When I dropped off my girl, I heard one of the moms at the nursery say that it was "just crazy today." I thought she was talking about the kids there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw CNN on the television and heard one of the other employees say that a helicopter had crashed into the World Trade Center. When I got down to see the trainer, my friend Ryan, informed me that America was under attack.
I sort of sleepwalked through the session, with Ryan and I talking about what was happening...who was under attack and where. After the hour was up, I picked up my daughter and went home to watch TV. The utter horror and devastation that unfolded before my eyes was tempered by the sight of one man and the sound of his voice...the person who I considered to be our leader for the next 48 hours.
His name was Rudy Giuliani.
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani III was born on May 28th, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in Garden City South on Long Island and attended Manhattan College before graduating from New York University School of Law magna cum laude in 1968. Between the years of 1970 and 1980 he rose to prominence in the field of Public Law eventually making it to Associate Attorney General, placing him in the third-highest position in the Department of Justice.In a well-publicized 1982 case, Giuliani testified in defense of the US government's "detention posture" of interning over 2,000 unlawfully-immigrated Haitian refugees in refugee camps, at one point stating that there was "no political repression" under President Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier (source: Wikipedia)
In 1983, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. It was in this position that he first gained national prominence by prosecuting numerous high-profile cases, including the successful prosecutions of Wall Street figures Ivan Boesky and Michael Milke for insider trading. He also spearheaded the effort to jail drug dealers, combat organized crime, break the web of corruption in government, and prosecute white-collar criminals. He amassed a record of 4,152 convictions with only 25 reversals. (source: Wikipedia)
It was in 1983 that Giuliani indicted Marc Rich on charges of tax evasion and making illegal oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis. (Sonds like my kinda guy!)
Mr. Giuliani ran for the Mayor of New York for the first time in 1989 as a Democrat AND a Republican ultimately losing the election to David Dinkins. He ran again in 1993 and defeated Dinkins by 56 thousand votes. He became the first Republican elected Mayor of New York City since John Lindsay won re-election in 1969.
Giuliani won primarily on his position on cracking down on crime. He felt that if smaller crimes such as jaywalking or turnstyle jumping were actually prosecuted, the trickle effect of actually obeying the law would spill over into larger crimes. It worked. Crime dropped drastically in New York City.Many critics cited an improved economy as the main reason why crime dropped nationwide in the 1990s but I believe that Rudy really cleaned up New York by showing people how to respect ALL law, regardless of who they were or what color they were. His early days of prosecuting white collar criminals carried over to his tenure as mayor as "Wall Streeters" found themselves with all sorts of misdemeanor citations!
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Mayor Giuliani felt as though he had become irrelevant. Primary season was about to begin and his term as Mayor was over. He had served his two terms and was finished. When news reached him that a plane had hit the First Tower at the World Trade Center, against the advice of his aides, he rushed to the scene to set up a command post. When the second plane hit, his temporary command post was almost destroyed with him in it. As the fire and glass burst into the sky, Mayor Giuliani looked up to the towers and saw people jumping out the buildings. He turned to one of his aides and said:
"We are in a different place, now."
As I write this, I can feel myself beginning to well up again at the thought of what happened on that day. The sadness that I feel at the loss of life on September 11th....why is it more powerful...more stinging....harder to overcome than when I see it every other day in the news?Everyone has seen the pictures of people jumping but have any of you seen the ones after they have landed? I have seen a few and they are utterly horrific. I also remember video of that day called 9/11, shot by two French filmmakers, in which you could hear the bodies landing on the street. I look at all the bullshit going on in the news today and does anyone but me remember what happened? Does anyone still care?
I think Rudy Giuliani does and I will never forget his service to our country on that day. While President Bush was busy reading My Pet Goat and being secured in an undisclosed location, Mayor Giuliani, as Time Magazine put it, "took to the airwaves to calm and reassure
his people, made a few hundred rapid-fire decisions about the security and rescue operations, and toured hospitals to comfort the families of the missing." (Time Magazine)He was the one who seemed like he was in charge on that day and most of the next day as well. He made key decisions about how to organize rescue efforts, when to open the New York Stock Exchange, and attended funeral after funeral.
When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suggested that the attacks were an indication that the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause," Giuliani met the assertion with defiance, declaring:
"There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it... And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism. So I think not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem."
