Tthe latest manufactured nontroversy: Common's appearance at the White House poetry event

Sean Hannity devoted two segments of his Tuesday show to Michelle Obama's decision to invite rapper Common to the White House on Wednesday night for a poetry reading. Hannity was not pleased with the choice.

"This administration will never learn its lesson," he said, adding that, "not surprisingly," Common had performed at Jeremiah Wright's church in 2007. He then proceeded to read some of Common's previous poems, which he said called for the killing of police and the assassination of President Bush.

One of his guests, Bucknell University Prof. James Peterson, attempted to explain that Common was merely portraying a character in his poems, but Hannity was having none of it.

"This is not the guy that you invite to the White House for a poetry reading," he said. "This is not the guy we want our kids to listen to." President Obama, he said, "goes back to his radical roots again and again and again: Ayers, Wright, Pflager."

NUGENT (video clip): I was in Chicago. I said, "Hey, Obama, you might want to suck on one of these, you punk!"

Obama, he's a piece of (bleep). And I told him to suck on my machine gun. Let's hear it for it.

And I was in New York. I said, "Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless (bleep)!"

HANNITY: That was friend and frequent guest on the program Ted Nugent expressing his feelings towards Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Joining us now, Democratic strategist Bob Beckel and Republican strategist Karen Hanretty.

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BECKEL: Are you prepared now, Sean -- are you prepared to disavow this lowlife or not?

HANNITY: No, I like Ted Nugent. He's a friend of mine.