Shephard Smith and Geraldo Rivera Unleashed

I want to save this post and related video for future reference. The Fox Katrina coverage was the most conflicted TV programming I've ever seen. Sean Hannity was practically fighting with his reporters, trying to make them stick to the pro-Bush playbook. It didn't work. Digby's comments are great:

Sean's up now and he's equally uncomfortable with Shep's story about the thousands still stuck on freeways and bridges with no food and water --- who have been ignored for days now. He's been covering one single bridge for days and nobody knows why they haven't been helped yet. He's almost shrill.

Now Geraldo comes on and he freaks out, begging the authorities to let people still stuck at the convention center walk out of town. Shep comes back and he says they have checkpoints set up turning people back to the city if they try. (wtf?) They are both on the verge of tears.

Sean says they need to get some perspective and Shep screams at him "this is the perspective!"

This was some amazing TV. Kudos to Shep Smith and Geraldo for not letting O'Reilly and Hannity spin their GOP "resolve" apologia bullshit. I'm fairly shocked.

Wonder when Fox will fire Geraldo and Shephard. And if they don't, having displayed some human decency and integrity, how can these guys keep working there? Oh well they'll probably find some way to rationalize it and return to their usual Bush praising. Geraldo was well on his way the following morning when the military had started evacuating people from the convention center (think he said something like "God bless the military" - maybe that will be enough to save his job).