John LeBoutillier
Sunday, Dec. 9, 2001

Geraldo Rivera had not even set foot on the war-torn ground of Afghanistan when his new employer – Fox News Channel – labeled him a War Correspondent.

My cat has seen more combat recently than this phony, PC-ridden, Bill Clinton clone.

I suppose we should have some sympathy for Geraldo because no one – absolutely no one– likes him.

The U.S. military will not let him anywhere near any of our troops. It is so bad that Fox News had to send Ollie North to talk to the military brass in hopes of getting them to allow Geraldo to cover some real action.

The military told North, "Rivera's paperwork is not in order. And it won't be in order until after the war is over."

OK, so the U.S. military won't allow him to cover them. You would think that this lifelong leftist would have sympathetic allies within the usually anti-war media. But, no, the U.S. media can't stand him either!

On Thanksgiving in Kabul, the U.S. media got together for a traditional turkey dinner. When Geraldo and his pretentious – and overpaid – entourage arrived, the media would not let them join in the dinner celebration. He had to eat alone!

Back at Fox headquarters in New York, Geraldo has become the laughingstock of the newsroom. The entire staff deplores the hiring of Rivera, Rivera's brother and other highly paid support staff. The feeling is "What has he done to deserve this?"

Everyone remembers the CNBC show he hosted during the Clinton-Monica case where – virtually every night – Geraldo signed off by kissing his index finger and holding it up to the camera and saying of the disgraced Clinton, "I love this man."

As for his 'work' since arriving on the ground in Afghanistan, it is pathetic – and a huge embarrassment to what had been Fox's growing reputation as a serious news organization. This hire is greatly damaging the entire Fox operation.

The typical Geraldo report is all about him! What he ate today, how he and his brother and staff sleep – poor babies! – and how 'tough' the whole experience is. As a TV insider said, "Whenever a reporter has to talk about his own living conditions, it means he has no story."

Because he can't cover real action involving the U.S. military, he has hooked up with a few local fighters and hangs with them. They have three tanks, and these ragtag fighters seem to act as extras for today's version of Geraldo Plays Soldier.

The latest was an exciting view of Geraldo running up a hill – supposedly under fire – all bent over and zigzagging until he ducked behind a tree. The only problem was that the cameraman and the soundman obviously had to also run up the hill right behind Rivera.

So the whole scene was not real combat – it was Geraldo simulating combat.

What a sham.

Fox's clever chairman, Roger Ailes, hired this PC liberal because Fox is smarting over charges that it is a 'conservative' or 'Republican' network. By hiring Rivera, Fox can claim to have 'balance.'

Unfortunately, a Rivera report is decidedly unbalanced. Desperate to recoup his lost-long-ago credibility, Geraldo has now gone from extreme pacifist lefty – except when it comes to in-studio fistfights – to an out-and-out war hawk! He loves to label the Afghan mountains where bin Laden may be hiding "the Rats' Nest." He adds, "We have to go in there and kill the rats."

Great sentiment, but is this the role of a reporter? Isn't the reporter supposed to interview the soldiers who go after the rats and who give the saucy quotes? Since when does a reporter become the story?

Fox News Channel has hurt itself – and its credibility – by lowering itself to this level of inanity. The best thing it could do is cut its losses, recall this phony, and admit the mistake. Failure to do so blurs the distinction between Fox and CNN.

What a shame – and what a sham.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Media Bias

War on Terrorism