[NeedKarma]

YouTube - Rudy Giuliani's Corruption Town hall Meeting

Larry Hanley, President of ATU Local 726 (a bus company), tries to ask then Mayor Rudy Giuliani about an inside deal to grant bus routes to connected private bus companies that contributed to his Rudy's campaigns. Then Rudy goes from there... Although this is from 2001, the matter is do you honestly want this guy to run the country?

[tomder55]

Most union leaders are a bunch of morons. Most times they don't really represent the best interests of the rank and file.

Rudy is a New Yorker. Politics is a little different here. I think he would be a strong President.

[NeedKarma]

Ah, so you attack the other person who had a legitimate grief. I see.
Shouldn't public officials be accountable to the public they serve?
If he calls people idiots now what can we expect diplomatically from him in foreign affairs?

New York of politics would be a hindrance actually.

[NeedKarma]

most union leaders are a bunch of morons. most times they don't really represent the best interests of the rank and file.

What a coincidence - that's the public's view of President Bush. :D

[tomder55]

If he calls people idiots now what can we expect diplomatically from him in foreign affairs?

WE already know what we can expect from him diplomatically because as mayor of NY ;the city where the UN is located ,he had plenty of dealings with foreign relations . He was a tough advocate for his city and for the US... and yes he pulled no punches.

He refused a donation of $10 Million to NYC after 9-11 from an Arab sheik who had said that the attack was the fault of the U.S. He flatly rejected the prince's position, telling him publicly that to suggest there was a justification for an event such as 9/11, "only invites this happening in the future.He further told the prince outright that one of the reasons for the 9/11 attack was "because people were engaged in moral equivalency, not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the US, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism."He in effect told the Prince he was part of the problem ;and he was right.


When Rudy Giuliani spotted Yasser Arafat and his entourage making their way to a private box at the Lincoln Center ,he immediately ordered the terrorist off the premises.This was right after Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize for his charade at Oslo. Rudy understood the double speaking Arafat for what he was and was not willing to play that game. Rudy had removed Arafat and a few other thugs from the invitee list (it was to dedicate the 50th Anniversary of the UN)but Arafat had been defiant and showed up anyway.

The Clintonoids were furious . But Rudy reminded them that Arafat was a murderer. Rudy was the NY DA who investigated the murder of disabled Leon Klinghofferon who was tossed off the hijacked Achille Lauro cruise ship. Rudy's investigation had found Arafat complicit in the murder.

Contrast that to Hillary's encounter with the Arafats. She went to the West Bank when she was First Lady and sat in silence while Arafat's wife trashed Israel claiming they were causing cancer in the Palestinian territories. She kissed Suha Arafat on both cheeks after her diatribe. Bill Clinton realizing the mistake Hillary made spun it the next day saying that a poor translation had left her unaware of what Mrs. Arafat had really said .Unlike the Clintons Rudy hasn't drunk the Kool-Aid of "Palestinian victimization and despair"?

This is the type of integrity we need in our diplomatic relations. Our State Dept too often is apologizers to these animals. Instead of promoting US interests overseas they spend their time trying to justify the actions of other nations. That will change under Rudy.

I suggest you read Rudy's essay in 'Foreign Affairs' Magazine . Foreign Affairs - Toward a Realistic Peace - Rudolph W. Giuliani

The time has come to refine the diplomats' mission down to their core purpose: presenting U.S. policy to the rest of the world. Reforming the State Department is a matter not of changing its organizational chart -- although simplification is needed -- but of changing the way we practice diplomacy and the way we measure results. Our ambassadors must clearly understand and clearly advocate for U.S. policies and be judged on the results. Too many people denounce our country or our policies simply because they are confident that they will not hear any serious refutation from our representatives.

I think you will find him pragmatic .

Idealism should define our ultimate goals; realism must help us recognize the road we must travel to achieve them. The world is a dangerous place. We cannot afford to indulge any illusions about the enemies we face. The Terrorists' War on Us was encouraged by unrealistic and inconsistent actions taken in response to terrorist attacks in the past. A realistic peace can only be achieved through strength.

Rudy's blunt style is like Ronald Reagan who dared call a nuclear super power an "Evil Empire" .

The 9/11 generation has learned from the history of the twentieth century that America must not turn a blind eye to gathering storms. We must base our trust on the actions, rather than the words, of others. And we must be on guard against overpromising and underdelivering. Above all, we have learned that evil must be confronted -- not appeased -- because only principled strength can lead to a realistic peace.

Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel. America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy.

