Why is Sean Hannity so Angry?

Last week, Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia was on the Hannity and Colmes show on the Fox News Network. Congressman Barr has launched a Presidential Exploratory Committee for the 2008 elections, and Hannity and Colmes wanted to take the opportunity to criticize Barr about his decision. What had Sean Hannity's tighty whiteys in a knot was that Congressman Barr plans to run as a Libertarian.

Both Sean and his toady Alan Colmes peppered Barr with questions attempting to marginalize him and the Libertarian party: "Would you vote for the legalization of heroin or crack?" (Barr responded no, but added that drugs were an issue "better handled by the state than the Federal government", as the never-ending War on Drugs would indicate). When the hosts allowed Barr to answer a question free from annoying interruptions he noted that the Libertarians were not a single-issue party, but a party whose overriding doctrine is to "maximize individual liberty and minimize government power"-much like the framers of the Constitution had in mind.

The Republican Party was once the party of small government and individual liberty, but it has devolved into a megalith of social conservatism (occasionally boarding on theocratic dogma), a behemoth sized government and an eradicator of civil liberties. Libertarians want a country where, as long as force or fraud is not involved, individuals are free to do as they wish; much like the old Republican Party. The problem for Libertarians is raising public awareness. Barr's name recognition would go a long way to raising that public awareness--something that would spell disaster for the Republican Party. And Hannity knows it.