Someone needs to ask Rudy if he knew the EPA was lying its ass off when it deemed the NY air safe to breathe post 9/11. Opening Wall Street meant more to these bastards than did the health of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. The fact that Rudy hasn't pursued the truth about this says volumes about what kind of spine he has.

All I can say positive about Rudy is that at least he is underscoring just how low this nation has stooped. When someone like Rudy can be bandied as Presidential material, only a fool could fail to recognize what deep shit this country is in.

POA is right. all we need after 8 years of Bush is a candidate with all the worst features of the last 2: a wandering penis, indifference if not outright hostility towards poor people and minorities, authoritarianism and imperialistic pretensions.

Doesn't anybody recall the Guiliani tried to extend his term and suspend elections after 9/11? even without all the rest of his baggage-the extramarital affairs, the mob connections, Abner Loima and Patric Dorismond-that alone should make anyone look sharply askance at his fitness for office.

Giuliani was in the right place at the right time. He didn't so much step forward as Bush stepped back. He's parlayed that into a persona of "America's mayor." I wouldn't vote to appoint him dog catcher.

steve - i think you and i must have very different ideas about what constitutes "impressive leadership skills". or possibly you are writing about something of which i have no knowledge.... care to elaborate?

Selise -- it's simple really. I think Giuliani did what the country needed on 9/11. It doesn't qualify him for President -- but it did celebratize him in a way that masked a rather lackluster job as Mayor. I wrote this post in such a way not to question many who see Giuliani as a hero who performed well on 9/11 in contrast to others who I don't need to mention.

But the real fact is that this country over-reacted to 9/11 and did some things that were incredibly counterproductive. Bush and Cheney tried to sell the elixir that we could have a constant barrage of 9/11 like situations -- and that is untrue in my book.

Giuliani is a good guy in a crisis...but unless you want to plan on a crisis everyday, and a world constantly in fear, Giuliani doesn't come near to the kind of person we need in the White House.

Remarkable how much POA and I are agreeing lately....well, there are limits. I don't "pimp" for anyone, well -- nearly no one. ;-)

best,

Steve Clemons
www.TheWashingtonNote.com

Being a New Orleanian I understand what Guiliani was given opposite that of Nagin...we like to call it--the G Card.
Sure wish we had the support down here that he had up there after the respective disasters.
Shame everyone rates him so highly.

Being a New Orleanian I understand what Guiliani was given opposite that of Nagin...we like to call it--the G Card.
Sure wish we had the support down here that he had up there after the respective disasters.
Shame everyone rates him so highly.

Posted by hannah

New Orleanian??? What the hell is that? I thought Bush erased New Orleans.

Everybody in Washington has some "buddy ole pals" in their history. Nobody gets elected to high office without them. Honesty is not an option. You are either willing to sell your soul or your not electable material.

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

Rudy's record of dealing with minorities, encouraging thuggishness in the police, is something that's attracted little attention. Gilliard's "News Blog" has documented some of this. Unfortunately, his archives are not by category.

Steve, what exactly do you think Giuliani did after 9/11 that was so wonderful?

For my part, I have never understood what the fuss was about over his alleged leadership at that time.

Two points:

I think Giulilani should be held accountable for the questionable decision to locate his emergency managemnt operation at the World Trade Center, perhaps the most likely attack target in the city. Though in an adjacent building rather than the either of the towers, it was destroyed when the towers collapsed and this enromously complicated the city's rescue and recovery operation.

One big difference between Giuliani's and Nagin's situation was this. As catastrophic as the twin towers' destruction was, the devastation was confined to a relatively small part of the city. Of course communications systems were down, but most of the city functioned close to normally. Unlike New Orleans.

What leadership?? I lived on Beach and Hudson that day. Giuliani managed to put himself in front of every TV camera around, that's not leadership. There now are thousands of people with health issues because of the LACK of leadership on 9/11. HE was the one who put the emergency command center on the 25th floor of WTC 7. Your naivete is astounding ..... The lightweight in the White House was the best thing that ever happened to Rudy - he and Bernie went on to capitalize on that big time.

