2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumIs Rudy Giuliani Losing His Mind?
Anyone just tuning in must be wondering: What happened to Americas mayor? For millions of people outside New York, the lasting image of Giuliani is that of the man we all rooted for as he pushed his way through the streets of Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and told us afterward, with almost heartbreaking gentleness, that the casualties will be more than any of us can bear. Giuliani that day went on television not only to urge calm, but to remind New Yorkers not to take out their grief on MuslimsWe should act bravely. We should act in a tolerant wayand just days later held an interfaith prayer service in Yankee Stadium that brought Islamic clerics together with Christians and Jews. This season in political hell, Giuliani has seemed so addled, so much the campaign tool, alternately vicious and clownish in defense of The Donald, that at one point he even stuffed his most famed accomplishment down the memory hole, insisting of the Bush presidency, Under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didnt have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack in the United States.
It might seem like this summer has marked a sad break with that old Rudy, or proved him a sellout. But if youve followed Giulianis career, in fact its clear he swallowed the whole Trump persona many years agothe race-baiting, the law-and-order pose, the incessant lying used to both steal credit and avoid responsibility. What were seeing this summer isnt a crackup: Its the inevitable, supernova explosion of what long ago became one of the most toxic and overrated political careers in our history. Its tempting to count the 72-year-old Giuliani one more addition to the Island of Misfit Toys that Trump has gathered around himanother one of the political relics who, seeking to restore relevance, have found themselves denatured by the strange public power of Trump. But a better way to see it might be as a man seizing the star turn he never quite gotgrabbing time in slow stretches of the campaign to stand on the national stage and play the role that was supposed to be his, exactly the way he thinks it should be played.
What lies at the heart of Trumpism, and Rudyism, is the same, nostalgic impulse that has driven reactionary Republican populism for a half-century nowThe shining city on the hill! as Giuliani managed to splutter at the convention, just before, Greatness! Its no coincidence that Trump and Giuliani both came of age in the New York of the 1960s and 70s, the time when the dream seemed to die, during the nihilistic, wholesale destruction of our cities.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-2016-214207#ixzz4JJa4PGVj
TeamPooka
(24,228 posts)bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Just throwing out some reasons here (none of them justifiable):
1. He's mad at Bill Clinton for using the line-item-veto to cancel special tax cuts for NYC; that resulted in the USSC ruling Clinton v. NYC (1998).
2. He blames Bill Clinton for 9/11, a common tripe we heard on the right throughout the 2000's.
3. He's bitter over not being able to run against Hillary for the Senate in 2000 because of his prostate cancer, feels he alone could have stopped her, and it is his duty to do so now.
Me.
(35,454 posts)As I remember it here in the city, the view it was a lucky break for him and a good excuse not to run against someone he couldn't beat.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)When he was mayor he had to cater to the most diverse electorate in America. He also had to deal with a major crisis. Besides, he had no reason to believe that any Muslim New Yorkers were responsible for planes crashing into the WTC Towers.
Sounding reasonable at the time was a no brainer.
Today, the only person that he needs to cater to is Trump. Basically, he's allowing Trump to exploit his own good name for a chance to advance into some hypothetical Trump administration. That's never going to happen, of course.
Anyway, I would suppose that Ghouliani has always been deferential to Trump and his foolishness. Ghouliani has always been his shoeshine boy, it's just today that it's the only job he can get.
randr
(12,412 posts)is placing the NYPD Command Center in the World Trade Towers against the wishes of the first responders themselves.
He made them the target and is responsible for the lost lives.
OB44
(27 posts)To the White House.
al bupp
(2,179 posts)Lsantos04
(48 posts)All he has done during the last decade or so is exploit the 9/11 tragedy whenever possible. A shameless opportunist with no conscience.
I hope he fades into obscurity after Trump loses.