What's the difference between this man and a dim? Gun grabbing,anti second amendment...... Bah!
Posted on 03/07/2007 1:00:20 PM PST by garv
Forget about whether Rudy Giuliani is too moderate to win over the conservatives who dominate the nomination process in the Republican Party. The real story is whether the opera buff's nascent presidential bid will be crushed under the weight of the Pucciniesque life of the 107th mayor of New York.
We all know about the first wife who was his second cousin, the second wife who found out she was being divorced while watching television and the third wife who was barred by court order from the mayor's residence or from meeting Giuliani's children, Andrew and Caroline, there before the divorce was final.
Now come the public comments from Andrew that he won't be stumping for pops in Iowa, New Hampshire or anywhere else. Not only did he say "I have problems with my father," but he also added, "There's obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife."
If past is prologue, the younger Giuliani's phone must have crackled with Rudy rage once his comments came to light. See, when Giuliani was mayor, he brooked no criticism - no matter how minor, no matter how constructive. Having been on the receiving end of one of Giuliani's withering verbal assaults, I know of what I speak.
The phone rang around 9 a.m. on Jan. 7, 1999. It was Giuliani's personal assistant, Beth Patrone. "Please hold for the mayor." He had never called me before. His skin-peeling tirades against reporters, politicians, community leaders, perceived enemies and those deemed too weak to fight City Hall were legendary. Now it was my turn.
Giuliani was spitting fire over my column in that morning's New York Daily News, in which I likened his second term to the sitcom "Seinfeld." The thesis was summed up in the first paragraph: "The show has been reincarnated as Mayor Giuliani's second term, which has turned into a term about nothing."
"Jonathan," he said.
"Good morning, Mr. Mayor," I said, "How ..."
For the next 10 minutes, Giuliani ripped me apart, calling my column "intellectually dishonest," among other things. He hung up when he couldn't find a favorable editorial that I'd written on his State of the City speech the previous year. But he called back, spouting off the headline and launching into another 10-minute monologue.
I tell this story because it points to other aspects of hizzoner's personality that were more troublesome.
Giuliani could be vindictive. He had no qualms about using government to settle a score. When the City Council overrode his veto of a bill to change the operations of homeless shelters in December 1998, Giuliani sought to evict five community service programs, including one that served 500 mentally ill people, in the district of the bill's chief sponsor, and to replace them with a homeless shelter.
What's more, he released a list of sites for other shelters that would be housed in the districts of council members who voted in favor of the override. (He backed down two months later, after much public outrage.)
Rather than take the high road earlier that year, Giuliani erupted when the Rev. Calvin O. Butts, a prominent Harlem minister who had endorsed Giuliani for reelection, said, "I don't believe he likes black people." In fact, Giuliani put a lockdown on city funding for projects affiliated with the politically connected cleric.
But it was his reaction to racially charged incidents involving the police that highlighted Giuliani's other affliction: tone-deafness.
Amadou Diallo was reaching for his wallet when undercover police officers gunned him down in a hail of 41 bullets in the vestibule of his apartment building in 1999. New Yorkers of all colors and political stripes trouped to police headquarters to be arrested in protest of not only the officers' actions but also of Giuliani's inability to grasp why everyone was appalled by what happened.
The visionary mayor who brought law and order to the ungovernable city and who became the face of a bloodied but unbowed nation on Sept. 11, 2001, was a difficult mayor. Many wonder whether the trauma of that day has mellowed Giuliani. We'll soon know. There's nothing like the stress of a presidential campaign to find out for sure.
Jonathan Capehart is a member of the Washington Post's editorial page staff.
There's nothing sacred about the press. When a lying scum of a reporter writes a lying propaganda hit piece on you, hit him back. Otherwise you'll soon find yourself backed into a corner being hit by every reporter from every direction.
Just ask President Bush. It's not even a matter of defending yourself. It's defending your city or your country, which you were elected to work for. It's an unpleasant but necessary part of the job.
Damn straight...
I for one want a SOB in the White House.
I want an ass kicker.
I want a man who says - me - I made the call - I said do it.
I want someone who says "you are wrong"
I want an ass kicker - plain and simple.
America first - everyone else - love us or kiss our butt.
He's an A$$ kicker! That's what I like about him!
I love this....
(Taking over in the NYC US Attorney's office.)
