Pamela Geller

[[File:Pamela Geller 2011.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Gotta hand it to Pam: Her Cruella De Vil cosplay is on point.]]{{islamophobia|1}}{{hatnote|Not to be confused with and no relation to [[Uri Geller]].}}
'''Pamela Geller''' {{lived|1958|}} is the far-right [[American]] writer who blogs at ''Atlas Shrugs'' (named after [[Ayn Rand]]'s ''Atlas Shrugged'') and at [[WND|WorldNetDaily]] (WND). She is well-known for her ridiculous vlogs, her [[Islamophobia|hatred]] of anyone looking like a [[Muslim]], and her ability to post screeds occasionally so incoherent that it makes you wonder if she's got what might be politely termed a "problem".<ref>Ed Brayton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120620094919/http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/18/gellers-drunken-rant/ Geller’s Drunken Rant?] freethoughtblogs.com, 18 June 2012.</ref> She is the co-founder of ''Stop the Islamization of America'' with Robert Spencer, a Catholic, in the country that still thinks the same about Jews and Catholics.

While she is clearly unhinged, she has managed to land interviews with [[John Bolton]] and [[Daniel Pipes]], been cited in the [[National Review Online]],<ref group=note>Granted, the [https://web.archive.org/web/20081025204425/http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzgwMzU5MzFkNThkOWVlMjJjNjA3YjJlMGM0NTAzOWU= cite] was by the only marginally more sane Andy McCarthy, but still...</ref> published by the [[Washington Times]] and has appeared on [[CNN]], and [[Fox News]], so apparently ''someone'' is taking her seriously.<ref group=note>Probably in the "live bunny and pot of boiling water" sense.</ref> In early May 2015, two fundamentalist Muslims, claiming to work with ISIS, attacked her "draw Muhammad" event in Garland, Texas. Both attackers were killed immediately, with one security guard sustaining a leg injury.

==A history of madness==
It's difficult to isolate Geller's madness, as her style of writing is like one long primal scream. Her main focus — indeed, the only real common thread in her posting — is anti-Islam, including rants against the [[Park51]] community centre. She does have a few other hobbyhorses, though:

===Obama's daddy===
Geller is a [[birther]] and believes that Obama is a secret Muslim, but apparently that wasn't crazy enough for her. So, in 2008 she advanced a theory that Obama's real father was [[Malcolm X]]. No, really.

{{cquote|Drunk on radical ideology, Stanley “Ann” Dunham became pregnant in the summer of 1960 in Seattle WA with the baby of a prominent black liberal activist...In the early 1960’s there were noticeable very few African Americans on the streets of Honolulu, and Obama Sr. was the only Black man from Africa on the island. Ann Dunham, in an effort to legitimize her mixed race baby, would have sought out one of the only black men on the island to convince him to use his name. And so Barack Hussein Obama Sr. was likely pressed into service as father and husband in name only.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081031070524/http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/10/how-could-stanl.html HOW COULD STANLEY ANN DUNHAM HAVE DELIVERED BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA JR. IN AUGUST OF 1961 IN HONOLULU, WHEN OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON RECORDS SHOW HER 2680 MILES AWAY IN SEATTLE ATTENDING CLASSES THAT SAME MONTH?]</ref>}}
The post attracted instant attention, all of it negative. Geller went into damage control mode, posting this string of excuses at the top of the original post: "I am not the author of this post, and I posted it because the writer did a spectacular job documenting Obama's many connections with the Far Left. The Malcolm X claim is one minor part of this story,<ref group=note>The implication is that the rest of the post is reasonable. It's not. Seriously, don't click that link.</ref> and was of interest to me principally as part of the writer's documentation that Stanley Ann Dunham could not have been where the Obama camp says she was at various times. I do not believe that Barack Obama is Malcolm X's love child, and never did — but [[just asking questions|there remain many, many unanswered questions]] about his early life and upbringing." Evidently, Geller is in the habit of posting material she doesn't believe, which might actually explain a lot of the following.

