Geraldo Rivera Needs A Generator For His Koi Pond

This may qualify as the most obnoxious Hurricane Sandy tweet ever:

People in Staten Island and New Jersey are freezing without power and Geraldo is worried about his Koi Pond? How classy of him.

Fear not, though, New Yorkers, for Geraldo has saved his fish:

Glad you have your priorities straight there, Geraldo.

H/T: Ace Of Spades

FILED UNDER: Media, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. ernieyeball says:

    Don’t be so hard on Jerry. Maybe he’s just trying to fatten them up so he can donate them to the soup kitchens.

    http://bengalihomecooking.com/FishCurryWithKoieFish.html

  2. john personna says:

    Koi can live 60 years or more, so owners see buying them as a commitment.

    It probably has something to do with the human psychology of family.

  3. 11B40 says:

    Greetings:

    Now “Geraldo” (aka Jerry Rivers) just needs a generator for his brain.

  4. ernieyeball says:

    @11B40: “Geraldo” (aka Jerry Rivers) just needs a generator for his brain.

    And he can donate his regenerated brains to the Zombies of the Flood!

    http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/10/30/crisfield-flooding-called-worst-since-1985-2-caskets-rise-from-graves/

  5. Argon says:

    So, crappy at news reporting and crappy in handling disaster preparedness. Probably doesn’t know which end of a screwdriver to turn, either.

  6. James Joyner says:

    I’m actually on the other side of this one, I think. While I agree that it’s stupid for Geraldo to have tweeted this out under the circumstances, it’s hardly unreasonable for pet owners to want to safeguard their animals. We’ve got lots of people out there trying to make sure dogs and cats are safe from the ravages of the storm. Indeed, that’s always the case. These people are often treated as heroes. If the power were out and it was freezing cold here, I’d be trying to make sure my three animals (2 cats, 1 dog) were safe.

    So, is the issue simply that these are fish rather than mammals? While I’ve never had a pet fish and don’t see what the attachment is, I’m not sure why the two should be viewed differently.

  7. Argon says:

    I suppose that if he used a solar powered back up, FOX news would’ve fired him for being ‘green’. So I can see why he needed a gas powered generator, or better yet, a coal driven engine.

  8. anjin-san says:

    What’s wrong with wanting to save animals that you care for? Just because it’s not important to Doug does not mean it’s important.

  9. @James Joyner:

    That’s really my only point. If Geraldo want’s to do this that’s fine, but it just struck me as a bit crass on his part to publicly state that his biggest problem was finding a generator for his fish while other people are suffering.

  10. @anjin-san:

    I honestly don’t care that he wants to save his fish, that’s his choice. As I said above, I just thought saying it publicly like that was a bit crass.

  11. Also should be kept in mind that an individual koi an be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars (the record is a 230 year old one that sold for $2.2 million a few years ago).

  12. anjin-san says:

    Actually Doug, this is what you said:

    and Geraldo is worried about his Koi Pond?

    Glad you have your priorities straight there, Geraldo.

    Someone is being crass here, but I don’t think its Geraldo.

  13. Gustopher says:

    Screw you. You cannot live with suffering alone, even in the midst of a massive disaster. You have to take care of what is close to you, if only to put yourself in a state where you can take care of others.

    For Geraldo, it’s the fish. Saving the fish gives some sense of normalcy to his life.

    I hope you’re never put in a position where everything has fallen apart, but you’ll find and gravitate towards one symbolic thing — pets if you have them, otherwise something deeply silly — some trivial little luxury that you can point to and say “if that is fine, then everything else will be fine too”

  14. JKB says:

    This is just endemic of those in Manhattan who feel they’ve had a disaster. They haven’t. They’ve been inconvenienced with a few days without power and trains, having to walk (urban hiking) to charge their iPhone and get a latte. Not ideal, but not a disaster

    Now, I saw a story of a lady on Staten Island, she had to walk a mile from her home, over 2x4s laid on sodden ground, to find the first piece of her house and treasured belongings. Sure, she’s without power, without trains, without lattes but she’s also without shelter and even when she gets a tent, she’ll have only water-stained photo of her mother’s wedding to remind her of what she had.

    So to all those in Manhattan, deal with it, you are on the periphery of the disaster and your trials and tribulations are inconsequential compared to those seriously impacted.

  15. anjin-san says:

    This is just endemic of those in Manhattan who feel they’ve had a disaster.

    My understanding is that Rivera lives in Brooklyn. Aside from putting your general anger at what you perceive as elites on display, what is your point?

  16. CSK says:

    Rivera lives in NJ, on the Navesink River.

  17. Let's Be Free says:

    The sized generator a householder uses to pump water in a Koi pond isn’t going to supply anywhere near enough output to power pumps at a typical gas station. Emergency household generators are more about preserving a few modern conveniences (like running a freezer and a few lights) than addressing real survival or substantial economic needs.

  18. Franklin says:

    I agree with saving fish. I do not agree with Twittering about your boring life. Or perhaps Twittering about anything.

  19. JKB says:

    @anjin-san:

    Oh well, that makes all the difference. By all means he should be twittering about his terrible crisis of needing a Koi pond generator.

    Here’s a tip used by the little people. You don’t go on about breaking a nail when others have broken their legs.

  20. anjin-san says:

    the little people

    Describes you perfectly.

    I find it quite bizarre that people struggle with the concept of someone loving their pets and placing a high priority on their well being (and having the audacity to talk about it)

    You are in here whining about a tweet made by someone you don’t know – how utterly trivial is that? Perhaps your time would be better spent volunteering for disaster relief.

  21. anjin-san says:

    You don’t go on about breaking a nail when others have broken their legs.

    Every day millions of your fellow Americans struggle with life without health insurance. Without homes. Without enough food. Without opportunity. With great colleges for their kids beyond their reach. And so on, and so on.

    Do you never speak of mundane things while so many suffer?

  22. Janis Gore says:

    Yeppers, secure the two parrots first.

    They have two Lexan cages, and I have a large enough vehicle to take us all to where we need to go.