Rudy Giuliani: My name is Rudolph Giuliani. I've wanted this job for a long time. To me, there is no greater prize than US Prosecutor for the Southern District of New York City. This office should be the crown jewel of the United States Justice Department... but it is not. And why? Because you have gotten fat. You are lazy prima donnas, spending 2 and 3 years on cases you are never gonna make. If there's anyone in this room who thinks otherwise, please speak up. Good. Now that we agree on that, let's talk about what we are going to do about it.
[Giuliani begins to circle the room as he speaks.]
Rudy Giuliani: We, gentlemen... are about to unleash the dogs of war. War. War against drug dealers, war against the Mafia - and yes, Mr. Hoover, there is a Mafia - against corrupt politicians and stockbrokers...
[Giuliani comes up behind one of the officials who is obviously asleep.]
Rudy Giuliani: Against crooked judges... and bent cops. How, you may wonder, do we end corruption... BY SCARING THE LIVING SHIT out of the criminal! And their families, if we have to.
[The sleeping man bolts upright in his chair; Giuliani addresses him directly]
Rudy Giuliani: Get up. Get up, and get out. You want to sleep on my time, do it at the Motel 6. Don't speak, get out.
[The man leaves; Giuliani resumes addressing the entire room]
Rudy Giuliani: It's not astrophysics. It's called The Law. And the law is about to become a stark, concrete reality for those who would break it. This is New York City. I love this city! This is the greatest city in the world, and I am going to make it safe for people to live in again, so help me God, and each and every one of you is going to help me. Because, gentlemen, this is not merely our job, it is our privilege. I will see you on the barricades.
There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader.
Rudy Giuliani
No one was better at telling off the press, especially the liberal press in NY. Would love to see an exchange between him and Helen Thomas.. that would be a sight to behold... ;)
>>>>Giuliani ripped me apart, calling my column "intellectually dishonest," among other things.
What is his FR Nic?
Hey! That sounds familiar!
265 posted on 03/06/2007 11:10:44 PM EST by nopardons
My guess is that you meant Clinton, but actually, the first name that jumped into my head was LBJ.
WOW!
Currently the Rudy shills around here are feeling rather saucy and their boy is at his high watermark. It won't last. Wait a few months until the campaign really gets underway and Giuliani is in states with powerful conservative grass roots organizations, like New Hampshire. The pro-life and gun groups will torture him, but good. The Union Leader, assuming its editorial board doesn't completely lose its collective mind, will be beating Giuliani daily like a pinata. I'm a patient man, and waiting for that will definitely be worth it.
Rudy or the opinion piece? Or both?
"they prefer republicans who roll over"
No, the media really prefers Dems.
Rudy took on the NY Times early in his career, and they have waged a vendetta against him ever since.
N.Y.C. would NEVER have been saved by a "nicer" politico.
What's the difference between this man and a dim? Gun grabbing,anti second amendment...... Bah!
Yup, he's a gun grabber. End of story.
I with all that Miss Didi.
I am so sick of Bush being called names - only to hear him be "Mr. Friggin Nice Guy".
The hell with that. Two years left - engage these idiots head on.
If they (whom ever) throw a stone - we throw a knife.
If they throw a knife - we throw a bomb.
I'm like you - I'm jacked up.
Time to play by liberal rules - i.e. NONE
I want to make this very firm statement as a supporter of Rudy Giuliani for President and of the Free Republic forum itself as a great American institution.
It must be made very clear that, while I know Jim Robinson does not support Rudy, I do not believe this is a forum dedicated to a specific candidate. I am not even sure who Jim supports, although of course I know it's not Rudy :-).
I do not believe we should even talk about trying to pull Jim's tax exempt status. If you consider all the good, hard work Jim and friends have done on behalf of conservatives, including many whose opinions he often disagrees with, I simply believe such an idea is beyond the pale.
As a responsible person and a long-time friend of this forum, I feel free to counter some of JimRob's opinions but not without respect for him and Free Republic.
Please, let us support Jim and Free Republic. I do not believe this forum is, or ever has been, dedicated to any single specific candidate.
D
Yes. The important thing is to have a tough president who is with us much of the time and won't actively pursue a liberal agenda on the issues where he disagrees with us. Rudy seems to fit that description, though I'm still open to Romney. What we've had in W. is a president who is right on all but a couple of our issues, but neither understands nor fights the Democrats. Give me a fighter any day.
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