New Rudy Ad: He Was Stronger Than The Rest Of The World On 9/11
Rudy Giuliani's new ad, running in the West Palm Beach area, uses actual video footage from 9/11 to promote Rudy's candidacy -- and includes this surprising line about the terror attacks:
"When the world wavered, and history hesitated, he never did."
The suggestion appears to be that Rudy's response to the disaster was better than that of literally the rest of the world -- better than Bush's, better than that of the first responders or the people depicted in the ad running from the disaster, better than America as a whole. Indeed, Rudy's response showed him to be stronger and more unshakable than all of history.
Of course, in reality Rudy had nothing to do with America's response to the disaster. Take a look:
Comments (65)
grover_rover wrote on January 18, 2008 11:55 AM:Could he possibly exploit 9/11 any more shamelessly? He has to be well aware that he is often ridiculed for his exploitation of 9/11, why would he keep doing it? Oh wait, that's right, he has nothing else.
Shouldn't 9/11 hurt him if anything? Yeah, he didn't go run and hide when it happened, but it was on his watch that it happened, and he did unwisely locate the emergency coordination center at the WTC pre-9/11, even though it was an obvious terrorist target and everyone told him not to. 9/11 only lessens my opinion of him.
Oh well, after the 5th he can just fade away..
Greg wrote on January 18, 2008 12:01 PM:Could he possibly exploit 9/11 any more shamelessly?
Yes.
This has been another edition of...
Jay Andrew Allen wrote on January 18, 2008 12:03 PM:This may come as a bit of a shock to the families of those policeman, firefighters and other rescue workers who lost their lives running up a collapsing building.
This is beyond shameful. This is disgusting.
Anonymous wrote on January 18, 2008 12:03 PM:Well we have the 911 Tourette's syndrome again, and when discussing corruption no mention of Bernie K, no mention of a chauffer for his mistress, and as Joe Biden said: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11."
Giuliani Partners has had contracts since 2005 with Qatar's Ministry of the Interior, for security advice and consulting services.[19] These contracts were overseen by Minister Abdullah bin Khalifah Al Thani, a member of Qatar's royal family.[19] Al Thani has numerous ties to terrorist organizations, including providing safe haven to Al Qaeda leaders in the 1990s, and helping Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (who later went on to mastermind the September 11, 2001 attacks) elude capture by the FBI in 1996.[20]
Peter Powers is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Giuliani Partners;[2] he replaced Giuliani in this role[3] in June 2007,[2] as Giuliani was in midst of his campaign for president. Peters was formerly a deputy mayor of New York,[2] and many of the managing partners and executives of Giuliani Partners are former New York City officials, counsels, emergency services leaders, etc. from Giuliani's time as mayor.[4] There is a subsidiary of the partnership, Giuliani Security & Safety LLC (before 2005, Giuliani-Kerik), which focuses on security consulting, especially regarding buildings;[5] its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Pasquale J. D'Amuro, a former Assistant Director in Charge in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York office and an Inspector in Charge following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.[5][1]
The firm is privately held. Sources have placed Giuliani Partners' earnings at over $100 million in the five years through early 2007.[1] Another estimate shows it with annual revenues of $40 million and 55 employees.[7] Even after stepping down as CEO and Chairman, Giuliani holds a 30 percent equity stake in the partnership,[2] which paid him $4.1 million in 2006.[2]
Giuliani’s chosen partners at Giuliani Partners have included Bernard Kerik, Giuliani's former police commissioner, who was later accused of having ties to organized crime[1] and left the firm in 2005;[citation needed] former FBI man D'Amuro, who admitted taking six non-evidentiary artifacts from Ground Zero as mementos, but against whom no action was taken by the FBI;[8] and Monseignor Alan Placa, a high school friend of Giuliani and a former Roman Catholic priest who was accused of sexually molesting numerous children and of covering up molestation in the church.[9] Giuliani Partners has stated that Giuliani "believes that Alan Placa has been unjustly accused," and that the firm has no plans to dismiss him.[10]
