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Real Rudi Rises Redux

The straight shooter who was police commissioner during the last two years of the David Dinkins Mayoralty, when crime in New York began its decline, even as it was still increasing in most of the country is Ray Kelly.  Our truly competent current Mayor Mike Bloomberg immediately rehired him as commissioner as soon as he took office, and crime has continued to decline.

Ray Kelly noted that there was neither Dinkins nor Bloomberg followed any of the phony billing practices which Rudi did. He also said that the justification offered by Team Rudi, that there was a need to expedite payment, has never been an issue with either Mayor under whom he served.

Romney has decided to let Rudi have some more time to explain, while noting that Giuliani "hasn’t really laid out at this stage his full explanation or all that was shown."

I hate the word Schadenfreude, but I seem to love the feeling.

(memeorandum)

P.S. The Hamptons are flooded with illegal immigrant landscapers.  Fifty Bucks says Judi's Condo Complex hires illegals. As an owner of a condo,  she  was just as  responsible as Rudi accused Romney of being in the last debate.  Now that Rudi and Judi own a house out there, they probably use illegals at that home as well.

The Real Rudi Rises

It had to happen sooner or later. The real Rudi has raised its ugly head.

OKATIE, SC -- Giuliani refused to take questions here today about allegations that travel expenses were picked up obscure city offices when he was mayor of New York City.

“We’ve already explained it,” he said, walking past reporters after a town hall meeting.

Giuliani, who is normally friendly to reporters, bristled past them, and campaign staffers were unusually physical in keeping the press away. Several campaign aides told campaign reporters to return to the press area, and some of his security detail manhandled reporters. On other occasions, reporters have been free to video Giuliani as he is shaking hands and signing autographs after events, and he often informally takes questions from reporters.

New Yorkers know Rudi is a bully; now the rest of the country can see it as well.

We also know that he is an arrogant liar. Saying "We've already explained it," when he hasn't explained anything is classic Rudi. His spokesman lied when he said the billing of expenses to obscure agencies was common in prior administrations.  This isn't true, and the practice began and ended in Giuliani time.  Rudi has not yet explained why he did what he did.

Nor has he justified providing a car and a security detail to his mistress.

Angry Rudi has exposed himself. Not as much as his father did in a public restroom on  Long Island, but the real Rudi was on display today.

(memeorandum)

They are, in Fact, Crazy:

Wingnuttia is the land of the crazy.

Jeff Gannon is among those outraged that CNN did exactly what they said they were going to do last night, and just what they did at the YouTube Democratic debate. The right is correctly embarrassed by the incompetence of their candidates, and have decided to shoot the messenger.  FOX News is very upset, and implies that CNN might not be Fair and Balanced.

Redstate is calling for a boycott. They quote CNN as saying:

This would be a Republican debate, and the goal was to let Republican voters see their candidates.

and then go vent their fury:

This debate was not about Republicans asking the Republican candidates questions. This was about CNN abusing its position to push a Democratic agenda.

But CNN never said it was about Republicans asking Republicans questions.

This was also beyond the ability of Protein Wisdom to grasp. The denial of reality at P.W. is frightening. They themselves quote CNN's Anderson Cooper and David Bohrman:

    Cooper commented on the use of campaign operatives as questioners:

"Well, campaign operatives are people, too. We don’t investigate the background of people asking questions.

David Bohrman on loaded questions:

“We’re doing the best we can…but if a question is interesting on its face, it almost doesn’t matter.”

These quotes come from P.W. Yet still, they are outraged that CNN did exactly what they said they were going to do.

Romney and Giuliani both initially refused to participate, because they understood that the groundrules were the groundrules. Now the right is shocked, shocked.

As Sadly No! pointed out, the Democratic CNN/YouTube debate included questioners like the banker who asked if the Democrats would, if they won the election, do what Democrats always do - raise taxes.

Look to memeorandum if you want to see how crazed the right is on their candidate's abysmal performance yesterday.

Rudi Boinks Judi: Bill the Disabled!

Politico did Rudi and the Republican Party a favor today by printing an article on his billing the costs of his security detail when he spent weekends with his mistress in the Hamptons to various obscure city agencies.  The theory is that he did it to hide the fact that he was having an affair, which I find pretty incredible.  Some of the juggled expense reports covered trips made after Rudi had marched in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade with Mistress Judi at his side. Rudi never made much of an effort to hide his affair with Chrystine Lategano, nor apparently with any of the mistresses during his first "marriage."

