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Geraldo's High Noon
NewsMax ^ | 12/17/2001 | John LeBoutillier

Posted on 12/17/2001 12:15:05 PM PST by Pokey78

Geraldo Rivera - Playing Soldier - has gotten out of hand.

Last week we saw - over and over and over - scenes of Rivera crawling backward into an empty hole as if this signifies anything. He was allegedly near Tora Bora and, because the U.S. military will not allow him anywhere near the real action, he has had to adopt a new strategy: recreating the news.

In this role Geraldo is on camera for virtually every second of his reports. No scenes of U.S. soldiers in combat - what American viewers really want to see - or even anti-Taliban soldiers.

All the Fox viewer gets to see are the same three exhausted 'extras' and the dilapidated old tanks that serve as a backdrop to Geraldo's reports.

Do you think Fox News Channel is paying for these tanks and the three Afghan soldiers? Do they get scale? Did they have to join AFTRA? Do they get health insurance?

By last week Geraldo had really stepped in it. As reported in the Baltimore Sun, Geraldo misled his viewers when he claimed to be at the site where the three U.S. soldiers died in a friendly fire accident. The self-promoting, chameleon-like Rivera - putting on his patriotic persona - claimed he had recited the Lord's Prayer over that "hallowed ground."

Guess what?

He was never there!

For three days he allowed this false story to run on Fox until it was pointed out to him that he was airing false information. Only then did he relent, using the excuse of the "fog of war" to explain his mis-statements.

Reporting - a skill not easily developed - is not the same as preaching, rooting, acting - or 'divining.'

Geraldo is decidedly not a reporter.

Last Thursday he 'reported' that Osama was up in the caves of Tora Bora. How did he know this? What were his intelligence sources?

He said - repeatedly - the 'vibes' were all around him.

No journalism school would allow a student to source 'vibes' in a report. Any student who tried that would - and should - be thrown out on his can.

"Vibes" became a popular hippie, psychedelic slang term after the Beach Boys' drug-induced 1967 hit "Good Vibrations." Somehow the authors of Surfin' Safari and Osama bin Laden don't quite belong in the same sentence.

By Friday a new 'source' entered the picture: the "buzz" around him was telling him that "we are closing in on Osama bin Laden."

Oh, really?

"Buzzes" can provide a reporter with information?

Here Rivera is sitting around with stragglers from the Eastern Alliance. He can't speak their language; they can't speak his. No wonder he has to rely on "buzzes" and "vibes."

By Friday afternoon - and on until Saturday - Rivera had a new prediction: "Osama will be caught or killed by High Noon tomorrow".

Geraldo as Gary Cooper. The lone cowboy rides into Tora Bora and comes out with Osama as a notch on his belt.

Is a reporter's job to make predictions? Should a reporter make himself into the 'star' of his reports?

Saturday morning - High Noon over there had come and gone and no Osama - and Geraldo had a new theme: "The hills are alive with the sound of bombing."

So now we have Julie Andrews singing in the Sound of Music.

From the Beach Boys to Gary Cooper to Julie Andrews Geraldo Rivera is demonstrating his utter lack of knowledge of the war he is 'covering' or the culture in that part of the world.

Inside Fox HQ in New York the troops are dispirited. No Christmas party, no new hires. Why? Budget cuts and a hiring freeze - and huge satellite costs to cover the war. But what does Geraldo do?

He demands - and gets - to leave the war for a Christmas vacation!

He and his entire entourage are coming home for Christmas.

Tens of thousands of dollars so that this 'patriot' can see his girlfriend in Manhattan.

What about getting the "rat up in the Rat's Nest"?

Guess that'll have to wait until after the holidays.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 12/17/2001 12:15:06 PM PST by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
You're right! I have a lower opinion of FOX news for making us put up with that jerk. At least Sean Hannity doesn't kiss his butt.
2 posted on 12/17/2001 12:18:09 PM PST by Warren
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To: Pokey78
It's all about him. FOX News is making more from the controversy of having him there than they would ever get from his reporting.
3 posted on 12/17/2001 12:23:00 PM PST by TADSLOS
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To: Warren
I still don't believe the bit where Whorealdo was on camera and 'dodged' the sniper bullet. Fox and Friends swallowed the thing whole, but I know Jerry.
4 posted on 12/17/2001 12:23:28 PM PST by gcruse
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To: Warren
Yeap, Roger Ailes F#%@&* up letting that Scumbag play a "reporter" on Fox. The ONLY time I ever liked watching his show is when he Got his Snoz shattered.

He is a Fraud and ALWAYS WILL BE A FRAUD!

JERKALDO LIVES!