Forbes reported in November 2006 that Giuliani Partners accepted fees from penny stock firms, made alliances that have gone nowhere and formed pacts with businesses and individuals that have come under scrutiny by regulators and law enforcement officers.[15] For instance, Giuliani Capital Advisors accepted 1.6 million warrants from Lighting Science Group at 60 cents, a fee of $150,000 and a promise to raise cash. The company went bankrupt, losing $412,000 on sales of $137,000 in the first part of 2006. Another venture CamelBak, started out under Giuliani's consulting arrangement with $31 million in sales, but was run into the ground with various missteps, including having the disgraced Bernard Kerik sit on its board. Forbes said Giuliani's most controversial deal was throwing in with a 2004 project with Applied DNA Sciences. Its backer, Richard Langley Jr. had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and commercial bribery in another penny stock scam.[16][17]
One of Giuliani Partners' clients during this time included an admitted drug smuggler and millionaire founder of companies that perform electronic information gathering (datamining) on individuals, Hank Asher, who according to a shareholder in the company, hired Giuliani for his "influence with the federal government to enable Mr. Asher to take an active role in Seisint as a chief executive officer despite the allegations about his drug dealing." Giuliani helped Asher's company get $12 million in government grants.[1] After Asher's past was publicly revealed, he resigned from the company; Giuliani defended him to newspapers without mentioning that Asher was a paying client.[1] After Asher's resignation, investors in the company, Seisint, looked into how much Giuliani Partners had been paid: $2 million a year in fees, a commission on sales of Seisint products, and 800,000 warrants for Seisint stock, which would prove valuable when Seisent was sold to Lexis Nexis for $775 million. One investor sued the board, claiming that Giuliani's contributions had not been worth the large amount paid.[1][13] The Seisent database product that Giuliani Partners was to help market, the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, was itself criticized on civil liberties grounds, and within two years the program had folded.[14]
Mexico City hired Giuliani Partners to consult on its crime rate, hoping for a drop in crime like that New York City had experienced in the 1990s. Giuliani toured the city for a day and Giuliani Partners produced a report analyzing ways in which crime could be reduced. However, in the year after the plan was implemented, crime dropped 1% and some city officials expressed regret at hiring Giuliani for a $4.3 million fee. Some called it a "$4 million publicity stunt".[1] Some of the recommendations that were put into place included using Breathalyzers on drunk drivers and targeting "squeegee men".[18]
In representing a pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, in a case against the Drug Enforcement Administration, Giuliani Partners negotiated a $2 million fine and no further penalty for what the DEA called "lax security" at plants that produced OxyContin, which the DEA said was being used as a recreational drug. The lead DEA investigator later said that Purdue Pharma got off easily in the case because of Giuliani's connections to government officials.[1] Giuliani later represented Purdue Pharma in a recently settled case in which the DEA accused the company of marketing OxyContin by playing down its level of addictive properties. Giuliani met with government lawyers six times to help negotiate a settlement in the case.[1]
Redshift wrote on January 18, 2008 12:06 PM:"Better than Bush" is the only part that's true. Another disaster we can blame on Bush -- if we'd had a real president on 9/11, Giuliani never would have been able to look so good by contrast, and we would have been spared his rehabilitation and subsequent exploitation.
Grand Moff Texan wrote on January 18, 2008 12:07 PM:"history hesitated"
WTF does that even mean?
What can it mean? Anything? This is word salad bravado, Ouija-board blustering.
It's as if the rightwing pumpers of jingoist nonsense are trying to find the bottom of their intended audience's stupidity, or some drunken challenge among giggling ad men to see how far they can go before even Republican voters go TILT!
.
On 9/11, the universe itself wavered on the brink of ultimate annihilation...
...just like Rudy's campaign today.
CT Voter wrote on January 18, 2008 12:23 PM:How does history hesitate?
Sounds like something that would be included in a Bruce Willis flick...
merryll wrote on January 18, 2008 12:27 PM:He did more than just locate the bunker in WTC7. He destroyed evidence in a major crime scene. The evidence was gone before the investigation started.
Sounds like he and the boys are planning another false flag terrorist event. Look out.
