Posted on 07/02/2002 6:38:14 PM PDT by RCW2001
N E W Y O R K, July 2 — In an aside that was caught on tape, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested during a news conference that police have weapons substantial enough "to blow away the press."
The remark was made Monday as the mayor and police officials outlined the city's security plans for July 4. Bloomberg and police Commissioner Ray Kelly were fielding questions about heavily armed police counterterrorism teams that have been patrolling "key locations" for about a month.
Kelly demurred when a reporter asked for specifics on the weapons. After another reporter pressed the issue, asking if officers are more heavily armed than in the past, Bloomberg muttered: "Big enough to blow away the press," which was followed by quiet chuckles.
Kelly paused and answered the reporter, saying "these are weapons that have been in our inventory for awhile."
The public address system at the news conference did not pick up Bloomberg's comment, but it was discovered on tapes recorded by several reporters.
Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler joked that the remarks would be "forwarded to the Joint Terrorism Task Force to see if there is a credible threat."
Bloomberg, while not as combative with the press as his predecessor, Rudolph Giuliani, is known to become irritated with reporters at times. He is also known for a dry wit that occasionally stirs controversy: He once quipped that city workers would be shot if they used emergency sirens and lights inappropriately.
I have watched his business closely, as a paying customer, for two decades, and he is an organizational genius.
If he wants to "blow away the press", well, I suspect that is a goal most FReepers would share. :)
Now that would have been a megabarf. Still, I miss Rudy, too.
"Ronald Reagan was the greatest president."
Say that and folks will be blowing hot soup out their noses right and left. Then you can start about what a disaster David "Dithering" Dinkins turned out to be and how Koch's people couldn't lie if they were stretched on the rack, which is what they deserved.
They know it's all true. They know their property values are high and their safety much greater thanks to Rudy. But they'll go forty shades of purple and choke first before admitting a word of what you say.
I enjoy goading Apple liberals so much, my wife keeps me away from most of her friends. It's even more fun to bring up the right to keep and bear. Then it's heart attack time.
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