In lieu of a typical episode of his program, Sean Hannity aired a documentary on Friday exploring the origins of liberal media bias, and in the process exploring a number of media firestorms and how the politicians at the center of them were treated. Of particular interest in the special, “Behind the Bias,” were two slurs Hannity argued were consistently and erroneously applied to conservatives: that they are racist and that they are stupid.

On the “conservatives are racists” side of the argument, Hannity– along with commentators familiar to the program such as Hugh Hewitt, Juan Williams, and Brent Bozell— looked back upon recent history and compared comments by former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott commending segregationist Strom Thurmond to those made by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, among others, about President Obama. In light of their comments, the experts continued to explore the past of the Democratic party, finding that they “had a lot to apologize for,” from Sen. Robert Byrd‘s membership in the KKK and beyond.

Then there’s the “stupid” slur. From Dan Quayle spelling “potato” wrong to Sarah Palin not being able to name the magazines she reads, intellectual heft and conservatism have long been, according to Hannity, separated in public. Hannity and company don’t bother trying to defend Quayle or Palin so much as pointing out that some on the left– particularly Vice President Biden– have been forgiven myriad gaffes because they are perceived as inherently intelligent, so that their gaffes prove nothing.

It’s hard to imagine that liberals watching the program will be convinced that the scales are skewed in their favor, but at the very least it serves as a handy crash course in the past decade’s relevant news cycles, and how they were perceived through a conservative lens.

The segments via Fox News below:



Hannity: ‘Behind the Bias’: How It All Began

Hannity: ‘Behind the Bias’: The Invisible Narrative

Hannity: ‘Behind the Bias’: The New York Times

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]