Nick wrote on January 18, 2008 12:32 PM:And yet ... through it all ... the Rasmussen poll right on this page has Hillary "beating" this ridiculous foof by all of THREE POINTS nationally. What in God's name is wrong with this party, set to nominate the Electoral Typhoid Mary of next November? Do we WANT Saint McCain in the White House? Can someone wake us from this predictable, slow-motion nightmare?
merryll wrote on January 18, 2008 12:45 PM:Nick, While I don't believe polls [except maybe exit polls]I see the same problem. Clinton gets the nomination with help from Murdoch and Rudy's friends. Then a false flag attack throws the election to him. Then kiss our country goodbye.
Angry Vet wrote on January 18, 2008 12:49 PM:Nick-
I like that:
"predictable, slow-motion nightmare."
litigatormom wrote on January 18, 2008 12:51 PM:"History hesitated" = The Day The Earth Stood Still?
Is Rudy supposed to be Klaatu (Michael Rennie) or Gort the Enforcer Robot?
NCSteve wrote on January 18, 2008 12:52 PM:You people are just being mean to poor Rudy. Have you all forgotten that iconic footage of Rudy, barechested and screaming his defiance, singlehandedly holding up the collapsing South Tower to give a few more people time to escape? And why doesn't the press ever talk about the way he parachuted into Afghanistan, deep behind enemy lines, and captured Osama Bin Laden singlehandedly, armed with nothing but a knife and a compass? And let us not forget how he alone had the intelligence gathering skills to glean the information that stopped the Shoe Bomber just in the nick of time from the Internet. Combine his super strengh, superior intellect, and his almost clarivoiyant foresight with his own awesome personal experience with the the application of "enhanced" interrogation techniques to those who hate us for our Freedoms, and how can we possibly be considering anyone else to run the country?
You're all just a bunch of cynics. Of course HIllary's only a couple of points ahead of this hero.
phil james wrote on January 18, 2008 12:53 PM:Politics as usual could very well throw the election to the nutjob Thug party. The 3 Dem candidates should be thinking outside that box RIGHT NOW to make sure that doesn't happen. And I mean WAY outside the box. If the 3 align NOW, they would be absolutely unstoppable in the general.
Joshua wrote on January 18, 2008 12:58 PM:NCSteve I definitely LOL'd at that. The picture of Rudy holding up a tower and parachuting in the night is just too hilarious to deny. Thanks!
Anonymous wrote on January 18, 2008 12:59 PM:merryll wrote on January 18, 2008 12:45 PM:
If your scenario happens, then it is the madrid and spanish elections all over again, a simple ad with no reference to 911 illicited 1 response.
If there is an assumption that there will be anything but a close the doors mentality, isolationist drive, and through out the foreigners response, then you have missed the Paultards, Kuchinich, and anti-war and anti-establishment factor in this election.
As soon as the MSM coronates a leader in either party, the public subconciously remembers the missed expectations in WMD, the we will be met with Roses in Iraq, the Iraq will pay for itself, and a allot of other factors that are driving this election at the base level which the establishment though relectant to talk about exists.
Explain away Lou Dobbs, Keith Olbermann, John Stewart, Ron Paul, and the fact that as soon as your a leader in the primary you take a drop in the polls!
I mean the MSM talked up housing and refinancing enough didn't they?
I still see ample opportunity for a third party after very painful primaries.
But to sum up, Giuliani has no chance of winning an election. He has no commonality with this nation though he may have some where the MSM is located, in NY city.
Giuliani is another empty MSM message and the public is rejecting their message in larger and larger numbers.
Regarding "history hesitating" and the "world wavering," I'd like to suggest that this is simply advertising alliteration all amok. In the 60-second version, we'll probably hear about nations nattering, tyrants tittering, liberals limpening, clergy cloistering, and Democrats dawdling.
At this point, he's running for the office of "consultant paid at 60% of my previous rate." Best of luck to him.
Nameless wrote on January 18, 2008 1:12 PM:This is like a really bad movie trailer.
global citizen wrote on January 18, 2008 1:12 PM:It would appear that George W. Bush has ruined the chances of any more cartoon characters becoming President, at least for now. Someone should have told Rudy.
