Just because firefighters are members of a union doesn’t make them less heroic or less believable than Rudy.
Fire battalion chief Jim Riches Sr., lost his son Jim Jr., on 9-11 because “Jim Riches, 29, had been helping to rescue office workers in the north tower when it collapsed. In the dust and debris, his fellow firefighters did not realise that the south tower had already crashed to the ground. Despite the terrifying noise, survivors say they thought only the top storeys had toppled. They never heard the order to evacuate. “My son could have had 30 minutes to escape,” Riches Sr said.
The firefighters were still using the antiquated “handie-talkie” radios that failed to work during the 1993 bombing of the twin towers, when Giuliani was also mayor. He not only failed to replace them, but also located the city’s new emergency command centre at the World Trade Center against the advice of key officials. It proved useless when it was most needed.
Lack of communication also meant that warnings from police helicopters about an imminent collapse failed to get through.”
That puts a bad taste in the firefighters’ mouths.
I didn’t complain when the teamsters worked phone banks and drove people to the polls for Reagan. I will not complain as the firefighters Swift Boat Rudy.
As Douglas Brinkley, a biographer of Kerry, said: “Pitting the two heroes of 9/11 - Giuliani and the firefighters - against each other will be the Swift Boat campaign all over again. Giuliani has marketed himself brilliantly as the leader of 9/11 but this will damage him. Most Americans respect the firemen more than they respect him.”
I say good for the firefighters! Get the truth out about this low-life puke; the sooner the better.