Posted on 09/17/2005 6:34:21 AM PDT by DogBarkTree
IT would be comforting to believe that Geraldo Rivera is inexplicable.
Sadly, when we consider Rupert Murdoch's ceaseless schemes for global domination and the venal blood lust that pulses through Fox News, Geraldo is easy to explain which makes him simply inexcusable. Seeing him descend bright-eyed and sweaty on wretched New Orleans, as he did in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, was like watching a vulture on crystal meth. The word that came to mind was not "reporting," but "feeding."
The only rational reaction was: Dear God! Haven't these people suffered enough?
But, as he always has, Geraldo continues to push the limits of the possible, and, in this case, the controversy currently surrounding one of his broadcasts from New Orleans demands that we squarely confront the question, "Can you wrong the indefensible?"
This time, Geraldo's antagonist is the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley, whose tangential acquaintance with the facts seems to suggest that she's the Michael D. Brown of TV critics.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Can't agree...Geraldo and Shep are both pompous. Geraldo though is worse. He can't let go. Always tries to upstage someone else. Don't like his ethics.
I have met him. Surprisingly, he was gracious and even humble.
He's perpetually breaking into Al Capone's vault to find . . . stale, dank air.
...
"stale, dank air", the opiate of MSM liberals
He can go straight to hell for all I care.
Not so funny a story, but the one where I began to loathe the guy.
He was in Thailand preparing to go into Cambodia to look for reported American POWs from the Vietnam War.
The whole segment was about the preparation. Then, they crossed the river, but on the far bank, in hushed tones, he tells the audience something like, "There are reports of Khmer Rouge in the area. Its very dangerous here. Too dangerous to stay. We'll have to go back."
So, after all that, they re-crossed the river and returned to safety in Thailand.
I've liked Shep ever since he ran over that liberal down in Florida during the 2000 recounts.
"In 1972, WABC-TV in New York sent rookie reporter Geraldo Rivera to Staten Island to infiltrate the Willowbrook State School. Robert Kennedy had visited the mental institution in 1966 and declared: "Willowbrook State School was not fit for even animals to live in." Geraldo gained entry using a stolen key and documented the brutal and horrific living conditions of its disabled residents, which included several mentally retarded children. The report led to an immediate government inquiry and won Geraldo the Peabody Award, forever changing the role of the state run institutional system. Riveras expose and book on Willowbrook titled, A Report on How It Is and Why It Doesn't Have to Be That Way, was the catalyst that brought about the class action lawsuit primarily responsible for changing this archaic system, New York State Association for Retarded Children, et. al. and Parisi, et. al. v. Rockefeller.
The Willowbrook case led New York State to adopt sweeping change. Moreover, it became popular opinion that these deplorable conditions were unacceptable for people in state-run institutions, regardless of mental disability diagnosis. In furtherance of the goal to better meet the needs of these distinct and vulnerable populations, in 1978, the state Department of Mental Hygiene was separated into three, diagnosis-based offices The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and the Office of Mental Health."
Exactly..
when the premise is so blatantly false, what's the point in proceeding further?
It's a shame when journalists allow themselves to be consumed by their own celebrityism. It's a joke when journalists are left with no one else but each other (journalists) to interview. Gross ego is thy name.
All I have to go on is his public persona.
Thanks - I remember when he broke the willowbrook story - but had forgotten the year.
He's one of the good guys now.
Since one of the parties is Geraldo and the other the NYT, I have to side with Geraldo.
I wouldn't side with the Slimes if it was fighting a takover by Al Jareeza.
(......but then, sometimes I think it HAS been taken over by Al Jareeza.....)
Oh, let's call the whole thing off.
Leni
I am not very fond of Geraldo either but I will defending him against the LASlimes anytime.
Alessandra Stanley, chief television critic for the New York Times and panel moderator
Very interesting story! Thank you for sharing it.
Agreed. As a news reporter, he is a self-aggrandizing jerk. That's why I was so surprised when I met him.
Between now & 2008, look for the MSM to do full-scale defication on FOXNews', 'right-biased' reporting.
I also do not like him, he is just a liberal fool hack.
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