Thomas Allen wrote on January 18, 2008 1:16 PM:How many times can one man rape 3,000 corpses?
sj dowling wrote on January 18, 2008 1:18 PM:For a politician, Rudy has zero people skills. Pre-9/11 he was about to be run out of NYC on a rail, pre-9/11 he had a disterous campaign for the Senate, where HRC was kicking his ass and he dropped out. That he remained in office as mayor for so long is a tribute to his skills in using fear and intimidation to cow a divided opposition. His failure as a big-time GOP candidate is due to his inability to scare and intimidate every individual voter in every state. He is hanging on right now in the hopes that he can get the VP spot and secure fat clients for his consulting buisiness, which he has "distanced himself from", but still runs.
Blackacre wrote on January 18, 2008 1:18 PM:How exactly did "the world waver?" I recall most of the world offering support after 9/11. He's a joke.
merryll wrote on January 18, 2008 1:20 PM:I agree with one thing, MSM's messages are being rejected more as people come to regard them as just another money-making venture.
ignoreland wrote on January 18, 2008 1:29 PM:Not taking anything away from the sheer awfulness of the ad, but why does he have the top third of his head cut off at the end? Is he ashamed of his own baldness?
Juarez Traveller wrote on January 18, 2008 1:29 PM:Here's the most hopeful scenario (not that I really like Obama, but he's got the best chance to really change things):
Right now, Hillary is ahead in the Super Tuesday states, with Obama second and Edwards third. Hopefully, Edwards loses South Carolina and Nevada, reads the tea leaves, and drops out. Since most of his supporters will go to Obama and not Clinton, Obama can win Super Tuesday and be the party's nominee.
Am I too hopeful? If Edwards really does want change and not Clinton, he'll get while the getting's good.
Hemlock for Gadflies wrote on January 18, 2008 1:35 PM:You know, I bet this plays really well in Florida, where they believe this sort of thing. The problem, you see, with people like YOU, TPM, and ME, and the rest of the commenters here, is that we actually "know stuff."
Florida's Republican population, on the other hand, is notorious for not "knowing stuff" -- like Republicans in general.
Jeremy wrote on January 18, 2008 1:42 PM:Why don't you post Kucinich stuff the way you post other non-viable candidates?
D wrote on January 18, 2008 1:47 PM:re: Matt on alliteration:
That has to be the f@%kingest dead-on assessment of these Republican retards I've ever read.
Look out for the Rudy "compassionate conservative" alliteration redux in upcoming ads.
Rudy: "I cleaned up New York's fashion disctrict in my own, War on Wearer campaign.
Weally, Wudy?
Weally
Mike O wrote on January 18, 2008 1:49 PM:What bugs me about the ad is not the fact that he blatantly exploits the tragedy (though this exploitation is a close second), but that he is wearing a MASK when walking around Ground Zero. How many first responders have reported repiratory problems following their work for weeks and months at the site? I'm guessing that no one the Rudy campaign is even aware that there's an issue with breathing ailments. Or if they are aware, they're too intent on exploitation to notice the hipocracy of this image.
illlich wrote on January 18, 2008 1:54 PM:If Rudy loses. . . the TERRORISTS WIN!!!
Taylor wrote on January 18, 2008 1:54 PM:Seeing footage of Rudy with a dust mask reminds me....
....Wasn't there something about rescue workers misled and exposed to dangerous substances like asbestos during the cleanup? With Rudy and Christy Todd Whitman as the chief characters responsible....
bill wrote on January 18, 2008 1:57 PM:There's 2 purposes for this ad. One is the obvious: to convey its moronic message another is to buy coverage. No ads, no coverage. Bribery.
Ethan wrote on January 18, 2008 2:01 PM:>>>The Day The Earth Stood Still
Maybe 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'? Who's the bigger alien Bowie or Rudy?
JR wrote on January 18, 2008 2:01 PM:If you folks hadn't posted it, I'd have sworn it was an parody from Saturday Night Live...
mary wrote on January 18, 2008 2:01 PM:Did you guys see the mashup Josh just put on the front page? The black knight clip was OMG HILARIOUS. I could not stop laughing. Maybe its because I'm a Monty Python fan, but that is a perfect analogy for Rudy's campaign.
Keep em coming Josh. That was great!
GSD wrote on January 18, 2008 2:02 PM:How soon before he starts to campaign wearing the breathing mask and a full covering of concrete dust?
