Posted on 08/24/2006 3:03:32 AM PDT by Eagle Forgotten
It's the unexamined question of 9/11: What if Rudy Giuliani wasn't quite the hero everybody thought?
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But what if Rudy's take-charge image was mostly a load of bravado and PR? What if the actual decisions he made - before, during and after the terror attacks - were directly responsible for the city's inability to deal effectively with crucial aspects of the crisis?
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With dozens of exclusive and previously unreleased interviews, Barrett and Collins show how the ambitious ex-mayor has spent recent years revising his own truth of 9/11 - and profiting handsomely from it. Casting himself as a prescient terror hawk who wisely prepared his city for the inevitable, Giuliani in fact ignored repeated warnings from the experts, including his own commissioners and aides.
Instead of confronting the looming danger, they tell how he grew increasingly distracted by pet projects, political turf wars and an extraordinarily messy personal life.
(Excerpt) Read more at amny.com ...
Oh, and remember when he endorsed Mario Cuomo? Hmmmmm, not exactly a "GOP mindset" there, eh?
He reminds me of Bush on spending and immigration, too.
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Did you live in NYC before Rudy? Have you lived there since Rudy?
If taking a semi-burned out, nearly broke, racially torn, city of 8,000,000 that had been abandoned by the middle class and the corporations that support it, where it was truly unsafe to ride the subway or walk the streets, where hotel rooms were laying vacant in peak periods alongside real estate values at lows and turning it into the shining city on the hill where the reality of today is at the extreme opposite of what I just described was just a trick then I'd like to hear what qualifies in your world as a complex, extremely difficult job well done.
I lived in New York City throughout the Giuliani mayoralty, so I'm more interested in stuff about him than about other prospective candidates. Also, I'm more interested in articles supporting my view that Giuliani is overrated. Calling this "quite a coincidence" is unnecessarily snarky. Most people tend to see more merit in articles that mirror their opinions. Human nature, doncha think? I've never pretended to be a Rudy enthusiast.
If it will make you feel better, though, I'll say something pro-Rudy: I agree with AmericaUnited that "Former Giuliani Aide Found Strangled" is a pretty stupid headline. This sad event has nothing to do with Giuliani, but the media will of course play it up. They'll find Giuliani's "tie" to this murder a more compelling story than, say, doing the difficult work of analyzing the pros and cons of his handling of 9/11, a task that might require some actual research and intelligence and so forth.
Isn't it interesting how suddenly we have to hear about how Guiliani is really a phoney, right before the caucuses and primaries start? My spidey-senses detect an organized strategy.
My spidey-senses detect two authors and a publisher who judge that there's a bigger market for a book about a likely presidential candidate than there is for a book about, say, Governor Keating of Oklahoma. Also, it isn't exactly "right before the caucuses and primaries start" -- on my calendar, they're still more than a year away. If I were an author whose primary motivation was to hurt Giuliani's campaign, I would've sought to delay the release of this book somewhat, at least until after the midterm elections.
>Ellis Henican
No need to read any further.
The best I can do on a quick search is to refer you to a page on the firefighters' union's website: Uniformed Firefighters Association. It collects some relevant news stories. Giuliani supporters and critics can all find some ammo there. The gist of the criticism is that the 1993 WTC attack revealed problems in aspects of the City's emergency response, including the communication issue; that the Giuliani Administration decided to address that issue by equipping the FDNY with new radios; that the Giuliani Administration then botched the job by inadequate attention to detail and/or succumbing to political favoritism. What I think is undisputed is that the new radios were put into service, proved to be a total disaster, and were withdrawn. On September 11, the systems that had caused problems in 1993 were still in use. Giuliani was Mayor for almost all the intervening eight years, so he's got to take at least some of the blame.
I'm sure there's additional relevant information (again, probably some for each side) in the 9/11 Commission report. Maybe someone else can dig it out. Right now I have to abandon FR for RL. My thanks to all for an interesting discussion.
