Geraldo Gets 'Goosebumps' & Bumped Head from Sotomayor

May 27th, 2009 5:20 PM

According to a posting at MediaBistro's TVNewser, FNC's Geraldo Rivera admitted to being so excited about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's selection for the Supreme Court that he got "goosebumps" when he heard the news and bumped his head on a light fixture when he sprang from his chair in excitement. TVNewser's Gail Shister writes: "The Fox News host was so excited about the high court's first Hispanic nominee that he leapt from his chair in his home office and bopped his head on a low-hanging light fixture."

She went on to quote Rivera: "This is as important to us as Obama was to the African-American community. I have goosebumps."

After noting that Rivera supports "Sotomayor's vote earlier this month to uphold New Haven, Conn.'s decision to eliminate a set of fire department promotion tests because no minority candidates finished at the top of the list," she went on to relay that the FNC host generally no longer supports affirmative action, having changed his mind on the issue several years ago. Rivera: "I don't think it's very useful anymore, like reparations for slavery. It's something that served its purpose in a moment in history. Like any invention, it can become obsolete."

Shister also recounted Rivera's belief that Sotomayor's ascension would undermine politicians who blame "the man" for problems in New York City's Puerto Rican population. Shister: "The nomination of Sotomayor will help dispel, in Rivera's view, 'the whole poverty-pimp mentality that afflicts the Puerto Rican community in New York. Elected officials go around blaming "the man."'"

Gail Shister's entire posting at TVNewser can be found here.