Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Quote of the Day

8/15/2014

2 Comments

 
 "When a cop pulls me over, I put my hands outside of the car. If I’m carrying a weapon, which I’m licensed to carry in New York, the first thing I tell the police officer is, 'Officer, I want you to know I have a legal firearm in the car.' First thing I say to the officer! He’ll ask, 'where is it?' And I’ll say, 'It’s in my holster.' And he says, ‘Alright, just keep your hands outside.’ That’s usually the protocol. And then, ‘Can I have your license and registration, please, move slowly.' And I often would even step out of the car, lift my shirt up so he can see where the gun is. And you handle it. ‘Yes, sir,’ 'no, sir,’ writes me a ticket, 'thank you, sir,’ and that’s it. You battle the issue in court!"

-- Sean Hannity, on his radio show Wednesday, explaining why we should cut police some slack

Y’know, all that’s left out of this Norman Rockwell encounter is the policeman offering tea and crumpets.  And the officer asking Sean Hannity for his autograph – not because he’s Sean Hannity, mind you, but because that’s what police officers do with everyone who treats them with respect and courtesy, while sporting a concealed weapon.

Actually, after reading this quote from Mr. Hannity, my first reaction was just to leave the quote as is, because no comment really is necessary.  Either you grasp instantly why it’s pathetic, thoughtless, disingenuous and racially divisive, or nothing anyone says will convince you otherwise.

But then I figured, what a waste of a Sean Hannity quote to leave untouched.

The starting point is that, of course, not even the most angry black person would likely make the argument that all policeman are trigger-happy towards white people. 

Secondly, indeed it’s this very dichotomy of being warm and sweet and wonderful to white people, even those with concealed weapons, while profiling even the most innocent black person that’s at the heart of the issue.

Third, it’s hard to imagine anyone – a-n-y-o-n-e – who thinks that police don’t treat famous white national celebrities well.  Then again, it’s hard to imagine anyone who doesn’t thinks that almost everybody treat white national celebrities well.

Fourth, amid all the outrage from Ferguson, Missouri, I’ve yet to hear any part of the discourse being that all policemen treat all people badly all the time. Only in the pathetic, thoughtless, disingenuous and racially-divisive world of Sean Hannity is it a concern.

Of course, it would be nice to ask Mr. Hannity if he thought the conversation would between him and the policeman would go the same if he was driving through a black, inner-city neighborhood late at night where gangs and drug dealing and shootings were common.  But then, imagining Sean Hannity driving through a black neighborhood, even an upper-middleclass one and in broad daylight with a security detail and a camera crew, stretches the limits of fantasy.

Mind you, I’m not all that concerned about Sean Hannity saying the pathetic, thoughtless, disingenuous and racially-divisive thing he did.  I expect that of Sean Hannity.  Saying things that are pathetic, thoughtless, disingenuous and racially divisive is his Mother’s Milk, the nurturing that gives him a Reason to Broadcast.  No, the problem is otherwise.

The problem is the people who listen to it and think it makes sense.  People who are so small-minded, so blocked off from reality, so scared of anything different, so incapable to look at the world that exists around their little protective cocoon that Sean Hannity’s words are comforting to them.

I don’t think the vast majority of people are like that.  I think that most people of any political stripe grasped the empty, eye-rolling pandering of Sean Hannity.  But how unfortunate that “most” isn’t “all.”

A small mind is a terrible thing to waste.

2 Comments
Max Kerpelman link
8/16/2014 12:14:35 am

How often is Mr. Hannity pulled over by the police? It must be often, if he has worked out such an elaborate scenario. Why do the police stop him? Is he speeding? Idling in an area known for drug sales or prostitution? Driving while Irish? Has he ever been accosted by a cop for standing around on the sidewalk and looking suspicious (Don't count autograph requests)? The world needs to know.

Reply
Robert J. Elisberg
8/16/2014 12:44:17 am

Max, thanks for the note. And it's odd -- that was among my first thoughts, as well. And I almost put that in the article, but for reasons I can't remember now (perhaps because it was off-topic of the direction I went) I left it out. So, I'm glad you brought it up.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.

    Picture
           Available on Amazon

    Picture
           Available on Amazon

    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2025
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like