Bill Keller must be reading the polls and expecting the era of Obama to be over. How else to explain the noxious news that both Pam Geller and Ann Coulter were profiled in the Times today. Not one, but both, and on the same day! Can there be much that is more disgusting?
I actually took the time to read both articles. While the Coulter piece was in the Style section and fairly light and frothy, the Geller piece seemed like it ran forever. I’m guessing it might’ve run 1,000 words, which is an eternity for a newspaper.
While the Geller profile did feature some decent investigative reporting that exposed many of the woman’s more lunatic antics along with her less known epic wealth (she lives on entire floor of an upper Eastside condo), it also accorded her due deference for the alleged impact she has had on the political debate. Not to mention all the flattering photos of her. Why couldn’t they include something like the one featured here which shows her with Dutch Islam-hater, Geert Wilders, who’s currently on trial for espousing religious hatred in Holland. What Geller so colorfully calls a “Stalinist show trial.” It makes you wonder what she would’ve called the Nuremberg Trials.
For the life of me, I just don’t see it. What impact has she had? She’s tried to run Park51 out of lower Manhattan on a rail, yet the project is on target and hasn’t been rousted from its near-sacred ground location. This is one of her signature crusades and she hasn’t been able to get any traction in the real world. Another of her manufactured Muslim scandals got Debbie Almontaser fired as principal of the Khalil Gibran Academy. But the victim filed an EEOC suit against the city and won. So yes, Geller functions powerfully in the far right echo chamber and shapes debate on FoxNews and in far-right pro-Israel circles. But where is her real world impact?
I suppose you could make a valid argument that Rush Limbaugh has had some impact outside his own audience in the wider political debate. But Geller? I think she’ll have the shelf life of a piece of raw sushi in blogging terms. She’s the far right flavor of the week. And just like those High Holiday “fashion show” services at the Long Island synagogue she attended, her blog is little more than a current far-right fashion fad.
Speaking of fashion-show Judaism, this is what her sister had to say on the subject:
The sisters went to Hebrew school, but attended synagogue mainly on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. (“It was more of a fashion show in many respects,” Jessica Geller recalled.)
Pam Geller reflects the debasement of American Judaism. She knows next to nothing about our religion. Yet, this woman speaks in the blogosphere to the far-right as a more or less authentic representative of pro-Israelism and American Jews. It’s almost enough to make you nostalgic for Abe Foxman and the rest of his boys. Despite their overtly partisan political agenda, at least you have a sense that there is some real knowledge of Judaism in their souls. When it comes to Pam Geller hers is an empty vessel, which is why she is able to fill it up with so many preposterous notions.
Another interesting nugget was the identity of her legal advisor, David Yerushalmi, yet another anti-jihadi obsessive I’ve posted about, most recently here for his involvement in Frank Gaffney’s Plan B report on the creeping Muslim overthrow of our Republic.
Sadly I was first attracted to Ms Geller by stumbling across a grainy photo of her frolicking amongst the waves at the beach. With a bit of due diligence any attraction initially felt was surely discarded. Not the nicest of ladies. To date it seems to be the guys making most of the noise but when someone of little substance like this one pops up out of nowhere i find it most nauseating.
I wonder if the newly released movie Miral will soften her stance? Somehow i think not.
Pam and Dersho would make a good couple!
Love your articles Richard, keep up the great work.
Geert Wilders…total freak. He reflects the debasement of Christianty. What a pair!
Ye gads. Save me from Jewish princesses. As wrong as she is, at least Ayaan Hirsi Ali has some cause to be bitter about how she suffered from Islamic extremism of her family. But this Jewish c–t knows s–t about Islam. If I thought she knew how to read, I might suggest she begin with Eric Margolis’ “American Raj: America and the Muslim World.” A burka would do wonders for her image.
I don’t even like that word truncated w. hyphens as you’ve done it. We both hate Geller, but don’t do that again.
Oops. I got carried away. Apologies.