This man is teetering on the edge of sanity.
-GSD
pol wrote on January 18, 2008 2:04 PM:Greg, you misspelled "stronger" in your headline on the front page.
Kitt wrote on January 18, 2008 2:06 PM:Yes, I'd like to put the phrase "History Hesitated" in an A, B, C, D, or none of the above, pop quiz. The lettered questions would provide answers as to what does "History Hesitated" mean.
Any ideas on what the lettered questions would be?
Mary wrote on January 18, 2008 2:09 PM:Here is another candidate who took a page from Rudy's 9/11 playbook. From Keith Olbermann:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BB4Vvgn_4k
In reality, on 9-11 Rudy was probably shagging some bimbo in his palatial WTC Tower 7 love nest when the towers began collapsing and he had to run for his life.
Bush was flying around the country "Trying to get out of harm's way (his own words)".
But there's plenty of footage of Rudy running away from the Towers. Some hero.
CT Voter wrote on January 18, 2008 2:30 PM:Here's my choice for a:
a) In an event not seen before, or since, time literally stopped, until Mayor Giuliani singlehandedly put the earth back on its axis and restored truth, justice, and the American Way, a performance that has since garnered him the loving adoration of the press and the nickname "Commanding Daddy".
(For some reason, my answer reminds of those "worst opening sentence" contests...."
Why doesn't he just change his name to Rudy Gui9/lliani and have done with it.
It is incredible the way this man continues to use 9/11 for his own gain.
Mike M. wrote on January 18, 2008 2:41 PM:On 9/11 Rudy inhaled toxic dust from the falling towers. That dust mixed with his unique anatomy to turn him into something quite more than human, quite more than a mayor. In short, the toxic dust gave him super powers.
It's a fact.
tinisoli wrote on January 18, 2008 2:46 PM:It is encouraging that most people are rejecting Rudy and his insane delusions of grandeur. He probably would've been the nominee and been elected president if Bush had been in his second term instead of his first on 9/11. Back in '04, this kind of manipulation still worked, and we hadn't yet learned how corrupt and insane Rudy is. Would've been a no-brainer to most people to keep the GOP in the White House in "mid stream" of the Iraq war, just as it was a no-brainer (literally) to think that way about Bush at the time. I still think of the post-9/11 period as one that should shame America, not only for how we did everything wrong but how so many of us were willing to let Bush use the constitution as toilet paper so long as we were promised the maintenance of cable TV, security, our consumerist society, and all the other shit that doesn't mean anything. And 9/11 itself has been robbed of its meaning by Rudy and the other scumbags who have simply muttered the term into absurdity. What a disgrace.
turtleguy wrote on January 18, 2008 3:03 PM:Laugh now, but when the next terrorist attack comes in the next few months, Rudy will look like a genius and then a brockered convention will give it to him.
And then the voting machines, after a nice dry run giving Hillary a false victory in NH, will give him the general election, too.
merryll wrote on January 18, 2008 3:21 PM:I still think there's a good chance there will be a false flag terror event before the election to mobilize the frightened vote and put Rudy or another Republican in. If it happens, let's investigate it this time.
Dave wrote on January 18, 2008 3:30 PM:I've never seen him look worse than this.
Who's managing the campaign adverts for this guy?
rocknation wrote on January 18, 2008 3:48 PM:to put his terrorist command center in the dumbest possible place, ignore firefighter and police requests for better radio communications, of ask if the elections could be postponed so he could remain mayor! He did, however, hesitate to disburse 911 donations to the city. He said he was going to wait until, and only the public outcry made him change his mind.
Tyler wrote on January 18, 2008 3:51 PM:I'm stunned people are blaming Bush for 9/11. The man had been in office for less than a year, yet he was supposed to fort the master plan of Al Queda when Bill Clinton had 8 years to do so? The head-line "terrorist set to attack on US Soil" offered nothing more than just that. I highly doubt anyone in America would have assumed terrorist were planning on hijacking air planes and flying them into buildings on that day. Bush had to get onto a plane and fly to a secure location because as the leader of this nation, he is a target and it is done for his secruity. Everyone from Obama to Bush to would have done the same thing. They also fly the VP to another secure location in case something happens to the president either along the way or where he is at.