I think that type of honesty is refreshing . President Bush started that way but has been beaten down by the constant assault on him . Rudy will not be so easily cowed. He certainly has the UN pegged right

Finally, we need to look realistically at America's relationship with the United Nations. The organization can be useful for some humanitarian and peacekeeping functions, but we should not expect much more of it. The UN has proved irrelevant to the resolution of almost every major dispute of the last 50 years. Worse, it has failed to combat terrorism and human rights abuses. It has not lived up to the great hopes that inspired its creation. Too often, it has been weak, indecisive, and outright corrupt. The UN's charter and the speeches of its members' leaders have meant little because its members' deeds have frequently fallen short. International law and institutions exist to serve peoples and nations, but many leaders act as if the reverse were true -- that is, as if institutions, not the ends to be achieved, were the important thing.
Despite the UN's flaws, however, the great objectives of humanity would become even more difficult to achieve without mechanisms for international discussion. History has shown that such institutions work best when the United States leads them. Yet we cannot take for granted that they will work forever and must be prepared to look to other tools.

John Bolton for Secretary of State?? One can only dream .

[NeedKarma]

You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. He has a history of corruption.
WordPress

And here's a quote of his:

“Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”

I realize you are a warmonger and wish for such shows of strength, that's where we differ. As for foreigh policy, Israel security is Israel's problem not the U.S.

[tomder55]

Of course the quote is taken completely out of content .

Here is the rest of the speech as NY Slimes reports it .'Freedom Is About Authority': Excerpts From Giuliani Speech on Crime - New York Times

We constantly present the false impression that government can solve problems that government in America was designed not to solve. Families are significantly less important in the development of children today than they were 30 or 40 years ago. Religion has less influence than it did 30 or 40 years ago. Communities don't mean what they meant 30 or 40 years ago.

As Americans, we're not sure we share values. We're sometimes even afraid to use the word values. We talk about teaching ethics in schools -- people say, "What ethics? Whose ethics? Maybe we can't." And they confuse that with teaching of religion. And we are afraid to reaffirm the basics upon which a lawful and a decent society are based. We're almost embarrassed by it.

We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do...

At the core the struggle is philosophical. There are many, many things that can be done in law enforcement to protect us better. There are many things that can done to create a government that is more responsive and more helpful. The fact is that we're fooling people if we suggest to them the solutions to these very, very deep-seated problems are going to be found in government.. .

The solutions are going to be found when we figure out as a society what our families are going to be like in the next century, and how maybe they are going to be different. They are going to have to be just as solid and just as strong in teaching every single youngster their responsibility for citizenship. We're going to find the answer when schools once again train citizens. Schools exist in America and have always existed to train responsible citizens of the United States of America.

If they don't do that, it's very hard to hold us together as a country, because it's shared values that hold us together. We're going to come through this when we realize that it's all about, ultimately, individual responsibility. That in fact the criminal act is about individual responsibility and the building of the respect for the law and ethics is also a matter of individual responsibility.

I see nothing in the quote ominous or threatening to individual liberty . He is just correctly pointing out that there are also inherent responsibilities of individuals that the government should not be responsible for. All this is really is an indictment of the nanny state and I agree with him.

[NeedKarma]

Here are other people's views on this, in order to offer the AMHD readers some variety and respite from the neo-conservative slant of this forum:

Digg - Giuliani: "You're all a bunch of morons." Wake up America!

[tomder55]

You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. He has a history of corruption.
WordPress

I see nothing in the link that indicates any corruption .

It's a curious decision, given that Giuliani's last attempt to reach beyond New York City, his failed attempt to run for US Senate in 2006, fell apart before it began.

This is not really true . He ended his campaign because he was diagnosed with Prostate cancer.

We're getting a good peek at Giuliani's brand of national politics this week, with the announcement that Giuliani will soon travel down to Georgia to give a speech at a fundraiser for Ralph Reed's campaign.

The link then goes on to indict Reed of fraud because of some kind of association with Jack Abramoff. So what ? How does that prove Rudy is corrupt ? All Rudy did was give a speech to the 'Christian Coalition ' . It doesn't support any claim at all to a link with Rudy and Abramoff. The link is useless.

There is no doubt that issues of Rudy's ethics will be raised in this campaign but it won't be for this speech. It will have to deal with his former police commissioner and partner in his law firm ,Bernard Kerik, who was recently charged with 16 counts of fraud, conspiracy, and lying on his federal disclosure forms . Some other officials in his administration have been investigated also . But that is not unusual in a large government that there are some bad apples. The best someone can do is perhaps question Rudy's judgement in has long time frendship of Kerik .

But to look at this is to not get a complete look at Kerik. He was very effective in his work for the mayor and in law enforcement . His work in the justice dept. took down sixty members of the Cali Cartel. As police commissioner he oversaw a force of 41,000 officers, and a civilian force of more than 14,500 and an annual budget of more than $3.2 billion. NYPD did a great job under Kerik during and after the 9-11 attacks .

[NeedKarma]

But to look at this is to not get a complete look at Kerik. He was very effective in his work for the mayor and in law enforcement . His work in the justice dept. took down sixty members of the Cali Cartel. As police commissioner he oversaw a force of 41,000 officers, and a civilian force of more than 14,500 and an annual budget of more than $3.2 billion. NYPD did a great job under Kerik during and after the 9-11 attacks .

