What's this guy done, really?
So Rudy's in.
In the days after 9-11, America needed a hero and it picked Rudy. Talk of "President Giuliani" began just a few days after 9-11, and I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me just what Rudy Giuliani has done to indicate he deserves to sit in the Oval Office. He was an unpopular, scandal-ridden mayor known mostly for his police department's torture and murder of unarmed Black men. But then the terrorists brought down the towers. He didn't soil himself and hide under his desk on 9-11 (or even fly around aimlessly like our current President). He kept his cool and did his job. That's expected, not extraordinary.
**UPDATE: Doug comments,
Darrin, I don't know where you are getting your information about the NY police "torture and murder of unarmed Black men." Truthfully, it sounds like something that was reported in the National Enquirer, rather than a legitimate source!For some reason, I'm not able to respond in the "comments" section right now, so I'm updating the main post with my reply:
Here you go. This (and his arrogant response to it) is what Giuliani was known for until 9/11:
The Diallo and Louima cases
Giuliani took credit for falling crime rates, but crime rates fell in all big cities at the time, due in no small part to Bill Clinton's COPS initiative, which put 100,000 new cops on big city streets across the country. Other Giuliani achievements:
• He tried to have Yasser Araft booted out of NYC (despite Arafat having been invited by the UN), nearly causing an international incident.
• He decided, over objections, to place the anti-terror command center in the World Trade Center, which was as smart a decision as placing an earthquake response center on the San Andreas Fault. Perhaps the constant video we saw of Giuliani bravely roaming the streets of Lower Manhattan were due to his having no command center to go to.
• He caused a big stink about a museum that hung an African artist's painting of the Virgin Mary that was made with elephant dung (insisting on mischaracterizing it as a deliberate insult, despite elephant dung being sacred in that artist's culture -- I don't know about you, but politicians who mischaracterize to score political points lose points with me).
• He tried to use 9/11 to advance his own political career when he proposed cancelling the mayoral elections so he could stay on indefinitely.
6 comments:
Hmm... I've been wondering the same thing, really. He didn't freak out on 9/11, and for that people think he should be President? Is not freaking out all it takes to be President these days? Shrub really has lowered the bar.
Darrin, I don't know where you are getting your information about the NY police "torture and murder of unarmed Black men." Truthfully, it sounds like something that was reported in the National Enquirer, rather than a legitimate source!
Now, I am NOT saying it isn't true. I don't know, but I've never seen anything about it. It sounds like a conspiracy theory more than anything else.
Show me some UNBIASED, or even GOP Partisian information on this. Please. I find this just pathetic, and if it is true I would certainly not support Rudy.
Right now, the field is just too wide open, and I find few REAL candidates on the GOP side. Even Brownback doesn't strike my fancy. Rice does, but there's no solid action. Powell might be a good choice. Gingrich? Not McCain, please. What we NEED--on BOTH sides-- is not the best CANDIDATE, but THE BEST FOR THE JOB.
Unfortunately, nobody seems to fit this, right now.
Well, Darrin... the information is quite detailed in the stuff, but 5 of 7 tested links from the page gave me "Page moved".
And, while Rudy may be in charge directly of the police, the control is in the department itself. If the department is corrupt, that doesn't mean the mayor is corrupt, does it? Does that follow?
No matter. I STILL think that the GOP field is poor right now. We need a new Reagan to lead. Or, if you prefer, a new Teddy Roosevelt.
Or, a New Nixon... take your pick.
The DFL really needs a new FDR, or Jack Kennedy. Right now, nobody fits the bill. Not even Clinton.
Chuck...
I don't know what you mean, Darrin only provided one link and that worked for me. As for the Post's broken links, I remember all of that anyway, and if you don't then you really weren't paying attention in the '90s. Try looking for it on other papers' websites, or go to the library and look at microfilm.
By the way, Darrin didn't say Rudy was responsible for the police brutality, he said that's all Rudy was nationally known for, having a corrupt police department, and that's true.
The guy wasn't much of a mayor and wasn't very popular until 9-11, and he's been riding that gravy train for the last several years, earning tens of thousands of dollars for speeches about his so-called heroics.
Elaine, I went to the first link (The one that connected me to the site with perhaps a dozen links). It was the OTHER links (At the connection) that seemed broken. That's not Darrin's fault. The connects at the Post were all moved...or a good number of them.
So, that's the problem, not his link to the site. But I understand the confusion.
It's like a burned out wire. The bulb didn't work, you replace it. The bulb still doesn't work, you try the switch again. If that doesn't work, replace the switch. Finally, you check the fuse box. If THAT doesn't work, the circuit has a busted wire, right?
Well I knew you were talking about the Post's links. I do remember the elephant dung crap (pardon the pun), and I remember saying then "That's one guy who I'd never vote for for dog catcher." I don't want to face eight years of a guy in the White House who's going to waste our time on stuff like that. I've had enough of this "culture war."
Post a Comment