Matt Taibbi is the only reason i still open the free Rolling Stones that get stuffed into my mailbox every couple of weeks.
"Giuliani: Worse Than Bush" touts his cover feature.
it's about fucking time.
i had just communicated to an acquaintance my dismay over the possibility of Giuliani storming the White House, riding the same wave of Middle American terror-fear that helped Bush get re-elected three years ago. not to mention that this is the same asshole who was at the helm during the whole "41 Shots" disaster.
sure, he "cleaned up" New York. made it "safer." but he did so by turning the NYPD into a sort of Republican Guard, quarantining Manhattan and quite literally forcing the "bad elements" that had previously defined the city out towards the outer boroughs.
one of the thesis statements of Taibbi's piece (which can be read HERE) is that Rudy G. is basically shaping his run for presidency in the image of Bush II. which is of course a problem. por ejemplo, he's enlisting the help of some of Karl Rove's top lieutenants in his various endeavors and even buddying up to the sleazeball "Swift-Boat" campaigners that deep-sixed Kerry in 2004.
additionally, Taibbi posits that no one, in terms of monetary, social, and political capital, has profited more from 9/11 than Giuliani. he reports that in 2001, "America's Mayor" reported 7,000 dollars in assets during divorce proceedings. i'll give him the benefit of the doubt, as it's not uncommon for motherfuckers to underclaim that kind of shit to jerk the ex.
ok.
fine.
but the fact that federal election reports declared that Giuliani's net worth hovered at or around 30 million? about as shady as they come. his law firm, his private security firm, his $2 million book deal: all the result of this bizarre, misinformed image of Giuliani as hero.
perhaps most tellingly (and most Bush/Cheney/Rove-esque) is the following paragraph:
"In his years as mayor - and his subsequent career as a lobbyist - Rudy jumped into bed with anyone who could afford a rubber. Saudi Arabia, Rupert Murdoch, tobacco interests, pharmaceutical companies, private prisons, Bechtel, Chevron Texaco - Giuliani took money from them all."Chevron Texaco? Saudi Arabia? pharmaceutical companies? FUCK YES! all the things that make this country GREAT!
he goes on:
"You could change Rudy's mind literally in the time it took to write a check. A former prosecutor, Giuliani used to call drug dealers 'murderers.' But as a lobbyist he agreed to represent Seisint, a security firm run by former cocaine smuggler Hank Asher. 'I have a great admiration for what he's doing,' Rudy gushed after taking $2 million of Asher's money."do we really have to wait til 2008 to elect this guy?
of course there's the fact that, like the larger state and federal spheres (both Republican-controlled at the time), the mayor's jurisdiction was totally in the dark intelligence-wise.
furthermore, there is increasing scrutiny in and around New York concerning the rift between FDNY and NYPD that was brought to light during the attacks. built up during the months preceding that day, many analysts and policy makers (on both sides of the line of scrimmage) are saying that this impasse contributed to an incommunique amongst first responders and thus, an increased loss of life that day, particularly concerning the collapse of the towers.
surely, all this is bad news bears for a politician who paints himself as an astute and effective statesman, an enemy of terror and a leader the likes of which the world had never seen. he wrote a book about himself (with help) entitled "Leadership."
you do the math.
but what good is reflecting on the past unless you're going to learn from its mistakes. let's talk about the future.
and what kind of future would that be if, in essence, Bush is elected to a third term. if "America's Mayor" thinks that he can carry on the Us v. Them (terrorists, protestors, logic-driven dissenters and policymakers, the American middle-class), War on Everything mantra of the Bush government, then we really are fucked. i'm talking 9/11 x 1,000. among other similarly terrible things.
but maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. even Republican analysts are advising GOP candidates to "abandon all hope for victory" and back the most conservative Democratic candidate: Hillary Clinton.
when it rains it pours.
i just think the GOP's desperate, American Idol-esque search for the next Ronald Reagan is just plain pathetic. they thought they had it in Bush II, but that didn't really pan out. pesky big government. Homeland Security and fucked-up Wars on Terror tend to inflate things a bit, i guess.
quite frankly, this Reagan-love is just plain terrible. i say this because so much of it is born of Nixon's "fuck them, what about us" (us, as in the much-maligned Euro-American class) ethos. pretty much an about face on the equalizing progressivism of the '60s. no big deal.
for fuck's sake!
his Alzheimer's-afflicted-ass said that AIDS wouldn't be that big of a problem. and that was when he was witnessing the explosion of the epidemic from the halls of the White House. i don't know about you, but that pretty much disqualifies him from visionary super-pol status in my book.
but maybe this fear of the former(?) King of New York isn't all that irrational. sure, the (neo-)Conservative base hates on him on account of the crossdressing, pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-Pope, divorce-crazy lifestyle he's taken up.
but all it takes is a flip flop and he's in the clear on all that noise.
he's got plenty of time to make us forget. and speaking of forgetfulness, if (and when), god forbid, we are attacked again, who better to rush to the fore to claim the spoils of war? turns out that those who
do vote are pretty fucking shook, particularly of threats from rogue Islamic/domestic elements.
don't believe me? well i gotta ask you, Doubting Tomas, who's president right now?
that's what i thought. thanks assholes.
