Giuliani To Unveil "First Responders For Rudy"
You may recall that some time ago Rudy Giuliani unveiled a group called "Firefighters for Rudy" in response to some heat he was taking from firefighters over the deficiencies they saw in his 9/11 performance. At the time, this blog noted that the group's leader was merely a Rudy campaign aide and wouldn't say how many firefighters were in this new "group." Not much has been heard about the group since.
Now Rudy, who's again under fire from recovery workers over his exaggerations about his Masterfully Churchillian Performance on 9/11, is pulling the same trick from his hat once again. Today his campaign plans to unveil "First Responders for Rudy" at a firehouse in South Carolina.
This move, obviously, is all about keeping his 9/11 magic carpet riding high and -- again -- about deflecting the scorching criticism he's endured from the 9/11 workers.
This offers yet another occasion to ponder one of the enduring mysteries of this campaign: How is it that Rudy can keep campaigning on his 9/11 rep when many of the people who were waist deep in the 9/11 stew and had their lives forever altered by the disaster and its aftermath despise the man? How much longer can this media illusion sustain itself?
Comments (14)
Old 33 wrote on August 29, 2007 11:38 AM:I wonder how many members the New York City chapter of "First Responders for Rudy" will have...
eric wrote on August 29, 2007 11:45 AM:How is it that Rudy can keep campaigning on his 9/11 rep?
Well, not long in New York. But down in South Carolina, he can probably continue to foster this mythos without the natives catching on. Remember, these are the people that where hats with "FDNY" emblems addorned with tough looking bald eagles perched above the World Trade Center. Reality means little in SC.
CT Voter wrote on August 29, 2007 11:49 AM:How much longer can this media illusion sustain itself?
This is a rhetorical question, right?
If you still need an answer, you haven't been paying attention....
OxyCon wrote on August 29, 2007 11:52 AM:What's , "Yankees for Rudy"? Since Rudy spent way more time at Yankee's games then at ground zero.
C.P. Pray wrote on August 29, 2007 11:57 AM:"First Responders for Rudy" will meet at Yankee Stadium. Official business will include discussion as to rather the Yankees can make the Playoffs, should Rudy where a Tux or a Dress at his swearing in.
poetry wrote on August 29, 2007 12:08 PM:Rudy Giuliani's father was an enforcer for the mob. Now, that does not mean Rudy is an enforcer for the mob, but the DNA is there in Rudy and all anyone has to do is follow Rudy around with a video camera (as in the case of George "Macacca" Allen) and ask him questions that tick him off.
And "tick" him off is the right description, since Rudy will explode (he has a hair-trigger temper) and it will all be on camera, ready for uploading to uTube.
Maybe Rudy can recruit another "group" (in Rudy's case, one person seems sufficient to form a "group for Rudy"), that group to be called "Abandoned Sons and Daughters For Rudy."
Or another one: "Publicly Humiliated Wives For Rudy."
Kenji wrote on August 29, 2007 12:26 PM:"How is it that Rudy can keep campaigning on his 9/11 rep when many of the people who were waist deep in the 9/11 stew and had their lives forever altered by the disaster and its aftermath despise the man?"
That's because there are people like me who lived through 9/11 in New York and was moved by his charismatic performance on TV, in the glaring absence of leadership from the White House. A lot of people won't just forget that, no matter who criticizes Giuliani's handling of the aftermath of the attacks.
poetry wrote on August 29, 2007 12:37 PM:Rudy may have performed well ON the day of 9/11, but how come in the eight years following the 1993 terror attack on the World Trade Center Rudy never held even one multi-agency drill to prepare for the next terror attack, which was SURE to come?
Wayne Barrett, who covered Rudy Giuliani's career for "The Village Voice" and is co-author of "Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11," reported:
"Look, what does it say that [Rudy Giuliani] NEVER even had a multiagency DRILL in the World Trade Center in the eight years in between the [1993] incident? Not only did he put the command center THERE [in the World Trade Center, on the 23rd floor], the firefighters were carrying the SAME radios that MALFUNCTIONED on the day of the '93 bombing."
Legalize wrote on August 29, 2007 1:15 PM:Talk about a hair-brained scheme. If the NYC responders - the ones who actually KNOW RUDY - don't like him, what's the point? This will make him look foolish, which of course will not factor into whether or not the wingnuts will vote for him or not.
Brian M wrote on August 29, 2007 2:15 PM:Kenji,
Like you, there are many people who look at the "perception" of Guiliani's leadership and believe it, notwithstanding the fact that the evidence to the contrary being overshelming.
tom wrote on August 29, 2007 3:17 PM:Meanwhile, Dodd picks up the IAFF endorsement.
Forgive me if I say: how the hell did that happen? Is Dodd preparing to make a break for it, into the top tier?
(I'm not a Dodd guy -- totally No Bleeping Idea at this point.)
Michael Caine wrote on August 29, 2007 4:06 PM:Shameless plug for a truly great congressional candidate in my state, Darcy Burner.
Her opponent in the 2008 WA-08 Congressional District election is one of the "first responders" endorsing Giuliani at the event. His name is Dave "I'm the Sheriff that caught the Green River Killer" Reichert. For those that aren't familiar with him, he is coming directly from a private $1000/$10,000 plate/photo-op fund raiser headlined by President Bush where they netted approximately $500,000.
Darcy Burner's campaign countered the fund raiser by hosting an online town hall discussing Bush's war in Iraq. A war that Dave Reichert supports Bush on completely and feels Giuliani's the right man to take it to the next level with.
The local netroots along with Daily Kos and many other national blogs got together and set a goal to raise $100,000 for Darcy Burner's campaign. In a span of 4 days, in the middle of August, over a year from the election, they managed to raise over $120,000 from over 3,000 donors. The largest donation being $1,000.
(Here is the real shamelessness part of the plug.) The actual drive is over but you can still contribute in stopping Reichert enabling people like Bush and Giuliani and help the WA-08 get the representation it deserves by contributing to Darcy Burner. http://www.actblue.com/page/burnbush
Just to be clear, I am not part of the Darcy Burner campaign, though I am likely to be a volunteer in it down the road. I am a periphery member of the local netroots.
Michael Caine wrote on August 29, 2007 4:10 PM:Blood heck, I swear I closed the bold tag.