Of all the things WRONG with Rudy, his connections to THE MOB are the least of them.

For starters, THE MOB would have done Osama in less than 24 hours.

The hypocrisy of NeoNutzis, foaming at the mouth about Bill Clinton's Mid-Life Monica Mess while completely ignoring the fact that Rudy asked the Courts to permit him to move his mistress into Gracie Mansion, while he was still married and his children still lived there, boggles my mind.

Perhaps Rudy dipped his dick in holy water first and that made it okay?

Also remember his criticism of the troops--he just threw them under the bus. The military won't forget that.
All an opponent has to do is start running ads with the picture of Rudy in drag--that will deep six any campaign.

It was Rudy as a US atty who advised Reagan to fire the air traffic controllers. A President Rudy would likely declare war on unions, in the interest of national security, of course.

I have never understood where this Guiliani as a hero came from. What exactly heroic did he do that was above and beyond his basic responsibility as mayor?

I have been in some killer diller hurricanes living on the coast and seen our local mayor and town department guys out in boats picking people out of the water...we consider that simply DOING YOUR JOB.

The fireman on 911 were the heros, the mayor who was so lax he didn't make sure the NYFD and NYPD had radios that actually worked long before 911 is no hero, he was incompetent and shortsighted before 911 occured so no hero label for him please.

The guy who jumped on the railroad tracks to save a stranger when it wasn't his responsibility is a hero...Guiliani is not.

Carroll, you are exactly right. Rudy and Dopey knew how to work the Photo OP

Posted by Kathleen at February 4, 2007 05:33 PM
>>>>>>

Yea, I keep trying to think of a word to describe this weirdness of making heroes out of nothing..media creations isn't enough to explain it..I think it has something to with "lower expectations"..some lowest bar mentality in a society where most people are nothing but inert onlookers but are so desperate for heros they settle for cartoon characters they can get behind for some sort of vicarous saisfaction.

You know Virginia Tiroli,with your attitude we can erect gas chambers in Australia to eliminate the passionate human rights fighters !!!!If you think your neutrality is morally palatable,you are WRONG !Go and educate yourself,human rights is above than your work place agreement!You are worst than Howard and you are the kind of people who approved FASCISM in Germany !!You just sink to the level of Sally Loane !Never ever I'm going to listen to 702 Sydney !!!!

You know Virginia Tiroli,with your attitude we can erect gas chambers in Australia to eliminate the passionate human rights fighters !!!!If you think your neutrality is morally palatable,you are WRONG !Go and educate yourself,human rights is above than your work place agreement!You are worst than Howard and you are the kind of people who approved FASCISM in Germany !!You just sink to the level of Sally Loane !Never ever I'm going to listen to 702 Sydney !!!!

Another trial baloon? Giuliani and Criminal Kerik as possibility to follow Serial Killer in White House?

"There is a serial killer living in the White House. He has spent the past six years successfully plotting the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people. Like others who kill without conscience, he remains unmoved by the ongoing bloodshed and destruction he has caused. And now, he is about to do it again.

Someone has to stop George W. Bush before he kills more!

Serial killers sometimes respond to inner voices telling them what to do. George Bush gets personal messages from his God and PNAC. His wars with Afghanistan and Iraq were planned and orchestrated by the war profiteers and ideologues who placed him into office in 2000. The regional chaos they needed to justify American military action in the region is going according to plan, and now the next stage is ready for launching. Any day now, the Bush Doctrine will be used to justify a killing machine that is gearing to attack Iran.

Someone has to stop him before he triggers a final Armageddon.

At TvNewsLIES.org, we believed this might happen before the last midterm election. We saw the handwriting on the proverbial wall, but were a bit early in our prediction. Right now, especially because George Bush is clearly denying that Iran is on his hit list, we are convinced that the plans are already in motion.

