Grumbling in Giuliani camp follows revelation of wife's second previous marriage

Charleston Daily ^ | 3/24/07 | staff

[pissant]

Rudolph Giuliani's wife, Judith, will ``continue to play an important role'' in his presidential campaign, his spokesman said -- despite grumbling from within the ex-mayor's circle that her involvement is creating tensions in the organization. Friday's statement of solidarity came from campaign spokesman Michael McKeon one day after Giuliani's third spouse confirmed publicly that she has been divorced twice, not once, as widely reported when they wed. She was married to a man named Jeffrey Ross, now of Florida, from 1974 to 1979.

``She's going to continue to play an important role in the campaign, traveling with her husband, introducing him at various events, and at the appropriate time, doing her own travel -- and helping people see Rudy Giuliani as the man that he is,'' McKeon said.

In private statements, some Giuliani loyalists said she directly intervenes with senior staff -- who have been with him for many years -- on matters from scheduling to event planning and use of personnel, sometimes in ways that the staffers might wish to resist but dare not.

``She's, uh, feisty, as they say,'' said a supporter, a one-time aide. ``She will be the most media-covered first lady of them all -- you can be sure of it. This is going to be one big opera. The staff people go a little nuts. They can't say anything.''

When asked of any tensions caused by her role, McKeon said: ``She is a positive force for Rudy, a very strong supporter for Rudy, and nothing but an asset to him and the campaign.''

Staffers for Barbara Walters were preparing Friday to interview the couple next week for an installment of the TV show ``20/20.''

Some in the Giuliani camp said her role is typical for a politician's spouse.

But she has been drawing exceptional notice on several fronts. Another supporter of his presidential run was critical of her introduction for him at a recent Manhattan fundraiser. She spoke of being able to ``pick up the phone as Judith Giuliani,'' for example, to obtain high-level help for out-of-town volunteers after the Sept.11 disaster, and of how they, as a couple, became a ``successful team.''

[Peach]

I should have added, one of the reasons I'm questioning this is, there are dozens of newspaper articles (heck, probably 100's) that state that Joe Wilson said the VP's office sent him to Niger.

The only problem is -- no one has ever been able to produce a link to an actual quote of Wilson saying this. Did he maybe imply it? I guess so. But he never said that Cheney sent him to Niger.

So when I read links that say "staffers are still upset that Rudy called Meese a sleeze", I am a little concerned that I'm not seeing an actual statement by Rudy anywhere in those two links you provided.

Are reporters falling for another urban legend? They've been known to do that on more than one occasion.

And, btw, Rudy was the #3 man in Reagan's Department of Justice and was privy to information we won't ever see. Meese was the subject of two special prosecutor's investigations. He was never found guilty of anything and I think he was a fine man, but there may have been something that Rudy saw in his capacity at DOJ that we've never seen.

[garv]

You may be right. I can't find a direct quote so it may be an anecdotal thing. I chose those two links because it was Mark Levin (who was Meese's Chief of Staff) and Kate O'Beirne.

As for what Giuliani may have seen, based on Meese's reputation in conservative circles I will not even entertain the speculation. He is a conservative giant and as Ronald Reagan said, “If Ed Meese is not a good man, there are no good men.”

[wolfcreek]

"Also, if we don't have strong national security, nothing else like abortion or other social issues will matter one bit because we'll be living like the Israeli's and dodging car bombs and no one will be thinking about the morality of abortion."


Or like living in NYC with airplanes flying into buildings or truckbombs?


Rudy's town!



He has NO track record to qualify as the Repub nominee. He can say what he wants but, INFORMED VOTERS will see right through it.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

My question is, how do you get past his pro-choice stance?

Harrumph! You're supposed to ignore his pro-baby killing stance. Do you really want Hillary to win, who'll kill twice as many babies as Rudy? < /Rudybot answer >

[Peach]

He can say what he wants but, INFORMED VOTERS will see right through it.

Sure. That's why he's been polling as the number one candidate in the nation since before he even announced.

Indeed, in one recent poll, majorities of Republicans who were informed of Giuliani’s views on social issues said that they were either minor issues or no issues at all; only 16% said that they wouldn't vote for him after being informed of these views.

In the online GOP Bloggers poll, Giuliani is consistently one of the few candidates to end up with a net positive acceptability rating. These internet denizens are well-informed, and overwhelmingly self-describe as conservative (78% self-describe as 7 or higher on a 10-scale of conservatism). If these people can support Rudy, anyone can.

Human Events, Is Giuliani the Republican Peyton Manning, 2/6/07

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1780060/posts

[dforest]

I think it is a shame and quite telling when fans have to spend 24 hours a day trying to defend a candidates past.

We need to be able to find a candidate that can focus on the future that doesn't have such a notorious past.

