be afraid
in the wake of the Quinnipiak "if the election were held today" poll which put Rudy ahead of Hillary that altered my perception of reality (watch the video posted below) here's two more perspectives on Rudy. the first from today's New York Times on his relationship with former police commish Bernard Kerik. here's a chilling excerpt:Mr. Kerik followed Mr. Giuliani downstairs to a dimly lighted room. There waited Mr. Giuliani’s boyhood chum Peter J. Powers, who was first deputy mayor, and other aides. One by one, they pulled Mr. Kerik close and kissed his cheek.
“I wonder if he noticed how much becoming part of his team resembled becoming part of a mafia family,” Mr. Kerik wrote. “I was being made.”
then, from the Bronx, The Phil Nugent Experience has a scathing evaluation of Rudy's persona:
The scariest thing about Giuliani's bullying pitilessness, the scorched-earth attitude that he applied to squeegee men and ferret lovers to the same degree that he applied it to Mafia wiseguys and inside traders, is that it's not tethered to any real moral intelligence. It's governed entirely by moment-by-moment personal considerations. As he demonstrated whenever he had a chance as mayor to dismiss police brutality complaints and ratchet racial tensions in the city up past the boiling point, he has a real bad cop's mindset, the mentality of a lawgiver who has not only blinded himself to any failings by his brothers in arms but has ceased to see the civilian population he's supposed to be serving as anything but a bunch of potential arrests to be made; if there are a few out there who haven't actually done anything wrong, they probably don't hate the evildoers as much as they ought to, so as far as he's concerned, they're just as bad.
after reviewing many writings about Giuliani (including my own) i noticed the adjective that seemed to be most prevalent: vindictive.oh, and one thing i forgot to mention on thursday's live show: in thinking about Rudy occupying the Oval Office, i was reminded of another scandal-ridden president, whose legacy (Cheney, Rumsfeld) continues to play out to this day: Richard Milhouse Nixon.
posted by dvtv rich at Sunday, November 04, 2007
6 Comments:
like a deer in the headlights.
This is great stuff! ...seems he is "governed almost entirely by moment-by- moment personal considerations instead of moral intelligence.”
"if there are a few out there who haven't actually done anything wrong, they probably don't hate the evildoers as much as they ought to, so as far as he's concerned, they're just as bad." WOW!
Guilty by association for having compassionate feelings or different feelings from the mayor. No wonder we're in a war against terror. These leaders are terrified. Look at them holding their fists. They can't run away so they fight. But conquering the mountain is really about conquering yourself, right? Guiliani can really relate to the "war on terror" kind of slogan. It makes him feel better.
People are both strong and soft-but strong in guns and soft in sociology doesn't make a good mayor (and it doesn't make a Republican either), and being strong in war and soft in anthropology makes an even lousier President.
Look most of us have been rude or short tempered on occasion. It's difficult to wait (or have excess weight) and sometimes it's easy to confuse the frustrations of waiting with being in an emergency. People have to agree on what requires immediate attention and what doesn't, whether it's customer service or having a pan handler open a door for you in a bank. (See what happens Guiliani when you take away the squeegies?)
Who determines what is urgent? Do you wait, walk or drop everything and run?
Fight? About what?
How does Kerik know what a Mafia family feels like outside of a television episode? IF he was really being kissed by the Mafia, my guess is he wouldn't tell. You know it may be true, the greetings may seem Mafia like, what ever that is, but it sounds like just another Italian slur, a derogatory ethnic stereotype to me. Just because the culture is a bit physical doesn't mean it is indicative of Mafia. Needlesstosay, all Italians are not Mafiosos and all Mafiosos are not Italian. And it's just like the press to pull out mob quotes and analogies whenever they write about an Italian person or labor union for that matter. And the public buys it like entertainment. Disparaging racial remarks are going to become full blown at a time with such a diverse group of candidates. You get it all the time with Hillary. People who want a different candidate may start the genderizing calling her pushy or whatever, criticizing her feminity. You see it all the time. Smart women are belittled for not squeeking by.
Sometimes the stereotypes are so bad people recreate themselves just to avoid them. But I'd rather be disliked for being myself than liked for trying to be someone I'm not.
And for Obama, well he's very international for an American, bi-racial and all that. He's exotic, an oddity, from Hawaii, Indonisia, Illinois...New Yorkers may not have literally been to these places but have been exposed to so many cultures that we identify and like somebody like that. We are assuming that he is going to be fair. But I'm sure people will find something to say about him too. I happen to like Hillary. And I like Obama too because he's interesting and a new face. But I hate to say it but all of these candidates including Guliani might be too authentic or far removed from for mainstream America. I hope I'm wrong.
Right...and the President/Mayor can't think something is urgent when it's not. (Nor should he take his time in an emergency or when preventing an emergency. But because prevention is speculation, there is not always an obvious answer- but options and probabilities, and that's when the bureaucracy begins...when we customize, and that's why civil servants often get a bad rap--because their jobs often do not permit them to customize or personalize customer service without first having it signed off by a decision maker, and before it signing off, often the decision is approved by a decision making process which can be very timely. Honestly there is an impulse factor too and that's why the code of ethics , honor and virture of our leaders are so important because if a split second decision is required we want to be able to trust that he willmake the right choice and do the right thing or the best thing or least harmful thing given the options that are available. Honestly I think that is why Bush got into office over Gore. It was about spirit. Independently of all politics, Bush's spirit was brighter than Gore's, at least on TV.)
Is somebody sleeping on the steps of a church or camping out in line to get armbands to buy tickets for a concert "a crime that is about to happen either to themselves or to others?"
Is the "pan-handler" going to turn into a mugger or become injured or disabled if there isn't a handout? Is there aid for people without support or who are not easily employable? What's in the total till and how is it being allocated? It's really important to know the difference between what's immediate and what can wait.
And that's why there are disagreements about being in war today. People with higher fear thresholds might be more liberal when opposing policing a foreign country, while conservative views don't want to take any chances and feel safer moving in the troops. It's a decision that involves many variables and considerations and should not be made by one person. You know, you see it in the court system when a jury or judge assesses whether a law breaker is dangerous to society. It's the same reasoning in international politics.
Laws are easy to agree upon when they are absolute but when there is an unequal distribution of funds and accessibility to resources that's when people start feeling like haves and have nots and all the Robin Hoods and Tidings come into play. That's when all feelings of entitlement begin and all the governing systems. People want to hold on to what they feel they need and then the tax rules come into play and tidings and requests. Thou shall not kill. But if somebody's charging at you with a gun, do you run away or shoot him first? It's tough. It's in the Bible. It's been part of the human condition throughout history.
Yeah, maybe if there was a squeegie school for people who work on the black market? Guliani's all about prohibition, and that makes for an even bigger underground. Everybody knows that. Come on Guiliani, that's Soc 101. GEt with the program. The man is not qualified to be President.
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