the rix mix

All of the Repug presidential wannabees have dangerous views, none more so than Huckabee. But Rudy Giuliani has by far the most dangerous character. In its tepid endorsement of John McCain in the Feb 5 primary, the New York Times says this of the former mayor:

The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square.

Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn’t share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges.

The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.

& that's without mentioning anything about Rudy's miserable personal life. Or that this paranoid ex-mayor has zilch compunctions about persecuting anyone, public employees & private citizens, who publicly disagree with him - including his current Repug opponents should Caligula ascend to the throne. He has behind him a trail of broken & ruined lives. It's fact, not gossip. It takes some truly repulsive attributes to be held in contempt by so many hardened New York politicians, disliked by cynical reporters who've covered likably corrupt politicians, & hated by New York's tough breed of firefighters. The support Giuliani gets from tri-state establishment Repugs is not only transparently swinish, one suspects it is also motivated by fear. Think our personal liberty is under attack by the government now? A Giuliani presidency would be capable of turning bankrupt Catskill Mountain resorts into a razor wire gulag for dissenters. He's that screwy.

(Jill at BaB reminds us that Rudy was wandering around cluelessly on 9/11 with his entourage because his Emergency Operations Center had been destroyed - as the NYPD had warned him could happen when he chose to locate it in on the 23rd floor of the World Trade Center next to the Twin Towers. The Center is now in Brooklyn, with a backup elsewhere. )

Labels: THE election