I Challenge You, Alec Baldwin

Oh, man, absolutely glorious stuff from WABC Radio's "Brian Whitman Show." Alec Baldwin's on, apparently discussing the state of the world (the audio doesn't include this stuff), when right-wing radio hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin phone up.

Sean seems upset that Alec didn't go on his show before Brian's. He insists over and over again that there was some sort of deal in place with Alec's agent, that Alec agreed to go on Hannity's show before any other show on WABC. I have no way of knowing if this is true or not, but I can tell you that Baldwin takes Hannity's abuse like an absolute champ.

Listen to the encounter at Crooks and Liars here.

The good stuff begins immediately, with A. Baldwin responding to Hannity's charge by insisting "I would never do your show, Sean Hannity, because you are a no-talent hack." He proceeds to say that he does Bill O'Reilly's show, despite their divergence of political opinions, because at least O'Reilly has some ability as a broadcaster. Also, he makes fun of the fact that Hannity used to work construction and provides Levin with the nickname "Cabin Boy."

Levin tries to get in some insults into the background, and I don't even know who this guy is, really, but he probably comes off the most pathetic of anyone present. Straining for some insult to spew at this celebrity, any insult, he comes up with "butt boy" and "Brokeback Alec." Yikes, dude...You're on the radio for a living. Don't you even have a stock insult to throw at Right-Wing Asshole America's public enemy #1?

I'm just surprised at Hannity and Levin's lack of creativity is all. These guys insult Hollywood liberals for a living. It's all they do. And here they are, with a genuine Hollywood liberal right there on the phone with them, inviting them to insult him...and they come up totally empty. "Did you call Dick Cheney a terrorist?," Hannity asks. "Yes, I said that," Baldwin replies.

And that's it. That's all he's got. Because Dick Cheney is a terrorist, and Alec Baldwin knows it, so he's not ashamed to admit that he's said so in the past. (If I were Hannity, I would have asked Alec why he remains in America, despite his pledge to leave the country if Bush were re-elected. It doesn't prove he's wrong about his political outlook, but it does kind of make him look like a serial exaggerator and a phony.)