Village Voice: Pamela Geller’s War (of Bigotry and Hatred)
Pamela Geller believes America is at war. Not a figurative one or an ideological one, but a literal one that calls for guns and missiles and planes and tanks and troops. One that has and will cause the deaths of innocents, of men, women, children, and, eventually, of nations.
She believes we are in a worldwide war between good and evil itself. She believes we are losing.
She believes, truly believes, that this evil—Islam—is upon our shores and that the time it takes for Islam to overrun what she calls the greatest country in the history of mankind can be measured not in decades or years but in months. She believes the re-election of President Barack Obama on November 6 has all but assured it.
Geller, 54, one of the most polarizing women in the country, is but a foot soldier in this war—a cog, but a large one that grows larger every day. When I meet her at an upscale coffee shop blocks away from her tony midtown apartment, she is in full combat gear.
“You’re a kid!” she cries when I reach out to shake her hand. Her Long Island accent, thick from her childhood, is distracting from the start. I’m not a kid, but I decide it doesn’t matter, because she’s absolutely giddy. Geller’s mouth is parted in a silent laugh, and she raises both of her hands like she doesn’t know whether to hug me or touch my face. I feel like a baby Labrador. It’s not a terrible feeling.