With that, New York City rejected the prince's $10 million donation to disaster relief in the aftermath of the attack. (source: Wikipedia)
He tried to make some sense of what happened on that day. He looked as we all did: shocked, bewildered, and deeply saddened.He was our "Everyman" and we saw 9-11 through his eyes and became a singular, collective broken heart.
I remember that every time I saw him on TV in front of that podium, I felt better. I have to admit that on more than one occasion during that day, I pretended he was our president.
Maybe in 2008 I won't have to pretend anymore. While he has not formally announced his candidacy, he is the leader in poll after poll for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. He easily beats Senator Clinton by over 10 points in every poll and is another example, like Colin Powell, who has across-the-board appeal.
Imagine any disaster with President Giuliani at the helm and you can instantly picture how he would react as we have already seen him in that capacity....decisive, strong, organized, and intelligent.....four traits that have been conspicuously absent these last six years.
So, Mr. Mayor, how about you throw your hat in the ring? You will probably get this "stinkin liberal's" vote.
8 comments:
Rudy's a good choice!
I've heard it said "how could we elect a mayor!? He's only presided over one city."
Did you know that if NYC was a state in and of itself, it would be the 12th most populated state in the union?
Rudy has what it takes to be a good leader...He leads from the FRONT! NOT from an "undisclosed location".
Thanks Mark, Keep up the good work!!
Notice that the presidents that are elected nowadays are all Governors and I certainly see how a mayor of a big city could fit right in to that category. A Governor does what the President does, only in miniature. He has to propose a budget each year then deal with his state legislature to resolve a final budget, he has to consider legislation passed by his legislature and whether to sign it into law or not. A Governor has a cabinet he has to manage that oversees the laws written by the legislature and all the attendants tasks associated with administering like rule promulgation. He deals with vast bureaucracies and a Governor even has to deal with foreign policy with a pretty big enemy sometimes - the US Federal Government. In fact, each Governor even has a Department of State of sorts. Over at 400 N Capitol Street in DC there is a building that houses offices for all 50 States who has the Governor's liaisons to the US Government housed there. They represent the interests of each state to Washington and weigh in often on issues important to their state like trade for instance.
On the other hand, a Senator or Congressman oversees a staff of about 50...50 that is if they are a Chairman of a Committee, less if they are not and the committees have very narrow focus relative to the big picture of things. Even the Appropriations Committee, the most powerful of all the committees, is just about funding and not about policy as a whole, so the focus is narrow relative to actually governing. The Congress is to governing what academia is to real world practice - a place where things are considered but not much practical application outside the quest for knowledge.
These days it seems like representing a district means being a continuous poll taker or a milkweed blowing in the wind. Might as well dispense with all the committee hearings where witnesses are brought to give expert testimony on complex issues, all the reports on policy done by the legions of scholarly types whose job it is to sift through information and separate fact from fiction. As a member of the US Congress or the US Senate, you represent the interests of a district or state but there comes a time when the man or woman sitting there is called to vote and you have to think: what is good for my district or state and what is good for the Nation, and use your judgment and cast your vote. Now, too often you sit there with your little Whip's Report from your party Whip and they tell you what to vote for and against and most no doubt vote that way. More often than not, the folks in the district aren't talking to you and they are clueless on a lot of issues because their information comes from some reporters spin if they have gotten any information at all. They have not been to the hearings, they have not read the reports, they have not talked one on one with experts on an issue, they have only read what some reporter and editor has told them is in there. They also have not read the legislation and have no idea what may or may not be in a bill, act, or resolution.
I think Rudy will be on the ticket in 08, possibly VP. I think that political advisors on both sides of the aisle have learned their lesson when it comes to Senators trying for the office of President (read – Dole and Kerry). The hundreds of thousands of votes they’ve made in the Senate will be poured over for inconsistencies, all that special interest money they, and everybody else who served in the Senate, takes will be an issue and they will probably be portrayed as part of the problem and not the solution.
