It doesn’t take very long for this to go off the rails, and then it goes on … and on … and on.  The first half is a debate on why Anthony Weiner showed up at all, and then there are about 90 seconds of actual discussion of issues until we get back to the nature of show hosts and guests.  The final two minutes are a classic of sorts, with Sean Hannity trying to get back to the issues while Weiner keeps trying to interrupt him before he can get the questions out.  The final minute is a colloquy on auditions for MSNBC and, er … camera angles.

Quote of the week: “You want me to talk about low standards? You really want to go there?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PVcah1ZTclg

Jill Colvin at Politicker captures the lunacy:

But Mr. Weiner nonetheless tried to dominate the conversation, asking nearly as many questions as Mr. Hannity, at one point prompting the frustrated host to declare, “I’m the host, you’re the guest!”

“I get to do questions! What am I? A potted plant?” Mr. Weiner shot back.

“You’re auditioning for MSNBC. You’re auditioning! You want Chris Matthews’s job. I can tell! You want to ask the questions. You wanna be Chris Matthews. You never shut up like Chris Matthews either,” Mr. Hannity alleged. (Mr. Weiner—who sources told Politicker was meeting with agents long before he launched his bid—insisted this was not the case.)

“Fox apparently has much lower standards. I’d much rather have a job on Fox,” replied Mr. Weiner.

“Oh, ouch. Ooh. You want me to talk about low standards? You really wanna go there?” Mr. Hannity fired back.

Well, may we should. Why bother having Weiner on at all? Of course he’s auditioning for a job at MSNBC.  Where else can Weiner go at this point?  Besides, they just picked up Alec Baldwin to do an hour a week, so they must have a pretty shallow news/political talent pool from which to draw.  Even before Weiner disgraced himself, he built a reputation for loud-mouthed, dull-witted demagoguery.  He’s an expert on platitudes and Anthony Weiner, and that’s about it. What value does he add as a guest, other than to do train-wreck theater?  At least Hugh Grant had real talent and charm.