My guess is so FOX can claim a flaming liberal on its payroll. And flaming liberal he is, complete with the trademark bias, put-downs, unfairness, false equivalences, and nastiness we've come to associate with his ideological compatriots. For the above reasons, whenever his program comes on, my TV goes off. Except last night.
Pamela Geller had announced on her blog she would be on his program, and so I tuned in. Geraldo's treatment of Geller was utterly disgusting. I searched for an e-mail address to FOX to vent my disgust but couldn't find it. Geller describes her experience below. As a viewer, I can vouch for the truth of everything she says:
UPDATE: Geraldo Hit-Job Interview on YouTube
While he let Shabazz ramble on about America's alleged crimes and supposed hatred of Muslims, Geraldo not only interrupted me repeatedly, but also gave me some simply bizarre responses, as if he had already written out his responses to what he thought I was going to say and was determined to stick to his script no matter what I said. So when I said that Daisy Khan had been the one who said that the mosque would break ground on September 11, 2011, Geraldo responded by asking me sarcastically if I was saying this was some big conspiracy. Conspiracy? What's a conspiracy about a public announcement, reported in the Daily News and USA Today, that they'd break ground on September 11 of next year?
But it was that kind of night. Geraldo didn't seem to care how nonsensical, rude and ignorant he had to be to do it, he was just determined to portray me and those who agree with me as "extreme." It was yet another example of how out of touch with the American people the mainstream media has become.
Well, Geraldo, we are not all extremists. We are not going away, either. Defending America is not extreme. Truth has become extreme. Truth is the new hate speech. The lies that Geraldo and others like you tell about us, and the boxes you push us into, become more obvious to more people every day. Our rally, attended by tens of thousands (just look at the pictures) that you dismissed as 1,500 is a case in point. You can pretend those people don't exist, Geraldo, but they do. We do. And we're going to keep fighting to defend our country, whatever you call us, and whatever lies you tell.
Redemption came when I left the FOX news building and there was a woman standing outside watching the show on the outdoor screens. She came right up to me to shake my hand. She said, I agreed with everything you said. You were the best one on there. "Geraldo is going a little ......" and then she motioned with her finger to her head in a circular motion and made the cuckoo gesture. Bingo.
UPDATE: Much thanks to Gerry. We received more requests to join SIOA on Facebook than any other single day since its inception. . . .