They had no idea that was the end of the terrorist attacks.
But going back to the Rudy message, I think he is nothing but show now. The guy is a distant memory and is just trying to keep his name in the papers. To me it seems like he's doing these things to keep his "popularity" alive rather than win an election (which McCain has all but wrapped up).
acf wrote on January 18, 2008 5:02 PM:Pre 9/11, Rudy had long since worn out his welcome, and New Yorkers were impatiently awaiting his departure from the public scene. His abrasive manner in most things, his questionable choice of associates, and his bizarre personal behavior, had long since relegated him to the garbage heap of political has beens. The 9/11 terrorist attacks rehabilitated him in a big way. As mayor, he commanded center stage in the city where the most serious attacks took place. As mayor of that city, he gained an international audience, and his steady, immediate performance, in contrast to the coward running around the country and hiding in a rabbit hole gave him a boost in esteem that eclipsed that received by Bush when he finally started acting the part of president. Now, after nearly a year of running for president, the old, 'just go away', Rudy has reappeared, and it's time for him to go.
Tyler wrote on January 18, 2008 5:14 PM:"in contrast to the coward running around the country and hiding in a rabbit hole gave him a boost in esteem that eclipsed that received by Bush when he finally started acting the part of president."
You're right, being president of the US doesn't make Bush a target. He should have been out in the open the second the attacks were happening, nevermind the fact he could have been targeted.
Name me one person who wouldn't have "run cowardly into a rabbit hole"? This was standard operation. I'm sorry you feel that the president should expose himself when the country is being attacked.
robert S wrote on January 18, 2008 5:36 PM:Tyler,
Who would you blame for 9/11 if not the commander-in chief? Especially when the military did absolutely nothing to stop it; never any launching planes until a Canadian said so--and then stalling and sending them slowly out to sea. Rumsfeld, who was given sole authority to shoot down planes was AWOL. [Not that a shoot-down order was necessary to engage a rogue plane] Cheney was in the bunker and in control. He had scheduled several military drills that brought fighters away from the airspace that day, and confused the air traffic controllers with false blips.
Bush had been told Al Qaeda was a serious problem but rather than do anything about it, he ordered the Osama bin Laden unit of the FBI disbanded, and all investigations of Islamic finances stopped. The Bush family has a history of friendship with the Binladens, and allowed them to leave the country imediately following 9/11 instead of being treated like suspects.
There are so many holes in the official story. Three massive, overengineered steel buildings, 2 a quarter of a mile tall each, collapse in 10 seconds or less after being hit by 2 planes? These planes' passenger lists contained no Arab names, and several 'hijackers' are still alive. No one was fired.
I too doubt that Bush was in on the planning of it. But because he waited 2 years before being forced to investigate it, then appointed cronies, and refused to testify except in secret with Cheney, he [and Rudy] was certainly helping cover it up. Covering up mass murder is complicity. Do some research. There is no way the official story is true.
Old boy is finished.
He'll never be a candidate. Best he can hope for is that Mittens hires him to be number 2 so he can look better.
Or maybe (god help us) Secretary of Defense.
castanea wrote on January 18, 2008 7:42 PM:I'm surprised that more people haven't picked up on the truth regarding Rudy. His candidacy has nothing at all to do with being president, nor even with being the Republican nominee. All he is doing is getting air time in hopes of improving his business prospects.
As former mayor of NYC, he had a certain degree of status, a certain marketability. As the former front runner of the Republican party for the nomination, he has loads more. Giuliani won't even come close to getting the nomination, but after the convention, he will laugh himself all the way to the bank, numerous times.
COMALite J wrote on January 18, 2008 9:00 PM:Tyler, uhm, Clinton did try to stop Osama and al-Qaeda, right after the 1994 WTC bombing, and he actually got stuff accomplished, including bringing the actual mastermind of that one to justice.
Clinton may well have been able to stop them and gotten Osama himself, but he was rather distracted because of a multi-billion-dollar witchhunt at taxpayer expense initiated by one billionaire J. Mellon Scaife (look up “Arkansas Project” — this was nothing less than an actual and very nearly successful coup d’et´t attempt at a sitting U.S. President, the only such incident in our history!), that investigated alleged major criminal activity with Whitewater, and failed to turn up anything except — horrors! — a blow job!