The quotes below have appeared before on FR, but they are worth repeating:
--The New York State Liberal Party on its endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for Mayor: "When the Liberal Party Policy Committee reviewed a list of key social issues of deep concern to progressive New Yorkers, we found that Rudy Giuliani agreed with the Liberal Party's stance on a majority of such issues. He agreed with the Liberal Party's views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits. As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani would uphold the Constitutional and legal rights to abortion." N.Y.S. Liberal Party Endorsement Statement of Candidate Giuliani for Mayor of New York City April 8, 1989
--On the Republican Party: "Mr. Rockefeller represented 'a tradition in the Republican Party' I've worked hard to re-kindle - the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition." Rudy Giuliani told the New York Times July 9, 1992
--Village Voice Interview with Guiliani: He was asked: "What kind of Republican Is [Giuliani]? A Reagan Republican?" Giuliani pauses before answering: "I'm a Republican." Village Voice January 24, 1989
--On Attending 1996 Republican Convention: Rudy expressed his pleasure when he wasn't invited to the Republican National Convention in San Diego. "If I take three or four days off from city business, I want to do it for a substantive purpose. It didn't seem to me any substantive purpose could be served by going to the Republican convention." said Rudy. Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Page 459, by Wayne Barrett.
--On Barry Goldwater: Giuliani described John Kennedy as "great and brilliant. Barry Goldwater as an "incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man." New York Daily News, May 13, 1997.
--On President Bill Clinton: Shortly before his last-minute endorsement of Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential election, Giuliani told the Post's Jack Newfield that "most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.
--The Daily News quoted Giuliani as saying March 1996: "Whether you talk about President Clinon, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group." An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.
--Revealing at one point that he was "open" to the idea of endorsing Clinton, Rudy said: "When I ran for mayor both times, '89 and '93, I promised people that I would be, if not bipartisan, at least open to the possibility of supporting Democrats." Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett, Page 459.
---Rudy Giuliani Endorses Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo October 1994: "From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, ˜Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?' Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo." Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City book by Andrew Kirtzman, Page 133.
--Reaction to Giuliani Endorsement of Cuomo: "Once again, Rudolph Giuliani has demonstrated that liberalism is the foundation of his political philosophy. While Giuliani sold a bill of goods to trusting Republicans and Reagan Democrats that he had abandoned his roots as a McGovern Democrat, in his endorsement of Mario Cuomo, Mr. Liberal himself, he has shown his true colors. Giuliani's argument that Cuomo will be better for the city has a hollow ring to it. Perhaps Rudy wants a governor who will sign over a blank check to constantly bail out the city from its fiscal problems. Giuliani knows, as do all New Yorkers, that Cuomo's liberal policies have been an economic disaster for our city and state." "But Rudy doesn't care. He has proven he will do anything to stop the election of a conservative Republican - but he won't succeed." Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S. Conservative Party Press Statement, October 25, 1994.
--"[Quite] frankly, you have to understand the fact that Rudy Giuliani was a McGovern Democrat, he was endorsed by the Liberal Party when he ran for Mayor. In his heart, he's a Democrat. He's paraded all over this country with Bill Clinton and, in fact, he's very comfortable with Mario Cuomo. But what Rudy Giuliani wants is to be bailed out in the city, in the mess he's in, and everybody understands very clearly in politics that they struck a deal, that Mario's going to continue to be the big spender, save Rudy the options of raising taxes by pouring money statewide into the City of New York and bailing it out. Quite frankly, I predict that he will join the Democratic Party." Interview with Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S. Conservative Party, CNN Crossfire, October 25, 1994.
--On Gay Domestic-Partner Rights: "National Republicans can lump it if they don't like his new domestic-partners bill, "Mayor Giuliani said yesterday. "I really haven't thought about what the impact is on Republican politics or national politics or Democratic politics," Giuliani said. The bill he submitted to the City Council would extend the benefits city agencies must grant to gay and lesbian couples. "I'm proud of it," Giuliani said of the bill. "I think it puts New York City ahead of other places in the country." New York Daily News, May 13, 1998.
