RudyWatch I: On "Venom" and MoveOn
Seeing Rudy Giuliani fulminate against Hillary Clinton and Moveon for "character assassination" and "political venom" this week was like watching Larry Craig denounce homosexuality.
Recall that Giuliani was famously abusive as a U.S. Attorney, ordering some Wall Street traders to be handcuffed in front of their shocked staff, with charges later thrown out. And since he ran his mayoralty based on reverse Lincoln -- with malice toward all and charity toward none -- his words in the Bush-Petraeus context are an unadulterated example of what psychologists call projection or average citizens call hypocrisy. But since he can't run in Republican primaries on such stalwarts as family values or on guns, gays, god and abortion, he has to overplay the war/patriot card.
Venom and assassination? When former Mayor Ed Koch, who endorsed Giuliani for reelection in 1997, titled his biography Giuliani: Nasty Man? Let's see:
- *When a black private security guard Patrick Dorismond was wrongly shot to death by police who implied he was a drug dealer, here's how Giuliani comforted a grieving family: he illegally and selectively released Dorismond's juvenile record and personally attacked him as "no altar boy." (In fact, he had been an alter boy.)
- When Brooklyn City Councilman Steve DiBrienza enacted a bill to limit the number of beds at City homeless shelters, Mayor Giuliani vetoed the measure, and then retaliated by sending an eviction notice to a city building housing a senior-citizen center and non-profit children's center in DiBrienza's district. Here's a guy who would go to that length because I beat him on passing a law that requires smaller-bed shelters,DiBrienza told the New Yorker. "Because we would not blink, he would throw kids, seniors, and the mentally ill out into the street. I mean, could I have written a better script to expose the fact of what he was?"
- When the New York City media reported in 1994 that Giuliani's newly appointed Commissioner for Youth Services had failed to pay his taxes, the Mayor's press secretary called several reporters to assert that the Youth Commissioner of predecessor David Dinkins, Richard Murphy, had engaged in a variety of financial improprieties. The Giuliani commissioner had to resign but the smeared Murphy fought back -- and a year later the city's Department of Investigation dismissed the charges against him as exaggerated and false.
- When it appeared that he would run for and possibly win a U.S.Senate seat in 2000, he pushed to change a 140 year-old rule that my office of Public Advocate was next in line in case of a vacancy because he didn't want a Democrat like me to succeed him. We fought his effort "to change the rules in the middle of the game...for political and personal reasons." He lost 76% to 24% in a public vote.
It's odd to watch the party of Joe McCarthy, Karl Rove and Swift-boaters complain about opponents who allegedly impugn the patriotism of political opponents. But it's particularly humorous to listen to Giuliani complain about MoveOn and Hillary Clinton for their criticisms of Petraeus...or protest those who raise "personal" questions about his wife and children. For when he had to, he would routinely engage in personal search-and-destroy missions against those who stood in his way.
On the venom front, Giuliani urges reporters to make Churchill analogies when he was far closer to a Nixon governing by enemies list.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
And any of this makes his observation that the ad in question was a disgusting and vile attack on a 20+ year veteran of the army incorrect in what way again?
Or are youjust useing the old grade school justification of "well he does it too?"
LOL! Rudy has a letter from Bill Clinton saying the crime bill couldn't have passed w/out him. LOL!! There's your election result. LOL!!
MoveOn's ad was mild by standards set by the likes of Limbaugh or Rove, but it was still distasteful.
There are so many legitimate arguments that can be made against Bush and his regime that resorting to bad puns in order to impugn a general's patriotism is not just a waste of time, it is divisive and counterproductive.
MoveOn is on the right side of the debate, but sometimes it can be embarrassing to share a stage with them.
But you gotta admit that name (like Tricky Dick) will stick forever.
Or Slick Willie.
Politics is the dirtiest high stakes game around. You sound like you want to legitimize the insanity that is Iraq by affording these liars and charlatans some kind of deference "just because".
This is the main reason we invaded and are now occupying Iraq. No one had the balls to stand up and say "Whater you fucking crazy?".
If that bullshit Patraeus was trying to peddle about Anbar province being all safe and shit is something you want America to believe just keep being "nice".
Couldn't agree more. I guess Romper Room would be a bit dated.
I am proud to "share a stage with them."
