Here and there, stories from New Yorkers keep popping up that say Rudy isn’t what the rest of the country think he is. Or, should I say, his publicity machine makes us think he is. If he gets nominated and wins, will we have been fooled again like we (ahem, some of us weren’t!) were with Bush?
Will Fiendish Giuliani Be Bush III?
Although few people outside of New York know it yet, there is an emerging controversy over Giuliani’s heroic 9/11 legacy. Critics charge that Rudy’s failure to resolve the feuding between the city’s police and firefighters prior to the attack led to untold numbers of deaths, the most tragic example being the inability of firemen to hear warnings from police helicopters about the impending collapse of the South Tower.
Rudy giuliani is a true American hero, and we know this because he does all the things we expect of heroes these days — like make $16 million a year, and lobby for Hugo Chávez and Rupert Murdoch, and promote wars without ever having served in the military, and hire a lawyer to call his second wife a “stuck pig,” and organize absurd, grandstanding pogroms against minor foreign artists, and generally drift through life being a shameless opportunist with an outsize ego who doesn’t even bother to conceal the fact that he’s had a hard-on for the presidency since he was in diapers. In the media age, we can’t have a hero humble enough to actually be one; what is needed is a tireless scoundrel, a cad willing to pose all day long for photos, who’ll accept $100,000 to talk about heroism for an hour, who has the balls to take a $2.7 million advance to write a book about himself called Leadership. That’s Rudy Giuliani. Our hero. And a perfect choice to uphold the legacy of George W. Bush.
Yes, Rudy is smarter than Bush. But his political strength — and he knows it — comes from America’s unrelenting passion for never bothering to take that extra step to figure shit out. If you think you know it all already, Rudy agrees with you. And if anyone tries to tell you differently, they’re probably traitors, and Rudy, well, he’ll keep an eye on ’em for you. Just like Bush, Rudy appeals to the couch-bound bully in all of us, and part of the allure of his campaign is the promise to put the Pentagon and the power of the White House at that bully’s disposal.
Well this hero seems to be full of the same type of lies and BS as his predecessor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDftfh-nPWQ
Yeah, that Matt Taibbi is quite a writer. When I read this in the print version, it changed my view of Guiliani. I used to like him. The website alternet.org seems to be a goldmine, thanks for the link.
Rudy is part of the inner circle so I think they are pushing him on people as the rightful heir to the throne. He looks like a crook and looks like he is slimey. Anyone that is considering voting for this guy should reconsider. A guy that trys to wrap himself in a mass murder event must not have much else to wrap himself in.
People that support Giuliani seem to have two talking points: his leadership after 911 and his ability to clean up NYC. I have yet to see evidence that his leadership after 911 was anything other than an ability to lead the willing, pied piper style, with little real accomplishment. I agree he did substantially clean up the city, but the skills needed to lead municipal government to needed change do not necessarily translate well to the national level.
Perhaps we need more leaders with his skill set at the city level, but in the Whitehouse?
Smarter than Bush: almost certainly. Able to lead a country unsure of its place in the new world: not so sure.
Giuliani was known as El Duce when he was mayor of New York. In my opinion, at least once, he even went as far as to deny people their right of peaceable assembly.
Taxi drivers wanted to protest the changes he was making to the rules for taxi drivers. Most of the changes were good, though they cost money and he wouldn’t allow a rate increase. But, the taxi drivers didn’t like them. So, they wanted to drive 250 cabs slowly across the Brooklyn Bridge at rush hour. Had they done it, traffic would have been slowed down. Big deal. Giuliani didn’t ignore their protest, as would have been his right, he denied them their right to protest.
#1 – sdf,
Good video. Thanks for sharing.
Politics is easy – here Giuli listing his qualifications
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vSk4SUpWVuY
Rudy is more eloquent than “W”… but really, who isn’t? The smirking chimp in the White House is an embarrassment to America.
That said, should you desire a graphic of sleazy politician, Rudy is an ideal choice. He will say anything and do anything to get elected. In a pinch, a portrait of Romney can be adjacent to Giuliani although Mitt is better suited to the role of slick used car salesman.
The headline I spotted this morning says it all:
GIULIANI: WORSE THAN BUSH
I don’t follow this clown, but my impression of him is that he is a sociopathic, sniveling coward.
This is based purely on my gut instincts. This is the impression I got on his first TV appearance on 9/11 and has only been reinforced since then.
“Fooled” with Bush? No. We were given a choice worse than Bush. In 2004, people either voted for Bush or against him; no one really voted *for* Kerry.
I don’t disagree with anything posted here, but I have to say that trying to blame Giuliani for hundreds of deaths on 9/11 is particularly over the line.
The author implies malice where none exists. It weakens any legitimate criticism there is to make, and I’m certain there are many…
LOL — Even the blog gets caught up in the Republican machine. The goal here is to make sure McCain is the candidate. It’s all pre-decided. Rudy is doing too well, so it’s time to smear him to knock him down a few pegs. He’ll be the VP I suspect. There is only one Repuiblican machine while the Dems have two in conflict. That election is more interesting. Wait untils the smears start over there. Much more entertaining.
