2 Responses to “Geraldo Visits The Factor”

1. Bill Says:
   April 12th, 2007 at 6:02 am

   Okay, there’s a lot going on here, which is why I posted it without comment to see what others had to say about it. But now I’d like to say a few words about why I thought it was worth posting.

   The first thing that hit me watching the video was the growing sense of horror as I realized the position that Geraldo was trying to rebut. It seems O’Reilly had reported a story about a drunk driving death caused by an illegal immigrant, and then used the story to make a broader point about immigration. Oh. My. God.

   I agree with Geraldo, of course, but that won’t stop me from mocking him right now. “I think you owe that poor lady mayor an apology.” Um, why is the gender of the mayor relevant here, Geraldo? Or is Lady Mayor the ambitious wife of the Mayor, like Lady Macbeth. And then you say “Lou Dobbs has regenerated his dead career on the backs of illegal aliens. Let’s not go there.” Yeah, Geraldo, let’s not go there.

   And then we see what happens when two Fox News hosts share a stage and disagree. They start talking over each other, overlapping sound bites, growing louder and louder, each fighting to be heard over the other, and eventually screaming at each other. Bill O’Reilly in particular seems to be shouting from a very dark place within him. Still, it’s pretty good television, is it not?

   Geraldo’s right about President Bush and much of Congress wanting reasoned immigration reform. And when President Bush, Geraldo Rivera, and ShakespeareTeacher.com all agree on something, you have to wonder where O’Reilly is coming from. But then, he tells us exactly where he’s coming from:

   Geraldo: There’s no cause and effect between his illegality and his drunkeness.
   O’Reilly: Sure there is. He’s irresponsible.

   Really? Coming to America illegally is irresponsible? Really? Isn’t violating immigration law to create a better life for you and your family exactly the kind of find-your-own-way, snub-your-nose-at-authority, self-made-man individualism that we admire as Americans?

   What if Ramos, instead of driving drunk, had pulled a family of four and their dog Skippy from a burning building? Would O’Reilly have changed his position on immigration? What if instead of doing something criminal or heroic, Ramos had simply come to America as an undocumented alien and had found a job and worked incredibly hard to better himself. Would that be an example worth featuring on The Factor?

   And how about that embarrassing display of self-congratulations at the end. If balanced debate is so common on Fox News, why is it worth making a big deal? I don’t know how enlightening it is to hear these two guys screaming transparently disingenuous sound bites at each other. I mean, this even makes Crossfire look like in-depth analysis.

2. DeLisa Says:
   April 12th, 2007 at 3:58 pm

   You articulate all the issues here beautifully. Ultimately, I think someone, somehow should sue or something (btw enough alliteration for u! :-) Fox News for fraudulent advertising (or “bait-and-switch” – I’m SURE there’s a legal precedent, right?) since they continue to use the word “news” in their title. I think they have a right to do what they do, as abhorrent as I find it, but it can never pretend to be what we have all historically understood to be news in the public interest. They’ve so massively let the cat out of the bag that they are propagandists at worst, and in the case of these so-called debates – more akin to naked-female-mud-wrestling then discourse at best. And honestly I don’t think they’re doing the conservative movement any favors. Bill O’Reilly et al make conservative pundits look so stupid and vile that I’m starting to wonder if he isn’t secretly a communist conspirator…

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