I've always thought that Giuliani has gotten a free pass from the media simply because he seemed calm and statesmanlike on that awful day. Granted, he was indeed good on TV, but so was Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing. That much is just image.
When it comes to substance, Rudy really fell down. A lot of people have heard how the firefighters and police couldn't communicate with each other, a problem that had been known at the start of Giuliani's mayoralty but that he hadn't fixed in eight years. Nor is it pure hindsight to say that he shouldn't have located the city's emergency command center at the WTC -- at the time he did it, plenty of people pointed out that the WTC, having been attacked once, had to be considered a prime terrorist target.
Judging from the article, this book develops those examples and adds quite a few others.
The WoT looms so large that many people may be willing to overlook Giuliani's obvious weaknesses on other issues. There seems to be a school of thought that says he's a great candidate because he happened to be Mayor of New York on 9/11, so he must know all about this key issue. I hope those people will look into his record a little more deeply.
As the author of the article says, "You can bet national political reporters will be combing though these chapters as the 2008 presidential campaign season revs up."
I'm sure the author is greatly saddened by that. By the way, just how much did the 'non ideological' author contribute to Hitlery over the years? Enquiring minds want to know...
"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?"
Bravado...PR...other than a lust for power and desire to control, of what other use is ANY polititian?!
No polititian is to be trusted.
Congressman Billybob
Latest article: "Bad Judges Make Bad Law."
Please see my most recent statement on running for Congress, here.
I don't trust one (1) word Ellis Henican writes or speaks.
Congressman Billybob is right. Hennican is a liar and shilll for the Rats. I am not certain that Rudyy is the best candidate, but this article comes pretty close to blaming him for deaths at the WTC, which I find despicable.
I fear that Giuliani's private life will not be front and center in the primaries and if he wins the nomination it will be all we hear from then till the election. Giuliani as nominee would smooth Mrs. Clinton's path immensely because there is a tremendous lot of Republicans who will not vote for Giuliani because of that private life and Mrs. Clinton does not have to worry about such things. Her voters consider sexual scandal to be a badge of honor.
The dims are threatened to death by Rudy. This will be the first of many attempts to diminish his star power.
So you make your point by posting an Ellis Henican column... pure genius.
Sadly, of the four leading GOP contenders for the White House, we have: a gaffe-prone Mormon from Massachusetts who rides the laurels of his family name (Mitt Romney); a certifiable kook who’ll sell his soul for positive coverage from the Washington Post (McCain); a(nother!) gaffe-prone intellectual featherweight whose main claim to fame is a famous dad names George (George Allen); and a press-hungry dictatorial prosecutor who’s never even held statewide office (Rudy). While I still have my doubts about whether Giuliani will run . . . this field stinck.
Oh, brother. The leftists just can't stand that people have heroes and look up to certain people.
It would have been much better if Rudy had acted like Nagin and gone into hiding when the hurricane hit New Orleans or worried about what he was going to wear on television like LA's governor Blanco. /sarcasm
I'm sure the writer understands that without purchasing hugely expensive satellite phones, there wasn't (and maybe still isn't) a phone in existence that doesn't have coverage issues.
Regardless, I think Rudy is a hero; the way he comported himself in the days after 9/11 will be always fresh in my mind and I personally don't know anyone who doesn't look up to him.
I never thought he was a hero. An opportunist who made personal hay out af a tragedy maybe, but never a hero.
Rudi is a threat to the Dems...so of course they wish to tear him down. I'd take him over McCain any day. Rudi was a wonderful Mayor. He is a take charge guy. He drover hookers and druggies out of Times Square returning it to the people. He was tough on crime and cleaned up New York. I do not share his views on social issues, but he is a much closer to my beliefs than any Dem.
Based on Dem hitman Ellis Hennican and a smear book? LOL!
All this indicates is that the Dems fear a Giuliani candidacy.
Looks like the 'rats are scared.
--yeah--blaming it on Rush Limbaugh?---(sarc)
>Ellis Henican
No need to read any further.
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?
All Giuliani proved on 9/11 is that he can stick with an emergency operations/disaster recovery plan already written for him and that he's a master of PR. Sure, he could have done what the Mayor of New Orleans did in the face of disaster and toss the written and practiced plans. He didn't. I'll give him that. But that's not much. Most of the decisions were already made for him, had been simulated and practiced, and were written down in a detailed plan.