Posted on 04/07/2007 5:25:14 AM PDT by mmanager
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Rudolph Giuliani launched into a California campaign speech recently with an opening line the crowd surely didn't expect -- his husky-voiced impersonation of Don Corleone in "The Godfather." "Thank youse all very much for invitin' me here tuh-day, to this meeting of the families from different parts'a California," Giuliani said, recycling his old New York gag to laughter and scattered applause. Then this week, Giuliani used the reference again, invoking the mob's code of honor to explain why reporters should lay off his wife. "I am a candidate. She's a civilian, to use the old Mafia distinction," he said. Other Italian-American politicians have shunned references to organized crime, fearful of being tarred unfairly by anti-Italian stereotyping. Not Giuliani, who has in the past embraced such talk to remind voters he helped bust up the New York mob as a federal prosecutor. Plus, he's an unabashed "Godfather" fan. But some political analysts are puzzled why a man seeking to become the first Italian-American president would dabble so blithely with the darkest stereotypes of his heritage, especially before voters really get to know him. And a leader in the nation's largest Italian-American organization said Thursday that Giuliani should drop his Corleone impersonations because they are insensitive to Italian-Americans trying to dispel the linkages between being Italian and being in the mob. "It's unfortunate for him to make light of a stereotype that creates a lot of discomfort for millions of other Italian-Americans," said Dona De Sanctis of the Order Sons of Italy in America. "We would hope that Mr. Giuliani would try to find humor in other aspects of his candidacy rather than his Italian heritage that way. "We don't think it's funny," she said of such jokes...........
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Bernie Kerik should have been at his side.
I’m sure there are more Bernie’s that we haven’t heard of YET.
Rudy’s Freeper defenders are usually quick to point out any hint of Italian stereotyping. Where are they now? (Silence)
“Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik’s relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik’s appointment as New York City police commissioner, according to court records.”
It wasn’t even funny. It’s not horrible, just unamusing.
I’m not a Rudy supporter, but I think that’s pretty funny. I admire him for not being too wimpy to make a joke.
The problem with this charm is that it masks the rest of the crap he stands for. I have heard many people say similar things about RudyAnnie and when asked what he stands for they have no clue.
I know what he stands for, and I will support any and every rival in the primaries. (Next year ...)
However, I think it’s only fair to acknowledge a quality I admire.
One thing Rudy does have in abundance, a sense of humour.
I was not implying that you didn’t know where he stood on issues, I’m speaking of the average joe citizen at the water cooler.
Yes, it seems that many people will vote for a candidate without much thought.
Rumor has it, that Mario Cuomo dropped out off contention for the nomination a few years back, because of concern that he had Mafia connections.
In that respect, it’s refreshing that Rudy has taken to self effacing humor to dissuade any fears of such influences. Rudy was front-and-center on fighting organized crime, so on that basis, I see no slur.
IF, Rudy begins to take the lead, watch for Hillary to ‘discover’ her Italian ancestry...
As most everyone knows, there are different “families” in the Mafia. Many Italians don’t think this was funny at all, and some have even suggested that Rudy’s fight against organized crime was a prejudiced one, in some cases.
“One thing Rudy does have in abundance, a sense of humour.”
Rudy has family connections there as well as political ones (ask Kerik).
With the Republican primaries Rudy has the best sense of humor followed by Romney. For McCain, Thompson, & Hunter and the rest, forget it. And in the 2008 general election (Rudy vs Clinton) no contest.
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