[trisham]

A local tv station did a piece on him. Apparently, they were quite impressed that he mowed his own lawn using an old, decrepit lawn mower he kept alive by constant tinkering. He actually seemed rather serene, but that may have been in contrast to Kitty, who was addicted to uppers.

[trisham]

but that may have been in contrast to Kitty, who was allegedly addicted to uppers

[narses]

Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani, 107th Mayor

Opening Remarks to the N.A.R.A.L. "Champions of Choice" Lunch

The Yale Club, Thursday, April 5th, 2001

As Delivered

---

Thank you very much for inviting me to say a few words of welcome. This event shows that people of different political parties and different political thinking can unite in support of choice. In doing so, we are upholding a distinguished tradition that began in our city starting with the work of Margaret Sanger and the movement for reproductive freedom that began in the early decades of the 20th century.

As a Republican who supports a woman's right to choose, it is particularly an honor to be here. And I would like to explain, just for one moment, why I believe being in favor of choice is consistent with the philosophy of the Republican Party. In fact, it might be more consistent with the philosophy of the Republican Party. Because the Republican Party stands for the idea that you have to restore more freedom of choice, more opportunity, more opportunity for people to make their own choices rather than the government dictating those choices. Republicans stand for lower taxation because we believe that people can make better choices with their money than the government will make for them, and that ultimately frees the economy and produces more political freedom. We believe that, yes, government is important, but that the private sector is actually more important in solving our problems.

So it is consistent with that philosophy to believe that in the most personal and difficult choices that a woman has to make with regard to a pregnancy, those choices should be made based on that person's conscience and that person's way of thinking and feeling. The government shouldn't dictate that choice by making it a crime or making it illegal.

I think that's actually a much more consistent position. Many Republicans support that position, but you don't hear that as often. For example, in a recent poll by American Viewpoint, 65 percent of Republicans supported changing the plank in the Republican platform that calls for a constitutional ban on abortion. That's 6.5 out of every 10 Republicans. And over 80 percent of Republicans believe that the decision with regard to an abortion should be made by a woman, her doctor, and her family rather than dictated by the government.

[Applause]

In any case, I just wanted you to know that many of my fellow Republicans stand with you on this issue. So I thank you, I thank NARAL for taking the lead in establishing freedom of choice for all of us, and as the Mayor of New York City, I thank you for being here in New York City.

# # #
http://www.nyc.gov/html/rwg/html/2001b/champlunch.html

[narses]

• Disdain for the Constitution
  Mayor Giuliani routinely disregarded the First Amendment as he rejected requests for information from news organizations and civic groups and opposed public access to city hall steps and parks for demonstrations. "Freedom is about authority," Giuliani said, responding to critics in 1998. "Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it."

• Withholding Public Information
  In a legally questionable transaction on December 24, 2001, just days before the end of the mayor's second term, Giuliani secretly moved all 2,100 boxes of mayoral files and videos from his eight years in office. The records, which by law were to become the property of the Municipal archives, were transferred to a gated private storage facility, and their control was transferred to the Rudolph W. Giuliani Center for Urban Affairs, a newly-established private nonprofit group controlled by Giuliani.

  Angry archivists and historians denounced the unprecedented hijacking of public property to private hands. Tom Connors, of the Society of American Archivists, said the transfer seemed part of a movement to "create barriers to the American citizen's right to know what their governments are doing."

• Profiting From His Hero Status
  In February, 2002, Giuliani insisted upon transferring guardianship of the $100 million remaining in the city-run Twin Towers Fund to a private charity he controlled.

  The families of the police and fire rescuers who died in the attack balked at Giuliani's plan to take up to a year to dole out the money, with his new organization billing $2.2 million in anticipated administrative expenses (including six-figure salaries for friends he appointed as officers). The families argued that the fire union had far more quickly distributed $111 million with an estimated administrative cost of just $30,000.

  Under embarrassing pressure from the victims' families, unions and state Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, Giuliani backed down. He promised to distribute the money within 60 days and fund his overhead from new donations. The families of the deceased rescuers, the real heroes of the September 11 attacks, received a one-time benefit of about $230,000 each from the Giuliani-privatized fund in 2002. That year, the former mayor earned some $8 million in speaking fees alone, more than $650,000 per month.

• Heather MacDonald, City Journal, January 14, 2004 (FrontPageMag.com)
  Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani sued all the way up to the Supreme Court to defend the city’s sanctuary policy against a 1996 federal law decreeing that cities could not prohibit their employees from cooperating with the INS. Oh yeah? said Giuliani; just watch me. The INS, he claimed, with what turned out to be grotesque irony, only aims to “terrorize people.” Though he lost in court, he remained defiant to the end. On September 5, 2001, his handpicked charter-revision committee ruled that New York could still require that its employees keep immigration information confidential to preserve trust between immigrants and government. Six days later, several visa-overstayers participated in the most devastating attack on the city and the country in history.

