October 31, 2011

Yes, Geraldo Rivera is a sensationalist (breathlessly breaking away from the latest on Casey Anthony) but it's hard to argue with his assessment of the evasive, equivocal replies on whether Herman Cain had ever given out financial settlements in response to former employees charges of sexual harassment and misconduct. The interview came in response to a Politico story about events which happened in the 1990s.

Cain Spokesman: These two sources aren’t even named in the piece and it was a third party.

Geraldo: Are you denying it ever happened, JD Gordon?

Cain Spokesman: “These are thin allegations, this is non-sourced, right now we’re trying to put this in perspective for you that this is not even an — uh — sourced allegation. Herman Cain deserves better than this.

Geraldo: He may deserve much better than this, JD Gordon, chief spokesman of the Herman Cain, but I want your denial–if you would– to be more substantive, do you deny that this ever happened?.

Cain Spokesman: Let me just tell you this is an example of the media attacks.

Geraldo: Yes or no, was there a cash settlement to two female employees of the National Restaurant Association?

Cain Spokesman: All I am telling you right now is it’s something the establishment is trying to attack.

Geraldo: You are evading my questions — was there or was there not a cash settlement?

Cain Spokesman: This is a typical attack on a conservative who is doing well in the polls.

And on and on it went. Geraldo, who lives and breathes scandal, has seen all this before and knows how things play out, intoned gravely:

Geraldo: What you’re doing now is a recipe for disaster, mate. I’m telling you the morning papers are not past their deadline yet. Are you denying there was a cash settlement to two female employees of the National Restaurant Association — yes or no?

Given JD Powers previous experience as the principal spokesman for the Department of Defense on Guantanamo it's probably not too surprising this was handled so badly.

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