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Giuliani: The Worst Possible Choice for President
 Prepared bywww.YourLeaders.org We've all seen Rudolph Giuliani's face splashed across our television screens (unfortunately, while some of us were eating) as a contender for the Republican nomination to be the next president of these United States.We've heard his nasal voice in the debates telling us to fear the terrorists, and how he is the man to protect us.We've heard him referred to as "America's Mayor". But the fact is, the only reason that Rudy Giuliani is evenwithin 100 miles of the presidency is because thousands of Americans died in the city in which he happenedto be mayor. His name is well-recognized by the American public because of his face time on television inthe aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. His sound bites at the time gave the impressionto the watching world that he was a caring man prepared to handle ultimate disaster and earned him themoniker “America’s Mayor.” He is now attempting to parlay his name recognition into an aura of politicalexpertise and an image of being strong on national security. But is he really that man? I say NO. Giuliani isthe LAST man we want to be president, and here is why.If we look at what he actually did before and during that tragic event he doesn’t come off so well. In fact,hefailed to provide workers at ground zero with adequate equipment, including respirators,until a
full week 
into the clean up. In addition, he failed to maintain the City so that it could deal with a major disaster despitethe fact of the previous attack on the World Trade Center by Islamic extremists in 1993. In 2001, New York City firemen were without vital equipment before the events of September 11, in many cases lacking workingradios. Using the same radios that did not work at the site of the 1993 bombing resulted in poor coordinationof the rescue attempts and additional loss of life. Maybe that is why the
Uniformed Firefighters Association
hascome out squarely against Rudy, and the
International Association of Fire Fighters
is currentlymounting anti-Giuliani campaigns,accusing himof showing a “disgraceful lack of respect for the fallen”,and saying hegave up the search for missing firefighters in order to put more resources into buried goldin the ruins of the WTC.Speaking of the smoldering ruins,Giuliani brilliantly chose to locate The Office of Emergency Managementin the World Trade Center complex, a known terrorist target.This office was created to coordinate efforts between police and firefighters, but with the distraction of evacuating its headquarters, it was not able toconduct these efforts properly.As Giuliani was warned would happen, the diesel fuel stored in that buildingto run the office in an event of a power failure has been blamed for the terrible fire that caused Building 7 tocollapse after the attack. How many lives, not to mention millions of dollars, did that error in judgmentcost? The answer is unknown.So, from an anti-terrorism viewpoint, Giuliani is a failure. But what about his experience as a mayor and in politics in general? Maybe he has some redeeming features there? Sadly, no. As mayor he has been lessthan ideal, to put it mildly. His "tough-on-crime policy" in New York City sounds good, and has fooled a lotof people, butstatistics show that the results were no greater than crime reduction programs of other major US cities - that is, other large US cities experienced similar (or larger) drops in crime without the magicGiuliani touch. And Giuliani's position on police brutality was indifferent at best. Both the Louimaand Diallocases took place during his tenure and were only the tiniest tip of an enormous iceberg. In 1997hevetoed the creation of an independent police review board to monitor abuses by the officers.He knew,however, that he'd have to at least appear to reign in the police force of New York City if he ever wanted towin re-election, so he appointed a task force to recommend measures to improve community-police relations.Yet after he had safely won a second term, Giuliani scornfully dismissed their proposals. He reduced crime  by not policing the police. But what did he offer those those very police? Nothing -he refused them payraises. Imagine how he'd run our nation's military.Being a mayor of a large city like New York is a notable achievement, but it isn’t the same experience as
 
running a state or federal level government. Giuliani has had no real experience beyond the city level. In fact,if elected he would be the first former mayor to be elected president without serving in a higher office. Sincewhen can you get elected to the highest office in the land with your major qualification being running a city?And not even doing to good a job at that. It got to the point where by "April of 2007 it was reported by the
 Daily News
thatGiuliani had been forced to limit his appearancesin New York City due to the increasing protests by family members of 9/11 victims, particularly police, fire and other emergency workers."Giuliani is also a notorious flip-flopper. He has committed what is known as the "cardinal sin" of politics byswitching parties, not once but twice. He was a Democrat and an Independent in the 1970s, and a Republicanfrom the 1980s onward. In fact, after 9/11,he considered switching to the Conservative Party to run for another term as Mayor ! Why? Opportunity! When he sees an opportunity, he goes for it - just like now,with his presidential campaign fueled only on 9/11 name recognition, just like how he walked into a name partnership at
Bracewell Patterson
(nowBracewell Giuliani) solely on that 9/11 cachet, just like he took theopportunity presented by 9/11 to earn himself millions in speaking and consulting fees, and so forth. Maybewe'll get lucky and he'll flip-flop again, and decide
not
to run for President.As a former mayor and current tragedy profiteer, Giuliani has little to no foreign policy experience. He didhave a chance for higher level experience when he was invited to participate in the Iraq Study Group formedto seek a new direction for U.S. policy in Iraq. Asked to join because of his fame from his TV time for 9/11,he gladly accepted. Yet while a member of the group he refused to attend any meetings during his two-monthtenure before quitting and being replaced by Edwin Meese. Giuliani did not explain why he wasn't interested in living up to his commitment beyond comments about his busy schedule and that he was contemplating a presidential run. How did he spend the time he was supposed to be with the group formulating policy on theIraq front?Giving highly paid speeches, fundraising, and breaking his word to some of the very people withwhom a president would have to work. This does not speak well of a man running for a position whereconsensus-building is a major part of the job.Consensus-building, in fact, is a major problem with the arrogant Mayor Giuliani - if he doesn't like you, he'llsimply shut you up.Rudy is a (proud?) recipient of “Muzzle Award,” awarded annually by theThomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, as a means to draw national attention to abridgment of free speech. "America's Mayor" has won three such such awards, includingan unprecedented first awardingof a "Lifetime Muzzle Award." He has such a poor record on free speech,that more than 35 successful lawsuits were brought against Giulianiand his administration for blocking free speech. Imagine that on anational scale. Bush/Cheney have a record of harassing, shutting down, and arresting protestors, but they'resmall potatoes compared to Rudy.Speaking of morally bankrupt politicians, that leads to another aspect that historically has been vital to theelectorate when choosing a candidate or electing a president - personality and personal ethics. There havelong been questions about his private sector business practices, described often as shady. Look at who he'ssurrounded himself with - and the type of people he'll likely surround himself as president. He supportedBernard Kerik , a man deluged in allegations of fraud, bribery, ethics problems, and even mob ties - to be
Secretary of Homeland Security
. He also employed Kerik in his companyGiuliani Partners. What other misfits did he pick to be his "Partners"? One of them, Pasquale D'Amuro was the FBI's counterterrorismchief before 9/11 (some job he did!). D'Amuroactually took pieces of the World Trade Center as souvenirs. And if Kerik and D'Amuro weren't enough, Giuliani also saw fit to hireaccused pedophile priest Alan Placa.  Note to potential Giuliani Partners clients - don't bring your kids to the office!But putting his failure as Mayor and his business practices aside, some say you can judge how a man willlead by the ways in which he conducts his personal life. If those people are correct, Giuliani has been marriedand divorced multiple times,one of those times to his cousin.Yes, his cousin. If he won, that would mean he was the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to have committed incest. The multiple marriages? Thereare about 7 between him and his current wife (who is also his former mistress). And let's face it, he's a jerk.Giuliani actuallymocked a man with Parkinson’s diseaseduring a radio broadcast. He is considered to bethe
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03 / 16 / 2011<span class="translation_missing">en_US, this_document_made_it_onto_the</span>Rising List!
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