Oh, and when he actually did attack al-Qaeda, what did the Republicans in Congress do? They accused him of doing so to try to distract public attention from their witch-hunt! What was the phrase they used? Based on a then-recent movie? Oh yeah: “Wag the Dog.”
If your GOP buddies had let Clinton do his job, 9/11/2001 would still have happened, but only in the sense that 9/10/2001 did: midnight, sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight — just another day. And we’d still have two of the tallest buildings in the world in Lower Manhattan, instead of a block-large hole in the ground. And most of some 3,000 people would still be alive (granted, some may have died later from other causes).
And Guilliani wouldn’t be running for President, because he wouldn’t have anything to campaign on.
Kenji wrote on January 18, 2008 10:34 PM:The world wavered, history hesitated... and assholes aliterated.
acf wrote on January 18, 2008 11:19 PM:I expect the president to take charge, and do more than run around the country from region to region, incommunicado from his country, then put out the quickly discredited claim that he and Air Force One were being targeted. Air Force One has robust communications capabilities. He could have easily made his presence known. Instead, what we saw (or didn't see) was the prelude to his Katrina behavior...AWOL. There was a vacuum in leadership, and Rudy Giuliani filled it for the public. Who knows what was being done behind the curtain of this secretive administration?
Dr. K. Gharwal wrote on January 19, 2008 12:50 AM:Mr. Rudy Giuliani is making for himself very easy to use the date of 11/9 and appear his heroism, but he is making a big mistakes:
1. It would not happen the barbaric attack on 11/9 in New York, if the intelligent service, FBI and security responsible carried out their job proper!
2. How is possible, that all those terrorist are getting pilot training in USA?
3. Why it was possible to carry out 4 attacks with time delay without any obstacle?
Here are lot of questions, which are not answered.
4. The attack of 11/9 was a not a simple attack, through this barbaric attack killed a lot of innocent people, this attack appeared the huge weakness of security in country
5. As I mentioned that this attack was not a simple attack, why Mr. President did not reacted as President and he had to interrupt his program of visiting in school and act and appear as president to the nation.
6. Mr. Giuliani, you as head of New York had the responsibility to take care not to happen the second attack after certain time.
How can you appear your and your friends totally weakness as your heroism, it is cheating, this government ruined the economy of country, this current president damaged through his unqualified action the image of USA in the world, this government damaged the existed sympathy of USA. If you love really USA and the Nation of USA, please confess your made mistakes and avoid to follow the style of falsehood of Mr. Bush!
acf
"[Bush]put out the quickly discredited claim that he and Air Force One were being targeted"
I'm not defending his actions that day, [or lack of them] but these claims were not discredited. As they fled Florida (without Air Force escorts for some unexplained reason), Air Force 1 directly received a message saying "Angel is next" Angel is Secret Service code for Air Force 1. Also, the message contained nuclear launch codes. This meant that someone inside the Government was threatening nuclear destruction.
As far as Rudy, he didn't do anything except get out of the way when someone [who?] told him the building was going to collapse. Might have been nice to mention that to the firefighter heading up the stairs.
Can't he just go away already?
Robert S wrote on January 19, 2008 11:56 AM:"As far as Rudy, he didn't do anything except get out of the way when someone [who?] told him the building was going to collapse. Might have been nice to mention that to the firefighter heading up the stairs."
Not true. Rudy destroyed the evidence.
Tyler wrote on January 19, 2008 11:27 PM:How about Clinton making it illegal for CIA/FBI officials to share information? Clinton also had his chance at actually capturing Osama Bin Laden but the CIA/FBI got too caught up as to who was going to take responsibility for the actions and thus, slipped away. Again, this wasn't something that was planned in less than a years time. The pilots went to flight school, Osama had been making a name for himself in the middle east and a growing reputation, he had already attacked the US and its allies.