But yet: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/us...174&ei=5087%0A

A grand jury on Thursday voted to charge Mr. Kerik, and he is expected to be arraigned on a sealed indictment at midday Friday in United States District Court in White Plains on corruption-related charges, according to people briefed on the case. So Mr. Giuliani said once again said that he had made “a mistake in not checking him out more carefully.”... “Rudy Giuliani’s tough-on-crime mantra is laughable given that he promoted Bernard Kerik throughout his career while knowing about his ethical problems,” Mr. Vega said in a statement. Mr. Giuliani, for his part, said that he expects voters to look at his whole record — not just one mistake. “I think that voters should look at it,” Mr. Giuliani said at the morning event in Dubuque, when asked about the case. “And what they should say is in that particular case I pointed out that I made a mistake; I made a mistake in not clearing him effectively enough. I take the responsibility for that.”

[NeedKarma]

tomder55 agrees: just for your reference. I am not offended by being called a neo-conservative. I do not in any way consider that characterization an insult.

It wasn't meant to be either. In the same way that being a liberal is not a bad thing nor an insult.

Cheers!

[speechlesstx]

Giuliani: "You're all a bunch of morons." Gee, what else should one think when people show up to a meeting with the mayor of NY in a duck costume?

[ETWolverine]

First of all, ATU Local 726 is not a bus company, but rather a union.

Second, Hanley was asking Giuliani about privatization of busses in New York and trying to link it to campaign contributions. Hanley was a fool on this topic for several reasons:

1) Privatization is good because it promotes competition, lower transportation prices, higher efficiency and lower taxes.
2) Hanley was intimating that this was contrary to the best interests of New Yorkers, when in fact it was actually contrary to the interests of Larry Hanley and ATU Local 726.
3) Giuliani was in favor of privatization in most areas of business, regardless of any campaign contributions, because he is a financial, fiscal and economic conservative. Trying to link Giuliani's position to "bribery" by the bus companies is foolish.

So Giuliani was right to call Hanley and his sycophants exactly what they are... a bunch of morons.

Elliot

[NeedKarma]

It was so easy for you to answer for him - why didn't he do the same? Are you smarter than Giuliani?

[inthebox]

I'm not trying to answer for Rudy, but just to give you some perspective.

I grew up on Long Island 70's through 90's

I grew up among many Italian - Americans, I may be intentionally generalizing, but Rudy seems to be typical of the ones I knew.

Honest about his ideas and opinions. Blunt forthright, anti PC.

I find this absolutely refreshing compared to most people's fake diplomacy / politeness or what ever you call it.

I've been in a the south for over 10 years, but is "bless your heart...." really any different than "you're a moron?" :)

[ETWolverine]

NK,

Maybe. Maybe he just didn't want to waste his time trying to answer morons who really had no interest in his answers.

But in any case I'm certainly smart enough to support him for President because he's a good candidate for the position.

Elliot

[NeedKarma]

Maybe he just didn't want to waste his time trying to answer morons who really had no interest in his answers.

I disagree, I'm sure he and others were very interested in his answer, How far can he get if he keeps calling his voters 'morons'? Well you have have the media on your side the answer is "very far".

[ETWolverine]

How far can he get if he keeps calling his voters 'morons'?

What voters? Do you really believe that ATU union leaders were potential voters for the most anti-union mayor New York City has ever seen? They weren't voters. They were hecklers, and Rudy called them like he saw them.

Now... if the question had come from a REAL potential voter, that would have been a different matter. And in that instance Rudy would likely have answered the question as I did. But Hanley doesn't fit the bill of "voter". He was there to pick a fight with Rudy, not to discuss the issue rationally, and he got what he wanted.

Elliot

[NeedKarma]

Now... if the question had come from a REAL potential voter, that would have been a different matter. And in that instance Rudy would likely have answered the question as I did.

Not sure why he would answer differently. If he had nothing to hide he would be the same person to both types of askers. I thought his blunt forthright lack of fake diplomacy was refreshing.

[Choux]

Karma,

Giuliani will be swift boated out of the race onto the dustbin of history. He has plenty of corruption in his past including his current list of "SECRET" clients served by his business!

He won't appeal to middle Americans at all when they get to know the real Rudy and his THREE WIVES, his lying about his activities on and about 911, and most of all AFTER THE BOMB EXPLODED IN THE BASEMENT OF THE TWIN TOWERS IN 1992 SET OFF BY MUSLIM TERRORISTS, **WHERE DID HE PUT THE EMERGENCY CENTER FOR POLICE AND FIRE?? IN THE TWIN TOWERS!!

Giuliani is barely a blip in the polls in the Iowa Caucus' and New Hampshire primary. He's got nothing. He wants to be the Mussolini of America. The fascist following the first fascist leader of America, George W. Bush. Americans will make sure he is the last.