A New York Times story on Friday by young Atlanta-based reporter Robbie Brown, "Mississippi Mayor Facing Trial Dies After Election Loss," dealt with the death of Frank Melton, the controversial mayor of Jackson, Miss., and included a bizarre characterization of Fox News host Geraldo Rivera:
Less than two days after he lost his bid for re-election, and four days before he was to go on trial, the mayor of Jackson, Miss., died early Thursday, city officials said....Mr. Melton was known for his flashy, hands-on approach to combating urban crime. He carried a police badge, two guns, a bulletproof jacket and a large stick while personally patrolling Jackson's toughest streets, although he was not certified as a member of the Police Department. This approach earned him a national reputation and the support of conservatives like the Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera.
Brown evidently doesn't watch much Geraldo, who was a passionate defender of Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky controversy and resulting impeachment, and had this to say about Obama and Republicans on his Fox program "Geraldo at Large" on March 29, 2008:
He is a wonderful candidate and I'd be proud to vote for him in every regard, just about. I think he's a terrific guy. But I have no doubt in my mind, having lived through the David Dinkins-Rudy Giuliani bare-knuckled campaign for the mayor of New York, that certain people....I'm talking about white people, basically. They are gonna go into the secrecy of that polling place, they're gonna remember Reverend Wright, they are going to be affected in a negative way. And I think that it will make Barack Obama's success in the campaign for the White House extremely difficult.
Sounds like a real rock-ribbed conservative to me.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
So he must be a racist,
May 8, 2009 - 11:53 ET by snaggletoothieSo he must be a racist, too.
I spit on him.
Definition of Conservative
May 8, 2009 - 11:57 ET by Kingfish17If the new definition of conservative means rooting for the conquest of the Southwestern United States by Mexico, then yea, Geraldo is a conservative.
They consider anything left
May 8, 2009 - 14:58 ET by kgThey consider anything left of Geraldo as mainstream today.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Fox is conservative
May 8, 2009 - 11:56 ET by averageschmoeFox is conservative so everyone on the channel is. According to these liberal media elites.
Just another excuse to knock
May 8, 2009 - 11:59 ET by SeashellJust another excuse to knock Fox News.
Geraldo a
May 8, 2009 - 12:03 ET by bigtimerGeraldo a conservative....
OMG...what is this person Brown smoking?
This is hilarious.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
The key here is "young reporter"
May 8, 2009 - 12:08 ET by c5thenHe has apparently been properly indoctrinated by his journalism professors that ANYBODY on FoxNews is conservative.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
Yep
May 9, 2009 - 12:12 ET by Jerry MackYou nailed it!
Calling Geraldo a conservative...
May 8, 2009 - 12:13 ET by MightyMouth...is like calling Hitler a "community organizer"
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
Geraldo the conservative
May 8, 2009 - 14:05 ET by grumpyoldbSuuure..... Geraldo Rivera is a conservative... Uh-Huh..... In what reality?
lol
May 8, 2009 - 12:18 ET by katainkentwell if you're speaking relatively, maybe.
Hold on ‘cause the world will turn if you're ready or not ~ KT Tunstall
Relatively? Certainly not
May 8, 2009 - 12:35 ET by motherbeltRelatively?
Certainly not "relative" to anyone else on Fox! Maybe to some(?) on MSNBC.....
They might say "Wow, that sucks!" But at least they'll say "Wow!" -Duff Goldman, the Ace of Cakes
relative to the NYT
May 8, 2009 - 12:39 ET by katainkentI meant. He probably looks pretty conservative. I am sure journalists (and I use the term very loosly) on MSNBC think he's right-wing simply because he's on FOX.
that's how it is right? fox = right wing nutjob?
Hold on ‘cause the world will turn if you're ready or not ~ KT Tunstall
Mayor Frank
May 8, 2009 - 12:28 ET by Two DogsOddly enough, Frank was a Democrat hated equally by both sides after every single human being in Jackson government trashed him for four years. I liked him, respected him, and thought that he pushed the boundaries of the law with his efforts to clean up Jackson's crime.
By the way, most of us Hillbillies in the Jackson area called that "large stick" that Frank carried, A TWELVE GAUGE RIOT GUN. Simply because that is what it was.
The two candidates that are going to be in the run-off for the Democrat slot on the ballot include the ex-Mayor that Frank beat to get elected, who is Kwame Kilpatrick without the intelligence, just older and MORE bitter, and a city councilman that simply cannot figure out how to tell the truth about anything.
Within four years, Detroit will look like a BOOMTOWN compared to Jackson.
We can take this as an
May 8, 2009 - 12:51 ET by BuffNBoneWe can take this as an indicator that they don't really watch the network in general and Geraldo segements specifically. Similar to the critics of Rush who, at best, make their ill-informed comments based on sound bites taken out of context.
I think their logic goes like this. No self-respecting liberal would go on a Fox program. Geraldo is often on Fox ergo he is not a liberal and therefore must be a conservative.
"Fighters are fun but bombers make policy"
Geraldo a conservative?
May 8, 2009 - 13:11 ET by PrairieSkySoembody needs to explain to this greenhorn kid what exactly a conservative is. Robbie (enough said) Brown undoubtedly considers Geraldo a conservative simply because he works for Fox News...Not an informed opinion, to be sure. It might come as news to young Robbie that not everyone who works at Fox News is conservative...there are a wide variety of political viewpoints represented by those who work there, and anyone who is truly familiar with Geraldo and his career would know that he is certainly not a conservative.
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
wouldn't
May 8, 2009 - 14:19 ET by RowaneThis libtard wouldn't make a hair on a conservative's arse.
This has to be just an
May 8, 2009 - 14:31 ET by mattmThis has to be just an error, probably by one of their brain-washed, ignorant, 20 year old interns.
Geraldo is what?
May 8, 2009 - 14:50 ET by NorthCoasterI've watched Geraldo for years and would never think to call him Conservative. He's more like an Independant Liberal than anything else.
Either Brown, is just assuming from reports about Fox, that all their hosts are Conservative, or Geraldo is truly to the right of Robbie and therefore his impression is that he is a Conservative.
I'm sure Geraldo is
May 8, 2009 - 15:10 ET by QueenMumI'm sure Geraldo is offended at being labeled a conservative.
Of course Brown hasn't seen Geraldo on Fox. All she knows is that Fox is THE CONSERVATIVE network. What a maroon!
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of the tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. - Ayn Rand
I can't stomach Rivera. Whenever he is on a Fox program, as he
May 9, 2009 - 00:19 ET by Rush Fanwas on Bill O'Reilly's show tonight, I change channels.
Geraldo Rivera is a piece of work. As a fan of Michelle Malkin, I can't forgive him for saying this about her: "It's good she's in D.C. and I'm in N.Y. I'd spit on her if I saw her."
------------------------------------------
"Geraldo Rivera: The Rosie O’Donnell of Fox News." ~ Michelle Malkin
So I guess Bob Beckel,
May 10, 2009 - 03:14 ET by RR GOPSo I guess Bob Beckel, Kirsten Powers and Alan Colmes are moderates?
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
Hillarity, thy name is Geraldo
May 10, 2009 - 09:16 ET by mizflame98Geraldo had the audacity to consider himself a Republican on Fox News one day. He's about as republican as Arlen Specter.
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds”
Samuel Adams
He's as conservative as
May 10, 2009 - 09:45 ET by rbosqueHe's as conservative as Alan Colmes.
What? Are these people on crack???