Clinton did catch the criminal mastermind from the 1994 WTC bombing, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it still happened. What information did Bush have that would have told him that the terrorists were going to attack on that day with those methods (btw, we have caught Osama's top commanders, including his 2nd in command)? One thing I blame on Bush and Clinton is that security at air ports (even so today) were terrible. Bush however, didn't do much of anything until the planes hit.
The Arkansas Project was a disgrace, but that still shouldn't have turned his attention away from the people who planned on attacking this country. If anything, Clinton probably should have been more worried about the evidence of financial malfeasance found by the FBI in 1993, Hugh Rodham, and in 1996 the campaign finance controversy from the People's Republic of China.
Bush also let Osama's family go because A.) Staying in the states wasn't safe B.) they are apart of the ruling government in Saudi Arabia which is close allies with the US and
C.) They had Osama banned from Saudi Arabia and had all connections with him cut. Soon after his banishment Bin Laden attacked the Saudi regime for being "agents of infidels".
Bush only knew what was going on after the planes had struck (whether that’s the fault of a poor administration, air port control, or FBI/CIA is debatable). Bush at the time was in a class room reading to small children. After secret service told Bush of the strikes, the first response of the US is to protect the president by getting him to a secure location. Something I still don’t understand as to why people say he was running and cowering.
I'm a borderline republican and I do see faults with the party (for instance, Bill Clinton shouldn't have met any sort of resistance from congress regarding terrorism and I agreed with going into Bosnia).
Dr. K. Gharwal wrote on January 22, 2008 6:17 AM:Mr. Rudy Gui9/11( it is a suggest from jason Kennedy, it is a nice suggest!) is believing, that the people can be monopolized very easy, he is under estimating the people, he and his Republican candidates are believing still the monopolized
preaching and announcing to fight the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and to export the democracy, freedom, peace and prosperity with his own selected people to those countries, his rubbish actions produced opposite effects, because his actions was bas on lies and his selected guys are unqualified, corrupted, criminals and intrigues maker, terrorists actions increased, anarchy and chaos expanded. He and his administration damaged the economy of USA, the Republican Party created lot of mess in country and international, it is time to wake up the people of USA, to decide to rescue the economy and the image of super power of USA and establish the trust in the world, therefore it is important to give the votes to Democratic Party, this party can correct the made mistakes of Mr. warrior G. W. Bush!
USA was always pioneer in the world for helping and supporting the countries, which was terrorized from dictatorial and fascist regimes, the best example is the 2nd war action, of course it was made mistakes too but not by knowledge, what Mr. Bush and the Republican Party did during the last years and at the present time, it is unbelievable.
After second war got the German and Austria through the help of USA to build governments through those people, who were accepted, qualified and were wises personalities.
Mr. Bush started a war in Afghanistan to have any plan after on and he promoted the killer, criminals and warlords, it means, he replaced one group of killer and criminals through the other, Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad was very proud on it, that he could deal with opposition to bring them with Mr. Karzai group together, he called those criminal as opposition and he brought those with other unqualified and thefts.
We see the result of it now, the country is insecure, it exist there chaos and anarchy.
The poverty is there, the parent are selling there children, because they can not keep them on alive, prostitution is there, opposite to them, the criminal, killer and thefts have huge houses, hotels, huge markets and their own companies. Mr. Karzai said he can not stop them and he announced recently, he will eliminate terrorist for ever in country, but he can not eliminate the terrorist around him, We have to thank Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, that he put Mr. such groups together.
It was not enough, they started in Iraq base on liar the war there too and they act there in the same way as in Afghanistan. Through those unqualified actions USA lost its trust in Asia, even in Europe has USA not that sympathy as it was, they damaged the economy and the image of super power, therefore I am sure, the nation of USA realize it and the nation will vote in November for Democratic Party, this Party is able to correct the made mistakes of Mr. Bush and his around.
By Iraq is the position of Democratic Party clear, I hope, in case Afghanistan will act in right way too and make it possible for the peace movement and patriots to build a provisional government.
It is only this way to bring out the country from existed disaster and eliminate the terrors and use the signed money for the people and establish the stability in country.
USA needs change, USA needs honest leadership, USA should get trust in world again and act as super power like in the past, therefore it should get this important task the Democratic Party of USA through the Votes by November 2008!!!
