Sean Hannity constructs a political platform for Republicans (UPDATED 5:45 PM ET)

I think maybe we all have little self-destructive traits. That's probably a throwback to the atavistic idea that we should inflict injury on ourselves for harboring bad thoughts. Some people pick at their scabs. Others like to see how long they can go without flossing before they end up in the dentist's chair with a lump in their gums and a fever of 102. Me, I watch the Sean Hannity Show whenever I feel like elevating my blood pressure to an unhealthy level. I stand there and snap at the TV, "You stupid idiot why don't you read RBO so you can know what you're talking about when you criticize Barack Obama?

Opposition research is not Hannity's strong suit; every time I've tuned in, I've noted he's flubbed his facts so much that he makes Obama look in the right. And despite his pugnacity he doesn't have the temperament to be an effective critic.

Sean Hannity is at his best when he's encouraging people to take a positive view of themselves and America. His TV audience has seen little of that side of him during the past year, as he's futilely battled Barack Obama's cunning and luck.

But with Republicans in disarray these many months, Sean demonstrated his true mettle on his April 9 TV show. After wasting a couple moments complaining about Democrats, he turned away from criticism and featured a roundup of proposals from several GOP politicians about how to solve six big problems that America faces.

All the ideas are worthy of consideration. Yet the best thing about the show is that it integrates a range of practical GOP proposals into a coherent platform -- one that emphasizes what Republicans should do rather than what the Democrats shouldn't do.

Sean and his team obviously spent days putting the show together and their hard work paid off. A minority political party needs more such efforts, which highlighted some impressive GOP members of Congress who are not well known to the public outside their home states.

The proposals on the April 9 show deal with the issues of Economic Recovery, Education, Housing, Energy Independence, Health Care, and Illegal Immigration.

I wasn't able to locate a transcript or video of the entire show, which is called 6 Ways to Save America. So far, the website only has up transcripts and videos for three of the six segments. They did put together a one-page PDF that more-or-less summarizes major points mentioned in each proposal. However, the document shorts the politicians who gave their time to the show because it doesn't mention the names associated with the proposals.

As to what I think of the proposals, since late last year I've been studying the USA from a viewpoint that's outside the legislative one and I'm still wrapped up in that project. For years Americans have been like the person who spends his evening on the back porch swatting at swarms of mosquitoes. When you see that many mosquitoes, it's time to put down your swatter and look around your property for their breeding grounds, which are stagnant pools of water hidden from bright light.

In the same manner, when a wealthy democracy with friendly neighbors is beset by endlessly accelerating problems from all directions, that's the time to hunt for unaddressed situations that are generating swarms of social and economic problems.

The U.S. has three stagnant situations that are perfect breeding grounds for the most intractable problems we're seeing today. In the previous post I addressed one such situation: Americans' blind acceptance and practice of Equalization economic theory. In Monday's follow-up post I'll discuss the other two situations I've noted.

Meanwhile we can't twiddle our thumbs while waiting to confront what must eventually be confronted. America has a two-party political system so when one party completely dominates, that's a troubling situation.

If he continues to act like a Republican instead of a gladiator, Sean Hannity can make his TV show into a rallying place, where the best of today's Republican politicians could put forward proposals and viewpoints and debate them with each other. They do talk about their views on different TV shows, but the task is to get them together in one place on a routine basis.

Hannity has an "All American Panel" in which he invites three people to criticize the latest outrage done by the Obama administration. The time might be better spent at this juncture in getting Republicans to criticize each other's views.

Until the GOP voters get deeply involved in their party's internal debates about direction and specific proposals, a cohesive reply to the Democrat platform would be very hard to maintain. Yet involvement is difficult, if the voters have to go to the back of beyond all the time to scrounge up information about the issues among leading Republicans.

So I think Hannity would have a great show if he consolidated discussion of the Republican issues.
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5:45 PM ET UPDATE
I'm signing off for the rest of the Easter weekend.

This entry is linked at Riehl World View and crossposted at RBO with very thought-provoking comments (as of this time) by RWV and RBO readers, which are in the manner of constructive criticism.

A RBO reader, SJ Reidhead at The Pink Flamingo blog, claims that Hannity is a registered Independent, not a Republican; she goes on to say it's types like Hannity -- who don't inform their GOP audience that they're not Republican -- who are hurting the party. See the RBO comment section for more of Reidhead's observations.

Here are a couple observations that I think can't be repeated enough, from RBO reader "EyesOpen."

"AMEN!!! I had been banging away with fervor for months on some of the conservative sites that there has to be some mention of Republicans who are doing good things. If they can’t find them at the national level, go state, if not at the state level, go local.

Any press is good press as they say, and so the constant attention on the Dems and Obama without any solutions, you’re essentially an entertainment outlet following Britney Spears. [...] If there is one thing following politics has taught me, we need a solid two party system. The imbalance of power is extremely dangerous. The Republicans appear rudderless. This may or may not be accurate, but one thing I’m certain about, no one is carrying their message.[...]"

Yes. If it's all criticism, there's no message beyond the criticism.