Arianna sparred with Rudy Giuliani on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" today over his endorsement of Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio over Charlie Crist in Florida's Republican Senate primary. Arianna noted that Giuliani's judgment in people "has not been stellar," a relevant factor when people are considering how much weight to give his endorsement of Rubio.
There's all this talk, that we've just heard from the mayor [Giuliani], about the takeover of government by Obama and his administration, which is so over the top, with the greatest respect, Mr. Mayor. And also, your judgment in people has not been stellar -- Bernard Kerik, anybody? So the fact that you're supporting Rubio now, I don't know exactly how seriously we should take it.
Kerik was one of Giuliani's closest allies, who went from being the mayor's bodyguard to New York's police commissioner. He later took a lucrative position at Giuliani Partners, leaving to take a job training the Iraqi police force soon after the U.S. invasion. He failed miserably. Despite this failure (the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq called Kerik's tenure "a waste of time and effort"), Giuliani successfully lobbied the Bush administration to nominate Kerik as Director of Homeland Security. Kerik ultimately withdrew his nomination, unable to survive the vetting process. He was recently sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to eight felonies charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials.
Giuliani defended himself by touting his record of cleaning up New York City as mayor, and saying that Kerik was just a small part of his overall reputation. Arianna responded:
That's not either/or. You are not judging the mayor's entire history. We're talking about something very important, something very specific. And we're talking also about this knee-jerk attempt to criticize the administration on everything, especially the position of the president on terrorism from a man who said you don't know if waterboarding is torture. I don't know if you still hold that position.
WATCH: (clip below, full segment underneath)
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So props to you Rudy for not trying very hard to hide the fact that you're just another politico that will make up or distort any set of facts to serve your purpose.
P.S. - Isn't it time to recognize that one of the biggest factors behind your "clean up" of NY wasn't any of your policies, but really just a well timed shrinking of the age groups most likely to commit crime (18-24). At least, the petty crime. I would wager billions of dollars was bilked from Americans by New Yorkers in business suits on your watch.
P.P.S. - Remember 9/11?
Scarecrow did ALL the talking for the so-called "honorable" Mayor....
he sat there with his mouth wide-open (as did Meeck-uh) while Joe defended him
pathetic
except "Swiss cheese" is EDIBLE !
Where did that come from... higher taxes? Not!
The economy of the 90's is a direct result of Reagan policies.
Clinton benefited from the boom of the 80's combined with the "peace dividend" from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Not to mention the Republicans took control of the House in 1994, where all gov't spending originates. Can you say welfare reform and budget surplus? Clinton originally opposed them.
Some of you may not remember the Carter years; I recall getting a car loan with 18% interest, and that was a good deal the end of Carter. Thank God it was a diesel so I avoided the gas lines. Reagan took a new phenomena created by Carter of high unemployment with high inflation and turned our country around. Just because Clinton never recognized this, doesn't matter.
I really respect Arianna for her ability to remain utterly patient, in the midst of many screaming voices all trying to keep her from speaking, and still managing to get some solid points in!! The voice of reason, who tries to change the subject to NOT looking at everything from a right/left view, and more of a mature world view. The only adult in the room. Thank you Arianna for being who you are and fighting the good fight everyday!!
What was Rudy thinking?