guts to do that on HHNH?
billy on February 20, 2007 at 7:19 PM
Not that this will make you feel any better, boys, but it is obvious that the blogosphere is utterly foreign to Rush. He doesn’t know any of you, and doesn’t seem to care.
Jaibones on February 20, 2007 at 9:20 PM
That would be incorrect. Rush knows more about the blogosphere than you think, Jailbones. His initial comments were misheard, and he happens to be a fan of Michelle’s blog, as well as Powerline, Little Green Footballs, etc.
People just need to not have knee jerk reactions to things that they think they hear. A simple clarification or a forthcoming link usually puts out fires before they get out of control.
Hot Air is NOT DU country. Thank goodness for that. :)
itzWicks on February 20, 2007 at 9:39 PM
Ian Rush?
uptight on February 20, 2007 at 10:29 PM
Rush explained the short comings of the show today:
“Now, there’s another thing about this. I’ve read some comments from people who liked the idea but thought the subject matter, “Come on, I could have written better stuff,” or, “I could have done better.” You have to understand, these shows were taped up to January the 12th. Ann and I did our stuff on January the 5th, they taped the show a week later, January 12th, it airs on, what, February the 18th? There was no way to be topical here. These shows are what we in the broadcast community call “evergreens,” meaning they’ll run any time of the year. They’re not specific to date, or not specific to issue. If this program gets picked up and if it does get picked up and runs weekly, then the show every week will be dealing with specific issues and items in the news that week. These pilots were simply unable to do that. They could have done it, but it wouldn’t have worked with issues that are four and five or maybe even more weeks old”.
Seeing El Rushbo on national TV was, for a lack of better terminology….”Way Cool!”
repvoter on February 20, 2007 at 10:35 PM
I’m just working my way through life backwards.
mesablue on February 20, 2007 at 10:48 PM
Rush’s comments on Global Warming was good also.
Libs are pissing
holding their fartsthemselves about Ann being the veep, let alone the MahaRushni being Commander in Chief. HA was mentioned cause the you carried the clip.As someone who cannot get FOX News, I thank HA for posting the clips. Even though it has laugh tracks, I was cracking up by the whole thing. Can’t wait till March to see more!
Kini on February 21, 2007 at 12:39 AM
Not sure how that’s going to make it funny.
John from WuzzaDem on February 21, 2007 at 1:52 AM
I hated the half hour news hour but rush as prez was THE highlight.
It was the only highlight, but a highlight, nonetheless.
triple on February 21, 2007 at 7:44 AM
No time to read all the posts so if this was already said, I second it: The lib trolls posting comments here are skewing the general consensus of posts. When their posts come up in a Google search, some people mistakenly think they reflect OUR thoughts. Ugh…
PoliticallyIncorrectSandy on February 21, 2007 at 11:08 AM
You really should read the comments before accusing people of being “lib trolls”.
John from WuzzaDem on February 21, 2007 at 11:57 AM
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