Ultimately, though, Geller made peace with the new President. She even posted an extra-classy photo spread of Obama's extended family.<ref>{{Wayback |url=http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/americas-new-fi.html|title=AMERICA’S NEW FIRST FAMILY |date=20080811200436 }}</ref>

===Anti-Semites===
Geller is ethnically [[Jewish]] (though her religion is unclear), and she occasionally uses her blog to discuss how [[Poisoning the well|everyone is an anti-Semite.]] Although she ''does'' occasionally [[Stopped clock|find genuine examples]] of anti-Semitism, she also has a knack for finding hatred of Jews in the oddest places. Among the groups she has identified as anti-Semitic are:

*Muslims<ref group=note>Okay, some of them are. But not ''all'' of them!</ref>
*Organizing for America<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100602141823/http://biggovernment.com/pgeller/2009/10/17/barack-obamas-anti-semitic-website Barack Obama’s Anti-Semitic Website]</ref>
*British teachers<ref>[http://archive.today/yLeIX SUMMAFEMALE DOGES VOTE TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL UNIVERSITIES]</ref>
*The [[Anti-Defamation League]]<ref>[http://newsmax.com/PamelaGeller/pamgeller-rushlimbaugh-NormanPodhoretz-abefoxman/2010/01/25/id/347851 Anti-Defamation League Chief Bashes Rush Limbaugh]</ref>
*Muslims
*Supreme Court judge Elena Kagan (who is Jewish)<ref group=note>The [https://web.archive.org/web/20100707111336/http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007020008 post] was accompanied by a fake picture of Kagan in Nazi uniform.</ref>
*On the other hand, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles is ''not quite'' identified as an out-and-out cabal of antisemites; they're just the moral equivalent of terrorist collaborators for canceling a speech by Geller.<ref>Ed Brayton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120630023126/http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/27/gellers-latest-temper-tantrum/ Geller’s Latest Temper Tantrum]. freethoughtblogs.com, 27 June 2012.</ref>
*In case we forgot... Muslims.

By contrast, the following people are not anti-Semites in any way:

*[[Jerry Falwell]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100214064641/http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2007/05/jerry_falwell_r.html JERRY FALWELL RIP]</ref>
*The proto-fascist German political group Deutsche Liga für Volk und Heimat (German League for People and Homeland)
*Indicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081011075447/http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/the-pictures-th.html THE PICTURES THAT FOOLED THE WORLD - YUGOSLAVIA DEATH CAMP HOAX]</ref>
*[[Ali Sina]]<ref>Pamela Geller, [https://gellerreport.com/2018/04/imani-surrender-to-islam-no-option.html Islam vs. the West: Surrender is not an option]. gellerreport.com, 29 April 2018.</ref>

===Osama conspiracy theory===
Geller helped spread one of the more popular conspiracy theories surrounding the death of [[Osama bin Laden]] through the wingnutosphere: The order to take out Osama was given by means of a coup within the White House because Obama was too wimpy to do it.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110506134246/http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/05/skulking-towards-bin-laden-obama-overridden-by-military-and-intel-officials-in-takeout-of-obl.html SKULKING TOWARDS BIN LADEN: OBAMA OVERRIDDEN BY MILITARY AND INTEL OFFICIALS IN TAKEOUT OF OBL?]</ref>

===Anders Breivik===
In 2007, Geller published a letter from an anonymous ''Atlas Shrugs'' reader in Norway, who ranted about Muslims and claimed that "we" were "stockpiling and caching weapons, ammunition and equipment". Geller published the letter anonymously on account of potential prosecution by Norwegian authorities — here was someone saying they were stockpiling weapons! — and seemed very encouraging of his fight against the Muslim hordes.<ref>Justin Raimondo, [http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/07/28/anders-behring-breivik-mystery-man/ Anders Behring Breivik, Mystery Man]. antiwar.com, 28 July 2011.</ref> It has been suggested that this letter was from Norwegian domestic terrorist [[Anders Behring Breivik]], who appears to have been influenced by Geller's regular Islamophobic hyperbole. 