  New York conveniently forgot the 1996 federal ban on sanctuary laws until a gang of five Mexicans—four of them illegal—abducted and brutally raped a 42-year-old mother of two near some railroad tracks in Queens. The NYPD had already arrested three of the illegal aliens numerous times for such crimes as assault, attempted robbery, criminal trespass, illegal gun possession, and drug offenses. The department had never notified the INS.

  On the issues: Liberal Party endorsement of Giuliani

  National Review: Rockefeller quote

  New York Observer: Reagan Republican quote

  New York Observer: Republican convention quote

  New York Observer: Goldwater quote

  New York Observer: Clinton quote

  New York Observer: 'Good hands' quote

[narses]

See post 89 - you cannot get past that issue.

Giuliani/Clinton/Dem vs. GOP Platform Comparison
Issue	Giuliani	Clinton	Dem Platform	GOP Platform
Abortion on Demand	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Partial Birth Abortion	Supports Opposed NY ban	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Roe v. Wade	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Taxpayer Funded Abortions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Embryonic Stem Cell Research	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Federal Marriage Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Defined at state level	Supports
Gay Domestic Partnership/ Civil Unions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Openly Gay Military	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Defense of Marriage Act	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Special Path to Citizenship for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Tough Penalties for Employers of Illegal Aliens	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Sanctuary Cities/ Ignoring Immigration Law	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Protecting 2nd Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Supports bans	Supports
Confiscating Guns	Supports Confiscated as mayor. Even bragged.	Supports	Supports Supports bans	Opposes
'Assault' Weapons Ban	Supports	Supports	Supports
Frivolous Lawsuits Against Gun Makers	Supports Filed One Himself	Supports		Opposes
Gun Registration/Licenses	Supports	Supports		Opposes
War in Afghanistan	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports	Supports
War in Iraq	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports Weak support	Supports
Patriot Act	Supports	Supports Voted for it 2001 & 2006	Opposes	Supports

"Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." - Rudy Giuliani

Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it.
Rudy Giuliani

We don't have to accept liberal Rudy. There are other options. This fellow may be the best one:







"How can I help?"

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[Peach]

Oh, the serial spammer has shown up. How nice.

[trisham]

We don't have to accept liberal Rudy. There are other options.

************

Thank goodness.

[calcowgirl]

Washington Post - Nov 29, 1993

New York City Mayor-elect Rudolph W. Giuliani said he advocated a "uniform licensing system with real teeth in it," including background checks, lessons, tests and required renewals every two years to "show you're stable, you're healthy, you're able to handle a gun."

"Anything we can do . . . that will reduce the number of weapons in the country will help cities in particular and help police officers," said Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney. "Handguns should be in the hands of police officers."

[NeoCaveman]

Oh yes. Terribly odd. About as odd as the reports about Nancy Reagan consulting with psychics.

5 posts to mention the Reagans in a less than flattering terms, you are slipping.

[calcowgirl]

Oops... meant to ping you to the above.

It was actually an AP account of Giuliani's (and Riordan's) appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."

[pissant]

That last statement alone should utterly disqualify him from ever being in a position of power. EVER!

[calcowgirl]

Makes ya shudder, don't it?

[narses]

Pro-Illegal Immigration

As Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics has pointed out, Rudy is an adherent of the same approach to illegal immigration that John McCain, Ted Kennedy, George Bush, and Harry Reid have championed:

"While McCain has taken heat for his support of comprehensive immigration reform, Rudy is every bit as pro-immigration as McCain - if not more so. On the O'Reilly Factor last week Giuliani argued for a "practical approach" to immigration and cited his efforts as Mayor of New York City to "regularize" illegal immigrants by providing them with access to city services like public education to "make their lives reasonable." Giuliani did say that "a tremendous amount of money should be put into the physical security" needed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants coming across the border, but his overall position on immigration is essentially indistinguishable from McCain's."

That's bad enough. But, as Michelle Malkin has revealed, under Giuliani, New York was an illegal alien sanctuary and "America's Mayor" actually sued the federal government in an effort to keep New York City employees from having to cooperate with the INS:

"When Congress enacted immigration reform laws that forbade local governments from barring employees from cooperating with the INS, Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed suit against the feds in 1997. He was rebuffed by two lower courts, which ruled that the sanctuary order amounted to special treatment for illegal aliens and were nothing more than an unlawful effort to flaunt federal enforcement efforts against illegal aliens. In January 2000, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, but Giuliani vowed to ignore the law."

If you agree with the way that Nancy Pelosi and Company deal with illegal immigration, then you'll find the way that Rudy Giuliani tackles the issue to be right down your alley.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE OF GIULIANI'S LEFT-WING POLITICAL POSITIONS

[pissant]

Yes. Just slightly more than his quote saying he'd confiscate an acquitted persons property if he thought they got off but were really guilty in his mind.