Posted on 10/10/2003 3:01:14 AM PDT by ThreePuttinDude
Ed Asner: 'Hannity's next ... just like we went after Limbaugh'
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
In the news this week are several reports of an exchange between syndicated talk-show host Mike Gallagher and actor-turned-leftist-poster-child Edward Asner.
The account goes like this: Mike Gallagher approached Asner at a recent cocktail party promoting the new film "Elf" in which Asner stars as Santa Claus. As Gallagher introduced himself, Asner asked his profession. When Gallagher replied "radio talk-show host," Asner replied, "I love going toe-to-toe with you guys.''
''I know,'' Gallagher replied. ''I've heard you on Sean Hannity's show.''
''Hannity's next, you know,'' Asner responded.
''Huh?'' said Gallagher.
''Hannity's next,'' said Asner. ''We're going after him just like we went after Limbaugh. And you saw what happened to Rush this week, right?''
I can attest to these news reports because I was there. Standing not more than 10 feet from where the conversation was happening. Shortly afterward, as Mike and I were exiting the party, we were chatting on the elevator of the Empire State building.
"Kevin did you hear what he said?" Mike exclaimed, "That was a truly strange experience." And he then proceeded to relate the story to the rest of the folks riding with us in the elevator.
The following day, as a part of the same film junket, I found myself sitting in a room with Mike and several others waiting for Mr. Asner to field his questions from us regarding the release of "Elf" – a movie that I believe will be huge at the box office this holiday season.
As Mr. Asner walked in, he saw both Mike and me sitting at the end of the table closest to him and quickly quipped, "What is this? The Salem witch trials?" This, of course, being a play on words alluding to Mike being a syndicated talk-show host for Salem Radio Network (and heard on better than 200 stations), and that I had just taken over as the host on the legendary New York's WMCA 570 "Home of the Good Guys," also a Salem property.
Upon seating himself at the end of the table and making small talk about cookies and cupcakes – he did seem to be in a particularly jovial mood – he asked point blank: "Does anyone at this table hate me? Hate my work as an activist or in any other way?"
It was such an odd question that the room fell dead silent for a moment before breaking into the short amount of time he had for questions about the film.
As he answered questions about the film, he often broke into stories about his days gone by, and even his reasons for getting involved in left-wing politics. He even talked somewhat reflectively about one of his first acting gigs, playing Santa for the downtown Chicago Marshall Field's store.
"It was the worst job I ever had," said Asner. "All I could do was put these poor – extremely poor – kids on my lap and say to them, 'Well Johnny, well Susie, Santa's gonna see what he can do about getting that for you. Knowing full well that these kids' parents were so poor that more than half these kids had no chance of ever seeing the gifts they asked for. It was just awful.'"
By the end of his time with us, I had not asked him a specific question yet, and in my mind I could not get away from the scene from the party of the night previous.
"Mr. Asner, I do have a question – unrelated to the film," I said. "In your long and distinguished acting career, going back to your earliest days in Chicago all the way up to present days working with Will Farrell on 'Elf', you have had the chance to do almost anything you could ever wish to do. But if you had the chance to play the biographical story of a historical figure you respected most over your lifetime, who would it be?"
Remembering the sad story he had told about the poor kids in Chicago, I half expected him to come out with a political name of some sort.
"I think Joe Stalin was a guy that was hugely misunderstood," said Asner. "And to this day, I don't think I have ever seen an adequate job done of telling the story of Joe Stalin, so I guess my answer would have to be Joe Stalin."
Suddenly the time had run out, and for the third time in less than 18 hours, Ed Asner had puzzled the room he was in, into a stunned and disbelieving silence.
Mr. Hannity ... I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Now that I read this, and reflect on the lunacy of last week, I think your right. I've hear Ed Asinine on Sean's show several times and he always inflates everything he says. I think he just hit a nerve during that week of conservative 'paranoia'.
The terror famine in the Ukraine, which killed somewhere around 10 million, was engineered in 1932-33, long before Hitler was an issue. Stalin did it as a "Final Solution" to rebellious Ukrainians who were resisting forced collectivization. There was an earlier deliberate famine in 1921-22 which killed almost 2 million.
Stalin did not need Hitler to provide an excuse for mass killings. He did just fine long before Adolf came on the scene.
The killings after WW2 were relatively minor, and concerned purges of the Communist Party itself. Some Communists were more upset about these latter purges because they happened to affect their own, rather than unimportant peasants
If you stop and think about it, what low-income parent is going to bring his kid to see Santa, and tell Santa about all he wants, and then have the kid be disappointed on Christmas. I would just avoid the whole issue, if I was in the parent's shoes
OL is probably my all time favorite show...even though Asner AND Martin Sheen both appeared on it.
BUMP to shed light on the continued smears the left has been engaging in. Get Rove, Get Libby, Get DeLay, Get Frist, Get Bush, Get Savage, Get Hannity, Get Rush, Get O'Reilly, Get Bennett...
Yah, Ed, you really took Limbaugh down, didn't you? BWAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA
Sean will be shaking in his boots.
Thanks for bringing this back up! The scum are getting away with this stuff a little too much!
Mr. Asner is a "Clymer".
Big time.
hahaha
That's absolutely correct: Stalin was misunderstood. Especially by millions of gulllible Westerners who thought that "Uncle Joe" was a big, loveable teddy bear of a Russian who just wanted a better life for his people. Meanwhile, in the Lubyanka prison, thousands of innocent "traitors to the state" were summarily executed by his NKVD henchmen, while in the countryside, millions of Ukranians died of forced starvation. So, he made a few mistakes, right, Ed?
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