It's unclear if the letter was actually from Breivik himself. There are a few parallels, but also some inconsistencies. The writer of the letter appears to have been a fundamentalist Christian, stating "I believe we are the very last generation on earth before the return of God", "I will stay and fight (...) for the God-fearing people", "God is with you too" amongst other religious rhetoric. However, Breivik, despite initial reports suggesting he was a fundamentalist, appears to be an atheist who calls himself a "[[cultural Christian]]", and his only link with religion is the maintenance of Christian heritage in Europe rather than the establishment of a theocracy. However, some evidence from Breivik's online presence prior to his attack suggests that he was a fan of Geller, having recommended posts on Geller's blog.<ref>[http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/38919_Breaking-_Oslo_Terrorist_Tied_to_Right_Wing_Extremism_-_Update-_A_Pamela_Geller_Fan Little Green Footballs - Oslo Terrorist ‘Tied to Right Wing Extremism’ ]</ref>

Like other right-wingers who inspired Breivik, Geller has since backpedaled at the speed of light and edited the above e-mail to remove the sentence about stockpiling weapons.<ref>[http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/38949_Pamela_Geller_Edits_Post_to_Conceal_Violent_Rhetoric_in_Email_from_Norway Little Green Footballs - Pamela Geller Edits Post to Conceal Violent Rhetoric in ‘Email from Norway’]</ref> Whether the person behind the email was Breivik, someone else, or perhaps just made up from Geller's imagination (stranger things have happened) is immaterial, however, as what ''is'' known is that "anti-jihadist" rhetoric from the likes of Pamela Geller formed a major part of the influences behind Breivik's ideas, eventually leading him on a murderous rampage.

===Other accomplishments of note=== 
She also got on board the [[Boston Marathon bombing|Boston marathon]] crazy train driven by [[Glenn Beck]], which probably serves as another example of a baseless [[conspiracy theory]] acting as a particularly effective [[wingnut]] [[Crank magnetism|magnet]].<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/pamela-gellers-grand-boston-conspiracy-falls-apart Pamela Geller's Grand Boston Conspiracy Falls Apart,] Right Wing Watch</ref> She managed to ban herself, and her group from entering the UK, putting her within the ranks of [[Michael Savage]], [[Louis Farrakhan]], [[Robert Mugabe]], and an array of other individuals associated with terrorist organizations.<ref>{{wpa|List of people banned from entering the United Kingdom}}</ref>

==Vlogs==
Geller is also a video blogger. If her writing was not enough to scare you off, then her speaking certainly will. Geller's vlogs cover a variety of topics, from political issues to her kids to satires of popular songs. If you have a strong stomach and no fear of death, you can find her vlog archive [https://web.archive.org/web/20080801160448/http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/atlas_vlogs/ here].

==See also==
*[[Creeping Sharia]]
*[[Eurabia]]
*[[Halal soup]]
*[[Laura Loomer]]: Her Millennial Counterpart. 
*[[Melanie Phillips]]: Her British Counterpart. 
*[[Debbie Schlussel]]

==External links==
*MediaMatters' 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20100717011028/http://mediamatters.org/research/201007140035 list] of Geller's greatest hits.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geller, Pamela}}
[[Category:Alt-lite]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Birtherism]]
[[Category:Bloggers]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Denialists]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Great Replacement conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Islamophobes]]
[[Category:Jews]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Political pundits]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Alt-lite, Authors, Birtherism, Bloggers, Conspiracy theorists, Denialists, Fascists, Great Replacement conspiracy theorists, Internalized discrimination, Internet kooks, Islamophobes, Jews, Living people, New York, Political pundits, Racists, Right-wing activists