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No Show Rudy.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Fenian_Bastard, Jun 19, 2007.

Page 4 of 4
  1. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    Anyone having trouble trying to find a copy of the movie "Giuliani Time"?

    I saw it at a film festival several years ago. It's good fodder for those who want to know about Rudy's pre-9/11 days....
     
    Big Chee, Jun 21, 2007
    #37
  2. Point of Order

    Point of Order Active Member

    I believe Rudy can definitely be elected president of the United States. It's really not that difficult to envision. As soon as Fred Thompson enters the race he will get cut off at the knees because he's not really Ronald Reagan, a fact most republicans don't yet seem to have grasped.

    After that, Rudy will be, as he is now, the nominee by default because he gives the GOP a reasonable chance at holding the White House. The others offer almost no chance in a general election.

    After he's nominated, he'll be running against either Hillary, who everyone hates, Obama, who everyone thinks is a lightweight, or Edwards, who's kind of an oddball. It's not unreasonable to think he can mount a winning campaign over any of these candidates. Third-party or independent candidacy possibilities throw another wild card into play, and it's impossible to tell how they might affect the race.

    So, if you think there's NO WAY Rudy Giuliani can become president, I beg to differ.
     
    Point of Order, Jun 21, 2007
    #38
  3. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    I agree. Considering how "centrist" the country is becoming, Rudy and his fusion policies could possibly ride him all the way to the presidency.
     
    Big Chee, Jun 21, 2007
    #39
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    This quote from one of the firefighters pretty much sums up that story: “Maybe he wasn’t great for the Fire Department,” Mr. McCarthy said. “But he was great for the city.”

    There are going to be plenty of people lined up to bitch about something about Giuliani. One of the reasons he did such a good job as mayor of NYC is that he didn't try to be everything to everyone--like David Dinkins, for example, who was ineffective because he was afraid to make decisions and face criticism. Giuliani showed a willingness to face realities and make unpopular decisions. You can debate whether he was always right or whether his manner was good. But the city prospered under him and he did remarkably well in a crisis situation, even if individual interest groups were often left bitching about decisions he made--and it does take guts to do the unpopular. I understand why the firefighter's union would have problems with budgetary cuts that hurt it. But it isn't like Giuliani hates firefighters. He was making tough decisions that he undoubtedly didn't relish. When Mike Bloomberg entered office, the city was facing a bad financial situation, and his cuts to the department were way more drastic than anything Giuliani had to do. It doesn't mean Bloomberg hates firefighters either. Reality was smacking him in the face, and he was forced to shut down a half dozen to a dozen fire houses--there were huge protests, with people saying he wasn't honoring the work they did on 9/11--and he cut back on personnel; I believe he cut five-man companies back to four fighters each. The union bitched about it and the attacks got nasty. But it wasn't a disrespect for the heroism of the fire department. It was someone having to face reality and make decisions.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 21, 2007
    #40
  5. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    Giuliani and his financial book fudging fell on Bloomberg's lap to the point the current mayor criticized the financial mess left on his plate only for one of Giuliani PR reps to respond to Mayor Bloombergs comments.

    Not only that, Giuliani allowed the NYPD and Fire Department to run autonomously, despite living through the first WTC attacks in 93' when both departments were unable to coordinate with each other. The Fire Department and NYPD ran on two different radio signals for years, which came back to haunt them on 9/11.

    too bad that wasn't included in that article.
     
    Big Chee, Jun 21, 2007
    #41
  6. Guy_Incognito

    Guy_Incognito Well-Known Member

    Edwards' problem isn't that he's odd - he's also a lightweight.
     
    Guy_Incognito, Jun 21, 2007
    #42
  7. Fenian_Bastard

    Fenian_Bastard Guest

    Oh, I'm dying to hear this one -- especially in the context of the current Republican field, including Fred, who found being a senator too taxing, and who then went on to be a lobbyist, an actor, and the fill-in host on Paul Harvey's radio program. Mike Huckabee -- National Icon. Sam Brownback -- Statesman. Mitt Romney -- International Man of Mystery.
    And Ragu, a lot of the firefighter's anger with Rudy has to do with his actions after this "crisis situation" that is his only reason for running. He put the emergency response center in the WTC, which had already been bombed. He cut the budget so that the first-responders couldn't talk to each other. He went along with passing on the air quality at Ground Zero when the government knew it was unsafe. It wasn't all about ongoing union beefs.

    Modified to correct brainless use of quote function.
     
    Fenian_Bastard, Jun 21, 2007
    #43
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    FB, That story in the NY Times--which I was commenting on--was about union beefs, about firefighter pay and about personnel cuts. Not about air quality, which no one reasonable believes Rudy Giuliani had any control over. In fact, one of the main beefs is that he tried to cut the number of firefighters allowed to try to recover bodies in order to save money. They're not bitching about having been sent in there and it being unsafe. They're bitching about the fact that not enough of them were allowed in there! I spent a lot of time working at the site after 9/11 and I breathed that unsafe air--and knew I was. Not one firefighter I know--and I know a lot of them--didn't believe that they were breathing unhealthy crap. Not one of them was trying to get out of his duty, though, and not one of them believed Rudy Giuliani had any control over it.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 21, 2007
    #44
  9. Fenian_Bastard

    Fenian_Bastard Guest

    \
    If he told people the air was safe -- not clean, safe -- and he knew, suspected, or should have known that it wasn't, as it plainly wasn't, then he carries the weight with Christie Whitman. And let's not even get into the fact that his idea of a public-safety expert is a thug like Bernie Kerik.
     
    Fenian_Bastard, Jun 21, 2007
    #45
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