Sean Hannity urges Obama to stand up and lead

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Sean Hannity urges Obama to stand up and lead

Fox News host makes personal appeal to the president

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 18, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: We have an important warning for this country and for President Obama. Now, tonight, make no mistake about it, our world, our nation are in an alarming state of emergency.

Now, yesterday, in the blink of an eye, the world watched as the lives of 300 innocent souls were wiped off the face of this earth by an act of unthinkable terror. That, of course, when a surface-to-air missile targeted a passenger airline in Ukraine.

Hours later, our closest ally, Israel, after being bombarded with over 1,600 rockets by the terror group Hamas and after two thirds of the Israeli population being forced to spend time in bomb shelters, well, the Israeli government did what they had to do in order to protect their citizens. And after warning residents in Gaza for well over a week to evacuate, Israel had no other choice to make good on their pledge to protect their citizens.  And at this hour, Israel's ground offensive continues to detect and destroy Hamas and its assets.

But sadly, that wasn't just a recap of the week, the month, even the entire year. That was one day, yesterday, Thursday July 17th, 2014, a day that none of us would like to see repeated.

You know, it's shocking to see a president of the United States of America, the free world, with such a lack of urgency and priorities.

So I say to the president tonight, it's time for action. It's time for urgency.  It's time for you to get engaged.

Now, this, by the way, is not just confined to incidents around the globe, because, Mr. President, right here at home, America is drowning in debt. We have unfunded liabilities like Social Security and Medicare.  They're on the brink of collapse! We have the lowest labor participation rate since 1978. We have 50 million Americans on food stamps, 50 million Americans in poverty.

Hope is fading. Far too many of our friends and neighbors are relying on government handouts. They're living paycheck to paycheck. We have more millennials now being forced to move home and live with their mommy and daddy. We have veterans, the people we should be taking care of the most -- they've lost their faith in the federal government. Where's the urgency after learning that our vets are dying because a lack of care that we promised them? Where's the urgency to fix that?

Now, none of this should come as a surprise. This is what happens when the federal government gets too involved in our lives.

Now, if you're not convinced, just look at ObamaCare. Four years, $700 million later, and in the year 2013 and 2014, our government couldn't even build a workable website!

And look at our southern border, where I visited last week to see firsthand how bad that crisis really is. We're being invaded by illegals, not just coming from Central America, but from rogue states that are hell-bent on destroying our way of life, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

Mr. President, it's time for you to stand up! It's time for you to lead. It's time to skip, for once, your lavish million-dollar Martha's Vineyard vacation. It's time for you to put down those golf clubs. You know what? I think 180 rounds of golf since you've been commander-in-chief is quite enough!

Time to lead by example, maybe forego the in-ground pools and the scenic bike rides. Maybe time to hang up that bike hat of yours and put down those one-pound dumbbells for just a few minutes because you need to spend more time in the Oval Office. You need to be in the Situation Room. You may be surprised to learn what has actually happened in the six years since you have become the leader of the free world.

And I know this may be a hard pill to swallow coming from one of your harshest critics because after all, in this program, we have actually highlighted the illustrious list of things that you like to blame for your failures.

Now, you've been president for six years. President Obama, it's your bat, it's your ball, it's your game! Now, I know your natural impulse -- blame me, Fox News, ATMs, Karl Rove, talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, Marc Levin.  And when all else fails, of course, you can always blame George W. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We've weathered the Arab spring's effect on oil and gas prices, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami's effect on supply chains, the extraordinary economic uncertainty in Europe. And recently, markets around the globe have taken a bumpy ride.

OBAMA: There are some structural issues with our economy, where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM. You don't go to a bank teller. Or you go to the airport and you're using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Seriously? ATMs? Kiosks?

Now, with all due respect, the final buzzer has now sounded on the blame game. The blame game is over! Now, our problems here at home, the crisis in the Middle East, the standoff between Ukraine and Russia, the crisis at the border, our failing economy -- Mr. President, these are your problems!

Now, just listen to members of your own party, if you don't believe me. While you were out there busy attending fundraisers in the aftermath of that terror attack in Ukraine, well, Democratic Senator Carl Levin had the moral courage to call you out, saying, quote, "Whoever did it should pay a full price. If it's by a country, either directly or indirectly, then it could be considered an act of war." Why didn't you say that?

And last week, again while you were busy headlining overpriced DNC dinners, this time in Dallas, another Democratic Congressman, Henry Cuellar -- he stood on his principle, had this to say about your inability to address the chaos on our southern border.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. HENRY CUELLAR, D-TEXAS: Well, I hope it doesn't become President Obama's Katrina moment. You know, I'm sure that President Bush thought the same thing, that he could just look at everything from up in the sky and that he (INAUDIBLE) that for -- for a long time. So I hope this doesn't become the Katrina moment for President Obama.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: He didn't have time to go to the southern border?