Whatever the rationale, the most unnerving aspect of the affaire is his refusal to answer questions. His reason?  "Security." Like Bush himself, Rudi believes that anything can be hidden under the rock of "Security." If elected, would you expect even a facsimile of honesty from a President Rudi?

There's a part of me that would love Rudi to get the nomination. It'd be fun to have the weekly "bimbo eruption" that would undoubtedly occur. Between Rudi and Judi there are enough former sex partners to tilt an election in Florida.  But on the slight chance that he might win the general  election, it's my patriotic duty to wish the Republican party nominate a decent human being. I only wish that Politico had held the story back for a while - this might be the beginning of the end for the candidate, and I'd hate to see reckless Rudi stop wreaking havoc in the Republican party.

(memeorandum)

P.S. Whiskey Fire pointed out that it seems unusual for the police to be staying in an Inn so distant from the mayor's love nest. She then doubted that it was as far as it seemed - about 10 miles or about 20 minutes. Actually 20 minutes might be right for a late night trip in February. On an August weekend,  there is no way to get into the village of Southampton from Noyack in 20 minutes.

France's Riots, Right's Hysteria

...in which I ask an extremely stupid question.

Is it too much to ask for a modicum of consistency in the judgments made by wingnut bloggers?

Atlas Shrugs thinks life is swell in Baghdad but France? "That's War, Baby." Civil War in France? Oui. In Iraq? Non, you anti-semitic, anti-American traitor.

While they scream "Foul" whenever reference is made to both Nazi Germany and themselves, W-Nuts like Jules Crittendon and TruthDig have no problems asking "Is Paris Burning?", which of course was the question posed by Hitler to find out if his order to obliterate Paris was being followed just before its liberation.

Wing Nuts love the Troops, which is why they care far less about 20,000 of them suffering brain damage than they do about a single French Cop who recieved much less damage from a shot gun than Harry Whittington did at the hands of Dick Cheney. Mr van der Galien sees a "War in  France,"  while Blue Crab believes that  "The French may have one [an insurrection] on their hands at the moment".  But the Surge has worked in Iraq.

The question might not be stupid, but the guy who asked it? Definitely.

memeorandum

Rudi's Sins

Newsweek's tribute to Rudi Giuliani at least revealed his comfort level with criminals. From his father who spent time in Sing Sing, to an uncle who was obviously Mafia, to the uncle who was a dirty cop and provided a front for the Mob - Rudi doesn't mind the "Family." Even Kerik noted that becoming a part of Giuliani's circle felt like becoming a "made" man. As a prosecutor, Rudi did not hesitate to go after gangsters - it was essential to go after them  to grab headlines and to advance his political career.

The article also spoke of Rudi's strong Catholic upbringing, and especially his faith is redemption. It is this belief in redemption that allows mafioso to go to church each Sunday, where sins can be washed clean. As a really young kid, I once stayed with a friend's family on the Jersey Shore. At that time, a town like Stone Harbor was really safe and it was normal for very young kids to hop on their bikes and be gone for most of the day. First thing each morning my friend and I went to the 7:15 mass. Then we could we would spend hours riding around town shoplifting anything that was not nailed down - the next morning all would be forgiven.

Rudy still has the same rigid, immature mindset that justified my sins. It allows him to break all kinds of laws - both sacred and profane, confident that he will be forgiven.  Understanding Rudi's belief in Redemption is essential to understanding how Rudi can do what he does.

(memeorandum)

P.S. Can someone explain to me why Ann Althouse is a player in the blogosphere. When looking at other who had written about the Newsweek article I came across her post. She had written, but said nothing. On the one hand "Newsweek sinks its talons into Rudy Giuliani." and they she says about the article: "That's quite mild."

Re: Atrios' Wanker.

I've probably got nothing Yglesias hasn't already referenced, but I still can't stop myself from piling on about Mark Halperin's moronic oped in today's N.Y. Times. One reason that it's so infuriating is that its basic conclusion - that more emphasis should be paid to qualifications and issues than to a campaigner's ability to win in our electoral process - is obviously correct, so obvious that only an idiot would write an article about it.
But what puts it over the top is the route he takes to get to this conclusion is littered with garbage as the train tracks leaving Penn Station on the way to Boston.

• Sitting Presidents with high poll numbers running for reelection are not underdogs.
• Has Halperin forgotten that Al Gore won the popular vote?
• As a devoted Democrat, I can only pray that a Republican candidate will ask George Bush to "skillfully serve as the chief strategist for a presidential campaign." Halperin's assertion that he would be skillful is laughable.
• Halperin wrote that candidate George Bush "came across as a man of principle who did not lust for the  White House."  Paul Krugman responds to the man of 'principle' part. Memories of the faces of the Republican operatives whose demonstration was near to violence in Florida serve as a demonstration of 'lust'.
• The reason that Bush "came across" as he did was the gross incompetence and laziness of stenographers who act as "reporters" like Mark Halperin. 