I understand when dealing w. Geller it is very tempting to just let loose w. one’s worst invective…
Richard, very generous of you to judge the level of Judaism knowledge or practicality that other people demonstrate.
people who do that scare me, You are not different then the orthodox folks in Israel judging the American conservative / reform Jews.
as for grasp of reality, i don’t know if you are right about it but the guardian (a very respected english newspaper) states (jan, 27, 2010) that Fox News is the most trusted name in the news
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/27/fox-news-most-popular
and in late September there was another poll published (politico) showing that fox figures : Oreilly, Beck, Limbaugh and others are the most popular news folks while the other guys are not known at all:rachel maddow, keitholbermann & ed schultz, seems to me the american people are drifting from the center to the right by large numbers.
http://patdollard.com/2010/09/poll-of-likely-voters-fox-news-main-source-limbaugh-beck-and-oreilly-most-popular-news-figures-rachel-maddow-keith-olbermann-ed-schultz-all-unknown-jon-stewart-little-known/
Geller’s sister herself said that Pam’s level of observance was to see the full extent of her Jewish observance (attending High HOliday services) as a “fashion show.” Sorry, but I have a perfect right to judge the shallowness of her beliefs based on this actual quotation. If you don’t like it that’s too bad.
What nonsense. The Guardian didn’t say this. It said that a poll said this. Besides, I have no idea what this has to do with anything. It’s completely off topic & has nothing whatsoever to do w. Pam Geller.
American politics are drifting rightward. That always happens during mid term elections as a reaction toward the party that won the previous election. Doesn’t mean all that much.
I thought it was appropriate for the NYT to run a long article on her–she does have real world influence or this ridiculous mosque controversy never would have gotten off the ground. Of course her influence is entirely bad, but it’s real.
The article was tolerable in that any fairminded person could read it and tell that Geller was a racist ignorant buffoon. The main problem was that the article didn’t cite Arabs and Muslims for their opinion of her. They relied heavily on fellow rightwingers, as though their opinions should carry more weight. I understand the reasoning–it’s the idea that if even some rightwingers think she goes too far, she’s gone too far. But it’d be better if they quoted some people who really do understand Islam (including some Muslims).
@ Richard
In any synagogue all over the world, high holidays are somewhat of a fashion show, as out of respect people are trying to appear at their best. i’m sure that when you attend service you do not wear you raggedy everyday clothe, and i do hope that you take a shower and put some deodorant.
The guardian or any other newspaper for that effect are not writing the news they are reporting the news, nothing wrong with that concept. would you rather they would write the news and not report the news ?
as for the drifting of the public to the right, i don’t think they your statement is right, i think what you meant is to say that Americans always drift towards the other party during the mid-term elections as a means of balance.
There is a study that shows the more you watch Fox the less you know. participants were asked to answer 5 questions about the Iraq war, the answers to which were empirical fact. Was Iraq connected to bin Laden, dd it have WMD etc. NPR viewers came first in correct answers, Fox last by some margin. University of Maryland or Pew Research come to mind as the source, but could be wrong on that.
That means one of a few things: either you live in the Five Towns where Geller grew up; you’ve never davened at any of the thousands of congregations throughout the world for which this is not true; that you don’t go to shul; or that you’re totally ignorant.
Yr claim is preposterous. I’ve attended shuls on the High Holiday for decades and I can’t remember a single one that was like the Five Towns. Admittedly, I don’t go to shuls in suburbia. But your claim is patently wrong. At my shul, I dress in the same informal clothes I wear everyday. There is no fashion show at my shul.
Geert Wilders looks like a glossy House of Wax figure in that picture. (sorry, normally I don’t remark on physical appearances but in this case he really does look like that to me)
I think he’s been mummified, maybe embalmed.
It’s more like a picture of what happy hour looks like in Hell then anything else.
That’s hilarious!
@ Richard The fact that there is no fashion show at your synagogues, means that there is no fashion show at you synagogues. just out of curiosity do they sell Prayer parts for the high holidays ?
if you draw your conclusion based on the customs at your synagogue you are kind off a narrow minded person.
in the US and Europe with the fashion show exhibit, comes this custom of selling Prayer parts for the high holidays, i find both as disgusting and unbelievable, yet they exist. and that’s why i go to chabad.
I didn’t say this was just at my shul. I’ve worshipped at perhaps 30-40 shuls on the High Holidays & all over the world I’ve never seen the type of fashion show Jessica Geller recounts. And the only place I ever davened where they sold aliyot was in Ireland. There was no fashion show there either. It was the way they raised tzedakah to fund the shul. I’ve never been at a shul that sold any honors other than that.
Interesting that you worship at Chabad. That tells us even more about you & yr views.
These two are both crazy whackjobs but Wilders is a lot more dangerous (she’s just nuts!). What’s a huge disappointment though is the Netherlands new government agreeing to ally themselves with Wilders, just to get his support so they can actually BECOME the government.
That’s going to backfire on Holland big time. Everyone I know is already beginning to boycott Dutch products because of this. Wilders is nothing more than a right-wing hatemonger somebody will eventually off, but who will drag Holland down with him before they do.