Download clip of Geraldo/Sheppard from last night

[Free4Life11]

Under heading "Horror Show"

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

I've never seen Gerldo so emotional and angry! Wow! He made some good points though about letting them walk over the bridge I think.

[MagicKingdom05]

Free4Life11,

I saw that and I understand them being upset. From what was mentioned today, they didn't want anyone to start walking on there own because they didn't to splinter the larger groups in 20 smaller group making it harder to rescue everyone.

[M:SteveO]

Geraldo is insane, and this instance only proves the point. Yes, he was making some good points about letting the people cross the bridge, but he's nuts. We have to remember that this is the guy that was punished by the US military for giving away troop positions during the Iraq war. On top of that, he's friends with Michael Jackson (not that this has anything to do with what he was reporting on in Louisiana, but he's just a little wacko.)

[MagicKingdom05]

M:SteveO,

I would say he tends to get very over emotional and sometimes he doesn't think before he says something.

I love him alot as a reporter, but he needs to control his emotions a tad better.

[Free4Life11]

Well didn't he used to be a talk show host?

[M:SteveO]

I actually like him as a reporter, he's extremely brave and he's almost been shot twice in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he's not always the most objective reporter.

[MagicKingdom05]

M:SteveO,

You do have a point there. Sometimes he gets so wraped up in a story he lets his own personal beliefs cloud his reporting.

[Free4Life11]

I can cut him a break this time though, he saw dead bodies, he saw a man who was killed because he was raping a 13 year old.

[MagicKingdom05]

Free4Life11,

Very true. I think we should cut Geraldo and Sheppard some much needed slack because they have been there through most of this, especially Sheppard.

[N.Bailey]

I can cut him a break this time though, he saw dead bodies, he saw a man who was killed because he was raping a 13 year old.

I'm sure he's seen a lot in his day, but seeing it in America is beyond belief.

[SueM in MN]

I was crying watching this.
I wonder whether, even now, people would be getting help if it was not for the news media. I have never seen professional, usually very controlled news people so emotional about any story before (even Geraldo, who is usually passionate, but not like this).
If it was not for the news media, I think we would not have any clue of how distressing horrible the situation is. I think if it wasn't for the pictures on our TV, we would be getting FEMA talking heads telling us how everything is going just fine.
One of the problems I could see was in one sentence that Sheppard said on the tape. One side of the bridge was one parrish and the side the Superdome is on is another parrish.
I'm assuming that is correct and that parrishes are like Counties in Minnesota.
That is one of the problems with any disaster - the way that things are set up, it needs to be managed first by city, then county or parrish, then state, then federal. I read a news story (not sure if it's true or not) that LA did not have any provisions in state law for the governor to call Martial Law. That means, until the federal government comes in, each area is on it's own. They are each trying to protect what they have (and even if they agree to share, if they don't have much, there is nothing to share).
In my area, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, there are 7 counties in the metro area and a number of cities. If we had a disaster, we can't all go off on our own - we need to be working together. I see the role of the Federal government in a situation like this as needing to be in from the beginning and needing to be in a co-ordinating role.

I watch the reports knowing that if it was my family in the situation Geraldo was reporting, my youngest DD would probably be dead or at least in really bad shape by now. She has cerebral palsy, doesn't have any special diet needs, doesn't have any special equipment besides her wheelchairs and communication computers. But she is small and thin and takes medication for seizures. If she was without her medication or got dehydrated, she'd have seizures and we'd probably have no way to stop them.

You sure as heck, better hope that if a disaster happens in your area either it's localized to one county or that the counties that are affected are able to cooperate.
Or, we learn a lot of lessons from this.

[lulu71]

I was crying watching this.
One of the problems I could see was in one sentence that Sheppard said on the tape. One side of the bridge was one parrish and the side the Superdome is on is another parrish.


Orleans parish is also on the other side of the bridge.

[Free4Life11]

If it was not for the news media, I think we would not have any clue of how distressing horrible the situation is. I think if it wasn't for the pictures on our TV, we would be getting FEMA talking heads telling us how everything is going just fine.

I completely agree. If it were for big media, we'd be getting taking heads.

The media is not being sensational -- how do you SENSATIONALIZE the image of babies dying of thirst and hunger?? Airing these images over and over is not sensationalizing. They want people to understand WHAT is going on -- it's not fancy editing, it's gritty, harsh, and it is REALITY.

If it weren't for the media, the government may very well have had NO clue as to what was happening in there before they arrived. They didn't even know about the Convention Center until the news started showing video from the area!

[Microcell]

My DH made a good point about the anger there.

We waited for the bus to Girl Scout Daycamp for DD for 45 minutes, at which point the bus driver should have turned and left. He had 20 really mad parents in his face. We were all hot and calling the bus company complaining.

That was 45 minutes. Lord knows how hard it is on the people, without food and water to boot.

[goin2disneyagain]

Shepard Smith has been there since before Katrina arrived. He has seen it all. Geraldo has only been there a couple of days, I think he said he arrived on Thursday but he is still seeing all the suffering. I can understand why they are so disgusted by what they are seeing. Shepard said they would not allow the people to walk out as Geraldo was suggesting. I am a fan of Shepard's reporting. I think he is doing an awesome job.

[DawnCt1]

Geraldo is insane, and this instance only proves the point. Yes, he was making some good points about letting the people cross the bridge, but he's nuts. We have to remember that this is the guy that was punished by the US military for giving away troop positions during the Iraq war. On top of that, he's friends with Michael Jackson (not that this has anything to do with what he was reporting on in Louisiana, but he's just a little wacko.)

I was watching him live last night. I saw the evacuees around him remaining calm and composed and he was literally hysterical. I was concerned that he was going to start a riot. I thought, how inappropriate. This is a situation that needs time to address and he is not helping to maintain control. NOT GOOD GERALDO.