Every major corporate media outlet is reporting that there is ‘evidence’ of Iran’s role in supplying sophisticated weapons to the Shia in Iraq, and in assisting in the killing of American troops. We’ve all been there and done that. Not a shred of evidence supporting those charges has been presented to the Congress or the public, but the rhetoric gets louder and louder. Iran’s nuclear capability is touted as a threat to the US and the region, despite the reality that any nuclear strike by any nation would result in its immediate annihilation. Logic has been buried, and terror threats have once again been broadcast to the public.

Someone has to stop him, and soon.

Dick Cheney, Chief Puppeteer and War Monger in the WH, recently stated that the President does NOT have to listen to Congress or the people of the nation. The Decider, it seems, can do whatever he pleases and the rest of us be damned. He does NOT have to listen to anyone at all, and that is becoming more and more obvious. This morning, three former military leaders issued a dire warning to George W. Bush….and he is not about to listen to them at all.

The letter was sent to the Sunday Times of London by retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, a former military assistant to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Hoar, a former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command; and retired Navy Vice Adm. Jack Shanahan, a former director of the Center for Defense Information. These experienced and concerned officers warned that attacking Iran “would have disastrous consequences for security in the region, coalition forces in Iraq and would further exacerbate regional and global tensions.” They cautioned that “the current crisis must be resolved through diplomacy,” and they urged the President to “engage immediately in direct talks with the government of Iran without preconditions.”

Did you hear about this on your network news today, or did you hear discussion after discussion about Iran’s role in aiding the insurgency and the danger of its nuclear program?

The fears of these three men, like the advice of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Group, are being ignored – as were the voices of those who warned against the tragic and failed war against Iraq. Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Syria all are on the PNAC hit list that would supposedly lead to American military domination of the Middle East. The plans were set in rapid motion when these madmen got their ‘new Pearl Harbor’ on September 11th, 2001. And here they go again.

The serial killer we know as George W. Bush was installed in the White House to do exactly what he is doing now. He is on the loose and about to strike again.

He has to be stopped before he kills more. He has to be stopped quickly and legally.

Whatever that takes."

TVNL-February 4th, 2007

Giuliani/Kerik? Next.

If Steve thinks that Rudy acted impressively on 9/11 with his camera-hogging, he must think that Bush was a real titan in the weeks after.
What buffoons.

Is there any issue Guiliani is "conservative" on? I mean, besides being a "neocon," if you consider that conservative. This guy is dreaming if he thinks he can make it through the GOP primary. Ditto McCain. Ditto Romney.

So Robert, are you a Tancredo, Hunter, Gingrich or Paul fan?

More bombers, fences and wars.

Mahathir labels Iraq coalition 'murderers'
AP
February 05, 2007

FORMER Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has accused George W Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard of being bigger murderers than Saddam Hussein and the September 11 attackers.
In some of his most provocative swipes yet at the Western leaders, Mahathir said today that their war in Iraq had caused worse terror than al-Qa'ida's suicide bombers around the world.

"What Blair and Bush have done is worse than what Saddam had done," Mahathir, 81, said in a speech to inaugurate a three-day conference organised by his non-government organisation, Perdana, and aimed at criminalising war.

On Wednesday, conference delegates are expected to formally launch a war tribunal that would hold "trials" for world leaders against whom common citizens file complaints.

The tribunal will not have the legal authority of any international organisation and will not be able to impose penalties, but Mahathir said its aim is to condemn the accused in history books.

"We should not hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty, but he should always carry the label `War Criminal, Killer of Children, Liar'," Mahathir said.

"And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the Bushland of Australia," he said, referring to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch ally in Washington's campaign against terrorism.

Seventeen people - nine from Iraq, five from the Palestinian territories and three from Lebanon - have arrived for the peace conference, where they will submit oral or written complaints to the so-called Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission.

