Thank you for being a friend

(Gratuitous video of awful Sean Hannity)

Is someone's past an issue in electability? I dunno, let's ask Barack Obama about his close personal friend William Ayers:

The first article in the mainstream press linking Obama to Ayers appeared in the London Daily Mail on February 2. It was written by Peter Hitchens, the right-wing brother of the left-wing firebrand turned Iraq war supporter, Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens cited the Ayers connection to bolster his argument that Obama is "far more radical than he would like us to know."

. . . The only hard facts that have come out so far are the $200 contribution by Ayers to the Obama re-election fund, and their joint membership of the eight-person Woods Fund Board. Ayers did not respond to e-mails and telephone calls requesting clarification of the relationship. Obama spokesman Bill Burton noted in a statement that Ayers was a professor of education at the University of Illinois and a former aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley, and continued:

Senator Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an eight-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost forty years ago is ridiculous.

In other words, not so much. But what about a connection between a Fox talking head, and a certified Neo-Nazi (from Cernig @ Newshoggers):

Alongside the 30 marchers from the Michigan-based National Socialist Movement was Hal Turner, rightwing white-supremacist radio host.

One speaker railed against illegal immigrants and shouted, "White America, your option is with us." Another, introduced as radio host Hal Turner, said the group was "part of a much greater movement" that was "willing to play hardball" to fight illegal immigration. He warned that if Congress did not solve the problem, the movement would assemble in "minority areas" of U.S. cities and "clean house."

. . . Turner was recently the subject of much blogging when he contradicted Fox radio host Sean Hannity, who had said he didn't know Turner at all:

I was quite disappointed when Sean Hannity at first tried to say he didn't know me and then went on to say that I ran some senate campaign in New Jersey. In fact, Sean Hannity does know me and we were quite friendly a number of years ago.

Nice. I know Hannity isn't running for office, although Turner has tried to before. But does anyone even care about trying to report news? Clearly Fox and Hannity don't. Gaaaaaaaad! Just about makes my head explode.