Well lookie here... Marsha Blackburn and Charles Boustany found Sean Hannity a willing participant to trash President Obama for not being nice enough
February 28, 2010

Well lookie here... Marsha Blackburn and Charles Boustany found Sean Hannity a willing participant to trash President Obama for not being nice enough to them at the Health Care Summit. We're shocked...right? Poor little flame thrower Marsha Blackburn thinks the President was "condescending" and didn't listen to any of their ideas. Boustay of course agrees with Blackburn and also doesn't like that the President called Cantor out for bringing his prop, the 2700 page bill with him to the meeting.

I didn't save the Boustany exchange but I did grab the portion with Marsha Blackburn. You can just watch it for yourselves and see if you think it fits the way she characterized it to Hannity here.

And one last note on Hannity's rhetoric during the Fox segment -- I'm pretty sure you could go back through every transcript of Hannity's past shows and you'd never once find him describing the Republicans using the phrase "jam this down your throat" about any of the bills passed by them using reconciliation. He's more than happy to use that sort of violent/sexual language when it comes to the Democrats though.

Transcript via Nexis Lexis below the fold.

HANNITY: All right. So, a new day means a new health care deadline for the democrats. Now, according to a report, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says, that deadline is Congress Easter recess which falls on March 29th, that's less than five weeks away, quote, "By the time Easter comes, we willful Ted Kennedy's dream that health care is a right not a privilege." But every accomplish nothing yesterday's health care summit. Will the democrats turn to reconciliation and try and jam this health care bill right down your throat?

Joining me now with answers are two people who were present at yesterday's proceeding. Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn and Louisiana Congressman Charles Boustany. Guys, welcome back.

BOUSTANY: Great to be with you.

BLACKBURN: Thank you. Good to be with you.

HANNITY: All right. Congressman, let's start with you. First of all, you were you in the room. I wasn't there, I'm watching on TV, I'm fascinated by the whole proceedings. I found the president talking down a lot. He seemed arrogant, he seemed impatient. You know, every time somebody made a good point, those are the talking points. I won. You know, that's not true. These are talking points, again and again. What did you make of that?

Blackburn: I thought that what he did was spend a lot of energy and a lot of time in condescending to people and discounting the ideas that we were bringing. That is time and energy that could have been spent saying, how do we address medical malpractice and tort reform? How do we address interstate purchasing of insurance? I found it to be counter productive. What it did do was make a great point to the American people that look, this is how this is happening. When we bring ideas forward, when we put them on the table, this is the kind of response we get in. Sean, for the first time they were in the committee room, the cameras were going and they got to see the disrespect and the manner in which republican ideas are treated when they are put on the table for discussion. And that discussion doesn't happen.

HANNITY: Congressman, your thoughts?

BOUSTANY: Well, I agree with Marsha. And, you know, it was interesting that he belittled the fact that we had the actual bill there on the table in front of us. I mean, we are legislators and we're talking about points in these bills. And so, yes, I think he really was somewhat condescending about those things. We really wanted to have a real substantive dialogue on these issues and really highlight where we stand, where they stand, what those differences are and how can we bridge those, if possible?

HANNITY: Well, I got details, very impressive, including the both of you and Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor, I thought that was a good group of republicans. Obviously, you went in there with a strong strategy. And I think, by every account, when the media says, it is a draw, you know that is a lost for Barack Obama. I mean, that's pretty good way to put it. All right. The issues that stood out for me and I think for a lot of other people. Most people that I know were extraordinarily angry at the process. The fact that they had to buy senators' votes to get these things passed. The fact that republicans were kept out. The idea that the president refused to take the invitation by Lamar Alexander to take reconciliation off the table. Congresswoman, was that a mistake? Did he miss a moment to prove to the American people he's bipartisan?

Blackburn: I think the president did miss a moment. And I also think that Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi missed that moment, as did the vice president. They are the democratic leadership, they control it all. They had the opportunity to say, you know, the American people don't want this bill. We need to scrap it and start over with a clean sheet of paper. They passed that opportunity. The president should have looked at those leaders and said, you know what, the American people don't want it done this way, let's go through regular order and produce a product that everybody republican, democrat, all Americans are going to be proud of and are going to benefit from. But he gave up that opportunity. And I think in doing that, that's why today people are saying, republicans won this or it was a draw or you know, they're further away from achieving their goal today than they were yesterday.

HANNITY: You know, congressman, I agree with everything that the congresswoman just said your distinguished colleague. I got to get the lingo down you guys have. The president I though, could have been a little more respectful for peoples' titles but that's another issue for another day. And I don't want to nitpick here. Here's my concern Congressman that I have, I don't want to run this file, I think they could still force this bill down America's throat. And I don't want people to become complacent.

Blackburn: Right.

HANNITY: I've had a lot of smart people in the program that warning that republicans may not take back the house, they may not take back the senate, this is not a slam-dunk. I don't want people to become complacent there. Which is why I wrote a book that I'm going to be releasing in a few weeks, because I think we can screw it up, and I don't want people -- the democrats now have time to recover. Do you agree with my concern that maybe we need to stay on offense here? That there's a lot of problem, that there's a lot of work yet to do?

BOUSTANY: Absolutely Sean. We are intent on earning the majority back. And it starts now and it will continue and we will escalate that effort as we go forward until we get to the next elections. You know, the American people have spoken very loudly and I can tell you as a doctor with 20 years experience, talking to a lot of folks in my district and around the country, they want to start over on this health care bill. And they want us to get it right. We have a duty to do something about health care, the way -- but we really have an obligation to get it right.

And that means bringing down the cost for families and small business owners. And not bankrupting this country. And so, we're intent on moving forward, putting our ideas out there. Holding to our conservative values, and I'll tell you this. We're going to work hard to earn the majority back.

HANNITY: Well, I got to tell you. This is what -- I think this election is turning into, which I think is good, it almost reminds me of Reagan vs. Mondale, Reagan vs. Carter. Great distinctions between the two parties that is going to give the country a choice in terms of its future direction. So, guys, thanks for being with us.

BOUSTANY: Thank you.

BLACKBURN: Thank you so much. It's good to be with you.

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