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August 11, 2007
Rudy's Five Big Lies
Current GOP presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani has made his "leadership" in response to the tragedy of 9/11 the centerpiece of his early campaign. Rudy's reputation as "America's Mayor" in the wake of the attacks is largely responsible for his early lead -- a lead that has been shrinking, by the way -- in polls for the Republican nomination, as well as solid standing in hypothetical general election matchups against Democratic contenders.
Rudy is cleraly counting on his anti-terrorism bona fides to see him through the primary season, in spite of weighty personal baggage and positions on social issues that are anathema to today's right wing, religious conservative-dominated GOP, as well as provide enough crossover appeal to win him the general election in November 2008.
At first blush, it's a solid strategy. Republicans know they have a weak presidential field (note that undecided leads many GOP primary polls these days), and may be willing to swallow some unpallatable qualities in their nominee to get a win.
There's one big problem: turns out Rudy Giuliani's general sleaziness and serial dishonesty also extend to that vigilant anti-terrorist crusader image he has so meticulously cultivated. That's right, folks. Rudy's full of it on 9/11 just like everything else.
New York firefighters began poking the first real holes in Rudy's 9/11 urban legend with a hard-hitting video released a couple of weeks ago. It aims squarely (and pretty effectively) at Giuliani's principal rationale for being elected president. (Note to Karl Rove: others can play your game too.) The video's good, but not very many people saw it.
Well, Wayne Barrett took this line of attack quite a bit further a few days ago, in a devastating piece in the Village Voice. Barrett has a new book -- Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 -- and his Voice piece is a summation of the book's argument.
Barrett identifies five big lies: 1) that Giuliani has more experience dealing with terrorism than others in the presidential field; 2) that NYC was better prepared in 2001 than anywhere else in the country for terrorist attacks; 3) that Rudy isn't to blame for locating the city's emergency-command center in 7 World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the attacks; 4) that Democrats don't understand the nature of the terrorist threat the country faces; and 5) that every effort was made by Mayor Giuliani and his staff to ensure the safety of rescue workers at Ground Zero.
Barrett takes on and effectively debunks each of these claims in great detail. The piece takes the bloom off Rudy's anti-terrorist crusader rose, to be sure, and if the facts become widely known to the American public, should have a chilling effect on his presidential prospects, to say the least.
With a number of months before the first GOP primary, an interesting question is whether Giuliani's Republican rivals will give him a pass on this fairy tale he's created, or will they open up the guns and make a turkey shoot out of his flimsy actual record? Time will tell there, but one thing is clearer than ever -- Rudy Giuliani should not be president.
Posted by houtopia at August 11, 2007 07:28 PM