Why is Sean Hannity peddling bonkers conspiracy theories?

Here’s a piece I wrote for The Guardian about the impending demise of Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Persistence is a funny thing. Either it’s an exalted sign of a noble being willing to suffer a task against all odds, or it’s an indication of an idiot unwilling to change his mind. Fox News’s Sean Hannity likes to think he fits into the former camp. But even Fox News knows he belongs in the latter.

The latest reason? Hannity persists in peddling a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that is not just brazenly misguided (it’s a conspiracy theory!) but is downright painful. This time, the theory revolves around Hannity’s exploitation of the untimely death of a young Democratic National Committee staffer named Seth Rich.

Last summer, the 27-year-old Rich, who had been working for the DNC for not much more than a year, was tragically shot in the back late one night near his home in Washington DC. From the outset, the police suspected a botched robbery, but as Rich’s possessions were still on him and since he was a staffer for the Democrats, rightwing media soon began spinning a different story.

Read the rest here.