--On Gay-Rights/Gay Rights Bill: Giuliani favors extended civil-rights protection for gays and lesbians. Giuliani urged, by letter, to the New York Senate Majority Leader to pass the state's first ever gay rights bill, but did it privately. "I am writing to convey my support for the current legislation to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians, and to urge you to allow the bill onto the floor of the Senate for prompt action." ".......It is my belief that we can penalize discrimination [against gays] without creating any potentially objectionable special privileges or preferential treatment." New York Post, June 5, 1993.
--Now Rudy Giuliani has jumped on the bandwagon, pressing the state Republican Party to release a gay-rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Marching in Sunday's [Gay Pride] parade, he has enlisted in the struggle to destroy the family. What a perfectly abominable springboard to seek high political office. Ray Kerrison New York Post, June 30, 1993.
--Giuliani said homosexuality is "good and normal." quoting Ray Kerrison New York Post, July 7, 1989.
--On Gay Domestic Partnership: "I have no objection to the concept of domestic partnership," said Rudy Giuliani on Informed Sources New York T.V. Show (PBS), May, 1992.
--On Abortion: Leaflets distributed by the Giuliani campaign .... said that he opposes restrictions to Federal Medicaid financing for abortions and opposes the Hyde Amendment, which is intended to deny support for that financing. New York Times, June 18, 1993.
--Rudy Guiliani on abortion: "I'd give my daughter the money for it [an abortion]."
--"I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade." Rudy Giuliani, New York Newsday, September 1, 1989.
--As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a woman's right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal. New York Times, August 4, 1989.
--On Partial Birth Abortion: Mr. Giuliani has said that New York State law should not be changed to outlaw the procedure. New York Times, January 7, 1998.
--On School Choice: "He doesn't support tuition tax credits and vouchers." Sandra Feldman, President of N.Y.C. Teacher's Union, 1993.
--On Taxes: [Giuliani] says ruling out a tax increase is "political pandering." Newsday, August 31, 1989.
--On Rudy's 2008 candidacy: "That dream of Rudy Giuliani as the man of 2008 was a fantasy created in New York City, and not something that is an accepted reality to anyone who knows the national Republican Party or even Washington Republicans," said the former White House official. "That’s the joke of this." Ben Smith, page 17 The New York Observer 12/20/2004 edition.
Ok, what about Peach's list in #59. That's not insignificant.
btw...rather snide of you to suggest that I idolize Rudy.
Note that I said "conservative" politics. Giuliani has nothing to do with conservative politics. It's no secret that such candidates have an uphill climb in the NE, but is that a reason to quit?
I did. Increasing funding . . . wow. Just like John Lindsay. That ALWAYS works, right?
So, you deny that Giuliani has a self-absorbed nature?
Rudy provided outstanding crisis management and leadership from the minute the terrorists attacked us.
If we are going to assign blame for doing nothing against terrorism, how about a book about Clintoon?
As for idolatry, your unwillingness to evaluate his entire record forces me to draw that conclusion.
As I always say on these anti-Rudy threads (and Wayne Barrett has made an entire career of trying to wreck his reputation), as a single woman living for over 22 years in NYC, Rudy made it safe to walk the streets late at night, take a clean, safe, air-conditioned subway and not be harrassed by squeegees and crack addicts who absolutely littered the city. What an era! Thank you, Rudy!
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Ah, another freeping mind-reader. Try this one...how many fingers am I holding up?
Henican does more than "lean left," and I haven't witnessed any of that cynicism toward any politician with a D behind his name.
Henican is a liar.
Yeah, Ellis Henican, The Village Voice, and CBS. LOL. I wouldn't be looking for any facts coming from any of that trio.
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