Mr. Green,
You have a lot of money and a lot of clout. Since you know these things to be true and a lot more, no doubt, it is your duty to inform the rest of the country about Rudy. He is a fox in the hen house. The NY firefighters are doing their best to show the real Rudy to the country. You also should be doing so and not just preaching to the choir here at HuffPo. We need people to speak out over and over again until it sinks in what a depraved individual Rudy really is.
We may as well elect a mafioso boss as Rude-y to the peoples' house. What moveon.org wrote about Petraeus was NOTHING compared to how the repubs have swiftboated so many of our military people in politics. It is already getting dirty...no
VIDEOS of Ann Coulter and Rudy at Freedom Concert
BUSTED G O P -ocricy
http://vid
and
http://vid
WHERE'S my F*CKIN' Apology...
"Yes, noted scholar, Ted Nugent apologist, befriender of white supremacists everywhere and all around corporate leg-hump Sean Hannity. He is organizing one of his "Freedom Concerts," which makes sense if you equate Abu Ghraib with "freedom."
Rudy will be slithering on in. As will a Motley Crew of the GOP Scumocracy.
Quite well done Rudy, Hannity's just who I think of passing the time with when solemnly remembering an American tragedy. As well as - violator of Florida election law and laws of nature governing goiters, Ann Coulter, violator of the U.S. Constitution, Oliver North, violator of his marriage vows on multiple occasions, Newt Gingrich, racist radio host Bob Grant, televised imbecile Elisabeth Hasselbeck and actor Jon Voight.
The latter attendee certainly makes sense, because after starring in the movie Deliverance, Voight instictively knew how to spot a Republican.
Oh, and from what I hear, Rudy is thinking about placing his new command center in the middle of the concert. Shhh, don't tell the terrorists"
http://bra
WHERE'S my apology Rudy?
"Rudy Guliani spoke poignantly about 9/11, and he received a rousing and totally justified ovation. Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, and Ann Coulter tossed red meat to the crowd. Colonel Oliver North introduced three young teenagers that were excelling in college thanks to scholarships provided by the Freedom Alliance."
http://bla
WHERE'S my apology Rudy?
Rudy Mussolini
El Dulce Giuliani
"Let them rest in potholes"
"Let them breath toxins"
"You wanna piece of it?"
"You talkin' to ME? huh? You talkin' to ME?"
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Giuliani told Louisiana sheriffs Friday that he has a secret weapon to showcase his record on crime and support from law enforcement for a possible general election.
"I have a letter -- I keep it at home," the former New York mayor said. "It's a letter from President Clinton, congratulating me for all of my efforts and saying something like the crime bill couldn't have been passed if it weren't for me. I keep this letter; I'm going to use it at the right moment."
Over applause, he added, "You can imagine when."
Giuliani also told the Louisiana Sheriffs Association that the country would likely accept a slowdown in commercial activity for a few years if it meant ramping up a program to track people and commerce entering the country. The law enforcement crowd cheered Giuliani as he praised their new role as "domestic defense."
" the country would likely accept a slowdown in commercial activity for a few years"
Would Republicans support this?
Hillary's criticism of Petraeus was mild compared to what Petraeus' own boss, Admiral Fallon reportedly said of him:
http://www
[[Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickenshit" and added, "I hate people like that", the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior. ]]
Let's see if Giulliani has enough spine to attack Fallon, one of the highest-ranking military leaders in the country the way he attacked Clinton.
So, if I get the gist of what you have written, it is that the Repugs have found their perfect candidate. Loved the Lincoln quote "with malice toward all and charity toward none".
Giuliani is a crude mean-spirited con-artist who deserves to be crushed like a cockroach. And we thought Republicans couldn't find anything worse or lowlier than Bush!
Precisely. Having him become our next POTUS would epitomize that old adage: "Jumping from the frying pan into the fire!"
Rendem1...
Another good nickname would be Ru-Paul!
Attacking the messenger?
Why, Rudy...How very Republican of you!
Seriously, anyone who votes for this wingnut, chickenhawk FRAUD is outta their f**king mind.
He (almost) makes Bush look sane.
Rudy is getting scary. Anybody notice that disassociated smirk he starts to manifest during interviews? Also, the psycho eye movements? Man, next to Rudy even William F. Buckley's wacked out eye twitching looks sane.
Rudy is becoming a scary, scary person.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
