A lot of folks on the right are upset that anyone would ever question Rudy about 9/11. Like many other New Yorkers, the myth of his heroism is deeply offensive to me.
A.J. Strata is one that asks how Giuliani could be faulted for the inability of the firefighters and the police to communicate that day. He sounds eerily like so many Bush "No one could have expected..." kind of excuses. The first bombing of the W.T.C. in 1993 made the inadequate communication problem glaringly obvious. Rudy had almost 8 years in office to fix the problem. He failed to do so. Fearful of political fallout in his base, Rudy rarely challenged the firefighters or the police on anything while Mayor. The result was unnecessary deaths.
Today we read about Rudy's lying in an investigation of his former chauffeur, and police commissioner, Bernard Kerik. Giuliani said he could not remember being advised by his own chief investigator that Kerik had close connections to a company with ties to organized crime. The idea Rudy, an Italian American former prosecutor, cannot remember that he was told about ties between his nominee and the Mob entirely lacks credibility. He makes Abu Gonzales look like a straight shooter.
Mr. Giuliani, testifying last year under oath before a Bronx grand jury investigating Mr. Kerik, said he had no memory of the briefing, but he did not dispute that it had taken place, according to a transcript of his testimony.
Mr. Giuliani’s testimony amounts to a significantly new version of what information was probably before him in the summer of 2000 as he was debating Mr. Kerik’s appointment as the city’s top law enforcement officer. Mr. Giuliani had previously said that he had never been told of Mr. Kerik’s entanglement with the company before promoting him to the police job or later supporting his failed bid to be the nation’s homeland security secretary. (My Emphasis)
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