So when Hannity wanted to know what Obama did as a young community organizer, Martin was ready with a pithy answer: "I think a community organizer, in Barack Obama's case, was somebody that was in training for a radical overthrow of the government."
Martin offered no evidence. None. But, when I called him, he helped me understand why this was not a problem.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, October 11, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
On the Media: An On the Media column in Friday's Section A about a Fox News program that looked at Sen. Barack Obama's association with Weather Underground co-founder William Ayers misspelled his last name as Ayres.
"I do involve with the facts," he began, "but when the facts aren't all there, and the perpetrator has concealed all the facts and is basically refusing to testify, you are allowed to draw an adverse inference."
It sounds to me as if he's saying: When you can't prove something, you're allowed to make stuff up. And does that also mean you might as well assume the worst? I asked.
"The proof of the pudding," Martin responded, "is that they are on the verge of taking over the government."
So, if Obama is elected, that would constitute a "radical overthrow"?
Well, Martin conceded, "maybe I should have changed my words around to say there would be a change of the government that would put a radical in charge."
During the program, Martin floated other wild theories, including one based on Obama's association with 1960s radical William Ayres.
He noted that Ayres had spoken fondly of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who, in turn, "learned from Fidel Castro of the Cuban revolution."
That led Martin to share this conclusion with Fox viewers: "If you love the Cuban revolution and Castro, and if you love what's happening in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, you'll love Barry Obama -- Barack Obama, as he calls himself -- in the White House."
Helpful. Now I'm starting to get it. Take opinions and present them as facts. Stitch them into patterns. Then pretend to your viewers -- as many as 2 million typically watch Hannity's Sunday show -- that those patterns reveal the truth.
But that was merely mortar for the program's building blocks: Obama's relationships. And if Obama knew them -- Ayres, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Palestinian scholar Rashid Khalidi -- it's pretty obvious (darn right!) he must subscribe to their most controversial ideas.
I take Hannity at his word -- when confronted on-air this week by Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs over Martin's past comments -- that he and his Fox colleagues do not condone anti-Semitism. Martin has denied he ever made anti-Semitic remarks.