At least the stupidity of today's piece makes me think that Halperin's performance as a "journalist" was an honest one.

h/t Atrios

(memeorandum)

Shocked, Shocked.

"Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government had warnings about 9/11 but decided to ignore them, a national survey found.

"Read it and Weep" is what Michelle Malkin said after seeing a report on the survey in the New York Post.

"We know for a fact that there are weapons there." - Ari Fleischer

Betsy was shocked. She is relieved that the constitution protects against the majority - a majority she sees as nuts!

The vast majority of my [proposed] tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum. - George W. Bush

Jammie Wearing Fool read of the survey and was dumbfounded that so many people did not trust administration statements. He reacted by writing that "Intelligent Life may indeed exist on other planets, but it seems in short supply here."

"We found weapons of mass destruction," - G.W.B.

"Mission Accomplished"

I have to agree that it is pretty amazing that the American Public has so little faith in the Bush's government.

Last week, President Bush unequivocally told a group of reporters that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney would “remain with him until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-vilified members of his administration." Bush said, “Both those men are doing fantastic jobs and I strongly support them.”

Today, he announced Rumsfeld is resigning and being replaced by former CIA Director Robert Gates.

Blue Crab Boulevard is smart enough to want to check the actual survey, yet the title of his post is  The Plots Sicken" and includes the sentence "This is madness writ large."

"I want to know who it is...[that leaked Valerie Plame's name]...and if the person violated the law, the person will be taken care of"  -G.W.B.

After all, the survey is in the New York Post, a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch, the owner of "Fair and Balanced" FOX News. It must be accurate.

"I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon; that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile,"  Condi Rice

Of course in May of 2002, CBS noted that a report issued in 1999 said that:

"Suicide bomber(s) belonging to al Qaeda's Martyrdom Battalion could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives (C-4 and semtex) into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or the White House,"

Essentially, the right wing blogosphere is still making the same kind of argument that Condi Rice made above.

I don't think that anybody could have predicted that lies upon lies, repeated again and again, by this administration would lessen the people's faith in their government. - anonymous Wing Nut. 11/24/2007

memeorandum

A Bit of Quiet on the Blogging Front

It's not surprising that a holiday devoted to gorging oneself has left the right wing a bit muted - overdosing on tryptophan is tiring.

And thus the web is rendered a lot less tiresome. It's great to be able to go to memeorandum and see an oped condemning immigration hysteria and a piece by Paul Krugman without having a lot of links to rabid righties expressing their outrage. Instead the one on immigration had only a Link to Down With Tyranny, while Krugman was applauded by Brilliant at Breakfast and Norwegianity.  I have never seen the web filled with as much intelligence and rationality as it is today.

I know it can't go on forever, but I do hope Michelle Malkin et al enjoy a long slumber and, even though they hate the word, a peaceful rest.

Moral Bankruptcy

Thankfully, violence in Iraq is down, way down. The Financial Times has a headline: "US reports ‘phenomenal’ drop in Iraq violence."

This is fantastic news, even if its real meaning is pretty hard to understand at this point.
Today's NY Times has two articles that reveal the absolute moral bankruptcy of our war in Iraq.

In an op-ed, the journalist Annia Ciezadlo recalls  spending Thanksgiving in Baghdad in 2003:

That night, President Bush flew to the air base at Baghdad International Airport. We saw pictures of him later, serving Thanksgiving dinner to American soldiers, posing like a waiter with a great big Ali Sheesh on a tray. He never left the base. “You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq,” he told the troops, “so we don’t have to face them in our own country.” An Iraqi friend once told me it was that line about fighting in Iraq to make America safer that turned his adoration of Mr. Bush into hatred.

The front page article is about the number of foreign fighters in Iraq. It's tiny.

More than 25,000 inmates are in American detention centers in Iraq. Of those, only about 290, or some 1.2 percent, are foreigners, military officials say. They contend that all of the detainees either are suspected of insurgent activity or are an “imperative threat” to security.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead so we can 'fight them over there.' Insurgents are not al Qaeda. The vast majority of those we are fighting are people who don't like an occupying force or partisans fighting for political power as a new Iraq tries to rise from the ashes. They were never a threat to the United States.

We fought a war because of oil, and our tank of moral superiority is running on empty.

Memeorandum