Will Rudy’s personal issues be an issue? Probably. Speaking of character, and the ability to govern: where was the character debate when John Kennedy, womanizer extraordinaire was running for office? Where was the debate when Eisenhower, a heavy drinker with an alcoholic wife who philandered on Mamie during WW 2 rather openly, ran? Where was the character debate when LBJ, a crook of the first water, philanderer with an illegitimate child in Texas, and gangster associates like Billy Sol Estes were his hangers on? Where was the character debate when Nixon was hanging out with Bebe Rebozo and his thugs? In fact, where was the character debate in 1860 when Lincoln who had failed at everything he did, had a crazy wife, had a cabinet who fielded a candidate against him during his reelection campaign, and may have not been so stable himself, ran? Heck character didn't count when Grant was elected, even though he rarely drew a sober breath.
Well, back in the days of JFK there was an unspoken deal with the press not to report on JFKs philandering. They probably all wished they were him anyway! Many people these days, though, who consider someone's private sex life to be the central issue to everything (i.e. neocondouchebags) hate JFK now and think he was an awful president simply because he cheated on his wife.
Huh...well, that clears everything up for me. Cheating on wife-BAD...Incompetently handling the office of the Presidency on a myriad of levels which directly leads to people dying-OK.
Your questions about philandering are interesting. It should be like the old days...when nobody cared. Of course, if any potential candidate murdered someone that would probably be more forgivable by the "moral" crowd since said candidate would have demonstrated his or her ability to use a gun. But if they cheated? To the gallows....!!!!
If the Republicans are smart, they would choose Rudy because he will trounce Hillary and McCain/anyone else would make the election a little too close.
I never said JFK was a bad president. Where did you get that from? Using the logic you just used I guess I now think that Lincoln and Eisenhower were bad presidents too. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
I offered no opinion one way or the other on the subject...I just stated a fact. Then you followed up my fact with an attempt to pass of your opinion as fact. Nice try though, better luck next time.
The press reports it all on both sides nowadays…it sells magazines/newspapers/books to the overweight masses who actually buy and read People magazine because they have no life of their own so they have to satisfy their vouyeristic tendencies by living vicariously through the "stars" (barf) of today.
The press is one thing so before you go on about the NCD’s did you know that there is a particular Democratic Congressman whose son also bears his name who is in prison for being a crack dealer…and that has never come up in any of his reelection campaigns. Another prominent democrat's son has been hospitalized numerous times for addiction to crack and this particular chap was on the national stage. In the 90's, there was a lot written about Bill and Hillary’s marriage and the leaks were traced back to two Secret Service agents on family detail who were talking to some paparazzi in exchange for money. Rather than prosecute them, which would have appeared petty, for taking bribes in violation of federal laws prohibiting federal employees from taking bribes, they were reassigned to guard Lady Bird Johnson down in nowhere Texas and take her shopping to the store and having to listen to her stories. In DC, what goes around comes around and in the last election, Kerry and Edwards lit a fuse on something they should not have, making Cheneys daughter a campaign issue. They can talk all they want about the difference in Cheney and Bush's policy on gay marriage but they broke one of the cardinal rules of DC and they know it.
Hell within the village of Washington, Teresa Heinz is known as a drunk who has shown up at events drunk, not stayed at events because she's a drunk and the Republicans certainly showed more than a lot of restraint by not making her drinking an issue in the campaign as the Democrats showed the same courtesy when Betty Ford was in the picture. During Ford's confirmation by the Senate as VP, old timers sat and waited for Betty's drinking to come up and it never did.
...and Laura Bush killed her boyfriend in a car wreck blah blah blah.....you're right, titalation sells and people base their judgements on it these days and they shouldn't.
I was not making a comment at you directly, Crab, regarding JFK. I was actually speaking of a certain female friend of ours who has said repeatedly that she hates JFK because he cheated on his wife but thinks George Bush is wonderfully moral. I know you don't give a crap about presidents and who they fuck so that comment wasn't directed at you.
I really don't think "opinion" enters into it. I think the facts at what has happned under George Bush speak for themselves. People are dead as a result of his incompetence. NeoCon Douchebags don't care about this because any criticism of Bush is labelled as "opinion" or partisan politics.
So, basically he can do anything he wants and it's fine EXCEPT if he cheated on Laura. Then his base would be gone. Don't you see the silliness of all this?
I am sure everything else you said above is true. Washington is a messed up town. I still think that regardless of Rudy's personal life, he would make a damn fine president.
Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
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Nice! Where you get this guestbook? I want the same script.. Awesome content. thankyou.
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This site is one of the best I have ever seen, wish I had one like this.
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