Now, if you're still not convinced that your failures are now being recognized on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, then consider this. We have this recent poll that shows that 54 percent, hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding American citizens, have lost faith in your ability to lead this great country!

And while I happen to be among that growing majority -- and by the way, frankly, a little ahead of the curve, but I wish I was wrong -- well, I understood your radical views and I also happen to love this country.  That's the bigger part of my message here.

I want to return to that shining city on a hill, you know, that the world community will respect and admire, and yes, fear. I want America to be a place where people can work hard, get a good-paying job easily, climb their way to prosperity. And with two years left until you leave office, there's still time for you to keep the promises that you made to the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA, OCT. 7, 2008: We're going to have to change the culture in Washington so that lobbyists and special interests aren't driving the process and your voices aren't being drowned out.

OBAMA, SEPT. 26, 2006: One of the things that I intend to do as president is restore America's standing in the world.

OBAMA, MAY 2, 2008: If you stand with me, I promise you, you and I together will change the country and change the world!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Well, we've changed it, but not for the better. Now, if you really want to accomplish those goals, you and your team, you need to start telling the American people the truth about the IRS, about Benghazi. You need to start telling the truth to the American people. And by the way, it should begin with your top spokesman, who's clearly living in your Obama fantasyland!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: How does the White House react to the notion that the president is a bystander to all these crises?

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that there have been a number of situations in which you've seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the -- the -- you know, the tranquility of the global community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Tranquility, global community, OK.

Now, if your administration's definition of tranquility is a plane carrying men, women, kids, infants being blown out of the sky, then I guess congratulations are in order.

If tranquility means watching as Israel, our closest ally, our most important ally, is shelled by relentless rocket attacks from terrorists hiding in schools and hospitals, then I guess, well, job well done. If tranquility is turning our back on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- two wars that we won -- we lost 4,000 Americans -- well, then, I guess for you, it's mission accomplished.

But you and I both know that what we've been watching unfold both overseas and right here abroad, right here in the United States, has been far from tranquil.

Mr. President, why don't you consider the events of these past 24 hours to be a very, very costly and deadly wakeup call?

And while all this was happening yesterday, you spent 40 seconds dealing with the killing of nearly 300 innocent people? And your secretary of state is lecturing Israel to restrain itself again and again? That's time for a wakeup call.

That means if you draw a red line in the sand with Syria, you have to mean it. It's time for you to stand up to Hamas, and that means stop giving them American tax dollars and supporting them! Stand up to Iran.  Take out their nuclear sites before, God forbid, they get a nuclear weapon. Stop lecturing Israel! Stand with them! Show moral clarity in this very perilous moment where they are the victims of unprovoked rocket fire! Give Afghanistan, give Iraq -- give them the intel, the training that they need so there's not going to be a training ground again for the next 9/11!

And by the way, it would also help if you'd humbly admit that your economic plan has been a disaster. You've nearly doubled the debt, doubled the number of people on welfare. Now, you can immediately begin the process of jump-starting the economy. Let's start with, let's say, the Keystone pipeline. You can also duplicate the job success in North Dakota and Texas. Why? How? By opening up the energy resources right here at home! And by the way, that would have the added benefit of not relying on countries that hate our guts for our energy.

And while you're at it, Mr. President, it's time to stop robbing our kids' and our grandkids' piggybanks! You're robbing them blind! Because correct me if I'm wrong, you know, wouldn't anything else by taking and increasing the debt be anything but, let's see, unpatriotic? Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA, JULY 3, 2008: The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion, for the first 42 presidents, number 43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back, $30,000 for every man, woman and child! That's irresponsible! It's unpatriotic!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Really? Well, you nearly doubled the debt. You've accumulated just about as much debt as every president before you combined.

Now, this rigid radical ideology has now rendered you the single worst president since World War II!

You know what, Mr. President? It's time for your Sister Souljah moment. It's time to abandon the failed policies that you've been clinging to, like you say Americans cling to their guns and their Bibles and religion for the past six years.

Now, it's time to learn from the man, by the way, who helped get you elected in 2012, Bill Clinton. Remember, he said the era of big government is over, the end of welfare as we know it? Well, Bill Clinton showed a capacity to grow, adjust, lead, manage. You showed no such tendency to learn as you go!

It's time to drop the radical ideology! It's failing. Time to drop the arrogance that goes along with it. Time to stop blaming everybody!  It's time to cancel your vacations! Time to stop the fundraising! Time to get back to work, Mr. President.

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