It’s difficult for self-centered people to see a light burning brightly without wanting that light turned on them. So when the Trayvon Martin vigilante shooting case burst onto the nation’s consciousness, Geraldo Rivera jumped at the chance to make the controversy all about him.

Rivera said something so stupid that it was shocking even for him: he blamed the victim for his own death by wearing a hoodie in the rain on Feb. 26, the night he was shot to death by a racist prowling a Sanford, FL gated community.

Geraldo said all teens who wore hooded sweatshirts looked like criminals because people who robbed convenience stores always wore hoodies.

Naturally, the public was outraged at Geraldo for giving a voice to the same racist stereotyping that led to Trayvon’s untimely death.

Then someone created a tumblr page with a collection of photos showing Rivera wearing hoodies. There is even one of Geraldo and TV talkmeister Bill O’Reilly wearing hoodies at a Yankees ball game. (Maybe they were heading to a 7-11 to hold it up after the game?)

The backlash prompted Geraldo to back down from his statements, saying:
“What I was trying to do was caution parents allowing kids to wear hoodies or similar clothing in certain circumstances, particularly if they were minority young men could be dangerous.”

On Sunday, Geraldo apologized in person to Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, who graciously appeared as guests on his show.

“I never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings and certainly Sybrina and Tracy, I never intended to hurt your feelings. I want to personally convey my deepest apologies to both of you. I am sorry, Tracy, if anything I said added to your misery,” he said.

Meanwhile, George Zimmerman, the overeager neighborhood watch volunteer who gunned Trayvon down in cold blood remains in hiding. Two voice analysts hired by the biased Orlando Sentinel independently concluded that it was not Zimmerman’s voice heard screaming for help on this 911 audio tape.

But that hasn’t stopped the racists from continuing to throw their support behind Zimmerman despite the overwhelming evidence that he shot an unarmed boy.

Zimmerman is expected to be arrested and charged with murder this week.