5 posted on 12/17/2001 12:24:33 PM PST by Area51
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To: Pokey78
In this role Geraldo is on camera for virtually every second of his reports. No scenes of U.S. soldiers in combat - what American viewers really want to see - or even anti-Taliban soldiers.

As opposed to whom? Ashley Banfield and the rest of the other network schmucks, who have been reporting from the same hotel rooftops since October?

6 posted on 12/17/2001 12:28:04 PM PST by SunStar
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Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: Area51
I've watched some of his segments on FNC's website, and I have to say that "uh" and "I" constitute maybe half of all the words he slips out (like flatulence from a camel's rear). In one of the segments, he's walking around with a bandana tied around his neck in a most sissified fashion. The crawling-into-the-cave segment revealed...revealed...NOTHING. Whew, the suspense was killing me. You know, with a zillion caves, you'd think his chances of finding one that had a sign of past habitation pretty high. Since no footage of such a thing was forthcoming, I'd be inclined to say he's 'bout as far as he could get from any danger.
8 posted on 12/17/2001 12:33:01 PM PST by cincinnati_Steve
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To: Pokey78
He is announcing today that UBL is in western garb..all shaved and giving what he believes is his location..The hills are alive with Whoraldos ego..

He is useless!

Turn on CNN if you want real news.. (and trust me I hate CNN ...but fox has done nothing to keep my viewership lately)

9 posted on 12/17/2001 12:33:20 PM PST by RnMomof7
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To: Pokey78
Title should read:

Is Geraldo's Geraldo High Noon

10 posted on 12/17/2001 12:35:01 PM PST by NC Conservative
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To: SunStar
because the U.S. military will not allow him anywhere near the real action

That's an absolute lie; he is the ONLY one up at the front.

I suspect NewsMax is jealous because Geraldo is actually "doing" the news, as opposed to just copying and pasting it from other sites, rewriting it, and pushing it off as their work -- like NewsMax does.

11 posted on 12/17/2001 12:36:34 PM PST by Howlin
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To: RnMomof7
If Fox is turning you off they must be doing something right.
12 posted on 12/17/2001 12:39:42 PM PST by cactmh
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To: cactmh
Merry Christmas
13 posted on 12/17/2001 12:42:08 PM PST by RnMomof7
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To: TADSLOS
I have been a faithful Fox viewer since my local cable station decided to carry it, but Geraldo is not my cup of tea.

I wanted to be fair, give him a chance, etc. etc... but he is failing my litmus test. Too much heavy breathing, too much fakey "machismo", and too much self-importance.

So far, I ignore Geraldo as a nuisance that has to be tolerated so that Fox can claim that they are "fair and balanced" by hiring a leftwing fruitcake who has an overinflated ego. I much prefer the other Fox reporters over there, especially the quiet guy who just tells it like it is, and doesn't carry on about himself. Steve Barrington, or something like that... I always listen very closely to what he has to say, while everything the Big G says must be taken with a big spoonful of salt.

Poor Geraldo, the ego train ran out of steam about a year ago, so he ran for the new one leaving the station, but made the big mistake of bringing that outdated ego along...

It isn't a fit, Fox! .... Dump the Jerk!

14 posted on 12/17/2001 12:46:33 PM PST by jacquej
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To: Pokey78
Geraldo and Fox News are the perfect match - a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
15 posted on 12/17/2001 12:49:19 PM PST by Njal
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To: Pokey78
Bad reporting can be a national security threat -- this guy is playing with fire!
16 posted on 12/17/2001 12:50:55 PM PST by flamefront
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To: jacquej
I started to cut and paste to let posters know I thought their post was funny,, then I read another, and another. This whole thread is hilarious.
17 posted on 12/17/2001 12:53:44 PM PST by Ragin1
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To: Pokey78
It is only a matter of time, until Geraldo accidently shoots himself with his own pistol, or finds a "toe popper." This guy is an idiot!!!
18 posted on 12/17/2001 12:55:34 PM PST by Destructor
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To: Pokey78
Bump!

Check THIS out!:

Osama debuts in a feud with Geraldo Rivera...
What show? [RIP-OFF OF REGISTERED'S THREAD]


Is Geraldo on drugs??

See also:

Geraldo: Osama bin Laden Has Slipped Into Pakistan
( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/592118/posts )

19 posted on 12/17/2001 12:58:40 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
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To: Pokey78
Do you think Fox News Channel is paying for these tanks and the three Afghan soldiers? Do they get scale? Did they have to join AFTRA? Do they get health insurance?

If his soldiers are hired
He must be fired.

If he reports no fact
He must be sacked.

If his reports are faux,
He surely must go!

If these lines didn't rhyme
I'd have wasted your time.

20 posted on 12/17/2001 1:00:36 PM PST by Petronski
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