Even Bernie Goldberg Notices That Sean Hannity's Head Is Up His Own Ass.

According to Newshounds, Hannity's interpretation of the Politico piece he was citing was about as accurate as the other disinformation that he routinely pulls out of his ass:

The Politico article Hannity was evidently referring to is clearly (although not to Hannity) reporting that the snipers could not shoot without Obama's authorization -- not that Obama was required to give authorization:

The exact details of the shooting remain murky. The snipers fired after all three pirates became visible on the enclosed lifeboat where they were holding Phillips, a Navy official in Bahrain told reporters -- giving the snipers the chance to kill all three at once, so that none would be left behind to harm Phillips.


Obama's involvement in the decision to authorize lethal force was legally required, officials said, because it was a hostage situation, not combat, and unrelated to the already authorized U.S. effort against Al Qaeda and other terror groups, officials said.

"It's not a combat operation, so the lawyers wanted to ensure this was done right," said a second defense official.