McCain? I don’t know when he got lobotomized, but the guy’s a loser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rZtvAynX2M
12. If the fix is in for McCain, then he is being set up to take a dive……..for Hillary, I believe. Sounds preposterous, maybe, Dem or Repub, its probably all predetermined.
John C, take 20 minutes or so out of your hectic schedule and read the article about Rudy in this month’s Vanity Fair. Then come back and tell us that Rudy’s being “smeared.”
I for one am no longer in any doubt; he’s an arrogant, egocentric loony.
The way Giuliani handled unions can translate to the federal level. If he can actually follow through and not rehire 50% of the workers who are retiring on his watch, then that’s worth it.
Wow, are you kidding me!
This guy has the gall to accept money for speeches?
Made big bucks on a book expressing his ideas?
He has a big ego?
Has wanted to be president ever since he was in diapers?
He has some nerve. I guess I’m going to have to vote for…,uh….hmmmm
Never mind.
#10 – Thomas,
I voted FOR Kerry. I also voted FOR Gore. Prior to that, I had mostly voted against. Actually, I guess I somewhat voted for Clinton too. But, even then, I would have preferred a Gore/Clinton ticket to the Clinton/Gore ticket we had.
#15 – Lauren the Ghoti,
Add megalomanaical tyrant.
I take heart in the fact that I was not allowed to vote for President (resident / citizen of a US Territory), but I would have voted for Kerry, as a best of 2 evils option.
“I for one am no longer in any doubt; he’s an arrogant, egocentric loony.”
“Add megalomanaical tyrant.”
They’re Reps are just getting with the program and coming up with someone like the a last two Dem candidates (and Hillary).
#5 – We have the right to “peacefully” protest – I’m not sure actively interfering with 1000’s of other counts.
#4 – Mayor of a city of 10 million vs Governor of a state of smaller population can’t be all that different – though I’m not a big Rudy fan either.
Here’s an idea that would keep all us cranks busy posting: Vote in the ticket of Paris Hilton/Nicole Ritchie then film the next 4 seasons of “The Simple Life” in the Whitehouse!!!
Primary Politics…Boooooooooooooring…….registered independant… can’t vote in the two party stranglehold primaries in my state.
#20 – TheGlobalWarmer,
Peaceable assembly always actively interferes with thousands of others. Obviously, you’ve never tried to walk down Broadway when some group is holding a protest and blocking the entire street from sidewalk to sidewalk inclusive. This is standard operating procedure in New York. Parades are even worse. I think New Yorkers are resilient enough to handle it.
As an aside, New Yorkers enjoyed it during the taxi drivers’ strike. The buses were finally able to move. We’ve also dealt with garbage strikes, Republican National Conventions (yecch, these really stink), blackouts, and even 9/11, though that came later than the taxi protest would have. I think we’d manage.
Remember, it was Giuliani who picked from a contest, an alternate city motto of “New York City: We can kick your city’s ass.” Second choice was “New York City: The bus fumes are free.”
#4 – clockwork oranjaboom,
Sorry, I just noticed your comment about Giuliani having cleaned up the city. Depends what you mean by that. If you mean reduction of crime, you should read Freakonomics. It’s an excellent and quick read. It puts forth a very different explanation (and backs it with some really good hard data) of what broke the crime wave that was sweeping our nation in the late 80s to early 90s. Interestingly, the drop started quite a bit before Giuliani took any action and continued after Giuliani fired the guy allegedly responsible for the drop.
#23 – Parades are scheduled in advance and are a different animal.
As for the rest – yet another reason I care not for cities.
#24 – That’s the difference.
Urbanites are interested in things, and stuck in the sticks Unibomber wanna-be curmudgeons are not. 🙂
Here’s hoping all your days are identical days…
#25 – OhForTheLoveOf,
ROFL!!!
#24 – TheGlobalWarmer,
Protests of any significant size are scheduled in advance here too. That’s how Giuliani was able to deny permission. They asked first. Had they just driven slowly across the bridge, things might have worked out differently. Perhaps no one would have done anything. Perhaps they would all have been arrested by cops yelling “It’s Giuliani Time!!” Who knows?
#25 – If all days are like yesterday: 90′, light breeze, blue (like you get away from cities 😉 ) skies – I’m all for identical…
#26 – They’re going to bus protesters in for the Republican convention here next year – it’ll be entertaining — from a distance.
“As for the rest – yet another reason I care not for cities. ”
Well Warmer we definitely agree on that, now lets go beat up on OFTLO.
#5 He didn’t deny the Taxi drivers the right to protest he denied them the right to break the law.
#28 Well Warmer we definitely agree on that, now lets go beat up on OFTLO.
Good luck… I’m from Chicago, bitches… Your candy ass country brawling skills just ain’t no match for a kid from the street 🙂