After investigations, the commission will decide whether the leaders accused in the complaints should stand trial, albeit in absentia, at the war tribunal.

"History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children, or as the lying prime minister and president," said Mahathir, long known for frequent and scathing verbal attacks on Western countries and culture.

As prime minister, Mahathir was unabashedly vocal in his criticism of the US, Britain and Australia. After stepping down in October 2003, he has become even more strident.

Mahathir said terrorist attacks, such as those of September 11, 2001, are weak people's retaliation against oppression by powerful countries.

In the war on terror ordered by Bush, Mahathir was a front-line Asian ally of the US immediately after the September 11 attacks, arresting and jailing more than 100 suspected Islamic sympathisers of al-Qa'ida in Malaysia.

However, Mahathir maintains that the root cause of Islamic terrorism is the injustices of the West, especially in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

Terrorism cannot be condoned, but neither can the "cruel retaliation by powerful countries", he said.

The September 11 attackers may have killed about 3000 people, but about 600,000 people have been killed during the US-led war in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"The terror caused (by powerful countries) is actually greater, and the powerful countries are much more terrorists than the suicide bombers," he said.

Isn't Rudy the only mayor ever to have terrorism happen on his watch? He is unelectable. The analogy is putting the mafia in the WH.

>> Selise -- it's simple really. I think Giuliani did what the country needed on 9/11. <<

Which was what? Did what that the country needed? Took what particular actions that the country needed how?

I don't remember Rudy doing anything except grabbing as many photo ops as he could and not crying or stuttering while he did them. I could have done that. Would that have made me a hero? What else is it that Rudy accomplished on 9/11 that I missed?

"On October 26, 2001, New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez wrote a front-page story contradicting the official government line, detailing EPA test findings of notable quantities of toxic substances including dioxins, PCBs, benzene, lead and chromium in addition to asbestos. The day Gonzalez's column appeared, EPA officials held a joint press conference with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to dismiss the story, calling it irresponsible, and Gonzalez came under increased scrutiny from his own paper, and several different editors were assigned to review his subsequent columns on the topic."

"Breathless Audacity: How the White House Betrayed the Real Heroes of 9/11"

http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/06/breathless-audacity-how-the-white-house-betrayed-the-real-heroes-of-911

Jim at February 5, 2007 08:23 AM -

to be fair, giuliani did not run and hide - he showed up on 9/11, which is more than bush did.

i *think* that is what steve is refering to (hopefully he will correct me if i'm wrong).

not exactly what i would call "impressive leadership skills", but i think the idea is to compare him to the alternative - not to what we think a leader ought to do/be.

my definition would run more towards the likes MLK, gandhi, mandela...

Giuliani/Kerik is THE ticket to beat

NOT

Steve:

If you talk to any die hard New Yorker, they will tell you that we couldn't wait for him to leave office right before 9/11. He was god awful. The only thing I give him credit for is that he got rid of the "Squeegy guys", the ones that stopped your car and cleaned your windows at traffic lights. Other than that, he was a prick. 9/11 was a gift to his political career. Let's hope Americans wake up to "America's Mayor". The last thing this country needs is another dishonest/morally corrupt politician in the White House. He makes most real New Yorkers sick.

Oofta has it right. Middle America will never get past Rudy's cross dressing tendencies. Steve, PLEASE DO NOT say we over-reacted to 9/11. We mis-reacted, if there is such a word. (We reacted in the incorrect way). To use the phrase "over reacted" makes it sound like 9/11 was not that big a deal. Beyond the 3000 people that died and those who are still dying from the "safe air", everyone who calls themselves American died a little bit that day.

Rudy is/was/will for ever be a little prick who humiliated his wife, denigrated minorities and would be willing to stoop to the lowest levels if it furthered his own interests. His candidacy only serves to advance his megalomania.

The day after the 9/11 attacks, Rudy said the first thing
he thought after he found out about the attacks...Thank
God George Bush is President. Wow and he thinks he can win?

Judith

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