Salon: Giuliani’s a psycho
posted at 1:13 pm on December 5, 2006 by Allahpundit
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Enjoyably vicious hit piece by Cintra Wilson on America’s mayor in today’s issue arguing that he’s a head case whose quest for militaristic power may very well plunge America into the Apocalypse. That’s also the rap on Bush, of course, and it used to be the rap on McCain. Among some crowds, if you’re a hawkish conservative you’re practically ipso facto mental.
The article’s actually a useful primer for non-New Yorkers on some of the scandals during his administration. None of this stuff will stick — if anything, his crusade against the elephant-dung painting of Mary will comfort red-staters leery of his left leanings on social issues — but it’s all part of the record so you’ll be hearing about it in the future. Might as well get acquainted with it now.
Besides, Wilson’s funny. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.
On [9/11] our reptile brains looked at Rudy Giuliani and said, “We’re OK now. Daddy’s home.”
And we forgot, some for a moment, some permanently, that Daddy was psycho…
When he became mayor in 1994, his personality disorders reached full flower. As a boy growing up in Brooklyn, young Rudy was torn between the priesthood and the law, opting for the latter. Though being a prosecutor did allow him to be both censorious and powerful, which he clearly enjoyed, the job of mayor was a dreamlike fusion of his two childhood ambitions. He was like a pope with a gun.…
That was the same year Giuliani officially adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward any and all criticism and satire aimed at himself. He had the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority remove an ad for New York magazine from city buses that joked that the magazine was “Possibly the only good thing in New York Rudy hasn’t taken credit for.” A U.S. District Court judge slapped Rudy down for his inability to take a joke or tolerate the First Amendment; the ban was lifted. But this only seemed to encourage him even further in his delusion of being Warrior Christ of the Apocalypse-elect.…
During the Giuliani era, it was routine police procedure to handcuff and jail New Yorkers over minor infractions like smoking a joint in public, and then to drop charges. If you wanted to prosecute the police for misconduct after such an experience, you couldn’t do so without opening your own case back up. Job suicide, in today’s fundamentalist corporate atmosphere — still, nearly 70,000 people filed lawsuits against the New York Police Department during Giuliani’s two terms as mayor, claiming they were strip-searched for offenses as minor as jaywalking.
Martial law, anyone?
Elsewhere in New-Yorkers-going-national news: “I’m really going to go for this.”
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Eh. That would have been a better piece if the writer were not so much in love with her constant repitition of the same ad hominems and the all-too-cute references to President Bush.
Yes, Cintra, you’ve established your anti-Bush cred.
We get it already.
Parts of it were a lot of fun, though.
Slublog on December 5, 2006 at 1:23 PM
And somehow managed to drastically reduce the crime rate.
What a bastard!
That’s what I love about liberals. All laws are flexible depending on vantage point.
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 1:27 PM
Well, that settles it. You’ve got my vote, Rudy!
Pablo on December 5, 2006 at 1:28 PM
Maybe I hang around places like this too much, but when there are crazies all over the world trying to kill us, don’t we want a bad ass crazy of our own as Commander in Chief to deal with them? I wonder what she thought of the Dinkins Administration?
I was already going to vote for Rudy, after reading this I may join his campaign.
Dudley Smith on December 5, 2006 at 1:33 PM
This piece is a prime example of the liberal “perception is reality” mindset. It doesn’t matter that Giuliani was a wildly successful mayor during his tenure. What matters is that he may be a bloodthirsty warmonger.
Proof is never in the pudding.
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 1:33 PM
From the “elsewhere” piece:
Are there no copy editors? Have we no dictionaries? Let them read overblown twaddle!
/Scrooge
Pablo on December 5, 2006 at 1:34 PM
Let’s see…crime down, economy smoking, real estate market en fuego…
Yup, sounds like Bush’s tenure, alright.
Pablo on December 5, 2006 at 1:38 PM
I couldn’t ride the subway before Guiliani
I could after
Thanks Rudy
Defector01 on December 5, 2006 at 1:41 PM
Reagan was supposed to usher in the Apocalypse about 25 years ago, so dismiss that nonsense.
The left sounds very worried about Rudy. They obviously know he’ll beat the two lightweights, Obamamamafofama and The Pantsuit.
JammieWearingFool on December 5, 2006 at 1:43 PM
I once saw Guiliani beat a guy to death with a tire iron.
But the guy deserved it.
frankj on December 5, 2006 at 1:43 PM
My reptilian brain is telling me to vote for the psychotic Christian – I’m sooo primative. I listen to Skynyrd and drink cheap beer too. Sue me.
I didn’t leave the Democrats – the Democrats left me.
forest on December 5, 2006 at 1:46 PM
If she is, this matches it – from the ACLU nativity scene thread:
Entelechy on December 5, 2006 at 1:52 PM
What a bunch of crap … dropping charges? Don’t we publically hang people for smoking pot? … no wait … we make them ROCK STARS!!!!
my bad.
One Angry Christian on December 5, 2006 at 1:59 PM
Hillary, Rudy. Makes me think Goldwater was right in wanting to saw off the Eastern seaboard. Rudy was brilliant after 9-11 and shows he would be a good President in a crisis. Besides lowering the NYC crime rate, what has he done to earn the presidency of the nation?
Valiant on December 5, 2006 at 2:04 PM
Quite right. What we REALLY need is another perjurious, philandering authoritarian narcissist in the White House.
irishsquid on December 5, 2006 at 2:06 PM
That question would likely not have a satisfying answer for either the current or former president, and presumes that you can quantify a definitive set of criteria for the job.
More often than not, a person’s fitness for the presidency isn’t determined by resume, but by something perhaps undefinable that Americans just know or are seeking at a particular point in time.
Slublog on December 5, 2006 at 2:10 PM
Frank, I used to be a big fan of Guilliani too. Until I sources informed me he was a monkey lover. Serious man on monkey love.
*shudder*
I’d reveal what I know to the media, but my nameless source was mysteriously beaten to death with a tire iron late one night.
I fear that that iron curtain of fashcism is falling across Amerikkka.
EFG on December 5, 2006 at 2:11 PM
Thank you for answering your own questio; no other candidate has managed a crises like 9/11.
Running NYC is a lot bigger job than governer or senator of most any other state. About 15% of our GNP is filtered through that city, surpassed only by California.
The best, is that he is already pissing off the liberals; nothing like a pscho conservative that syphons off votes from Hillary.
right2bright on December 5, 2006 at 2:17 PM
What did Clinton do? What did GWB do?
I think that if you compared the resume of all three, Guiliani would be a slight 1st or a strong second.
Clenis would be trailing in a very distant 3rd.
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 2:19 PM
I love it. Leftists hate Rudy and are bringing up all of these “scandals”, convinced that the rest of the country will be shocked and appalled that he enforced the law and supported the cops (I mean “PIGS!”). He has the best enemies one could hope for, while McCain has those same people as fans.
McCain won the media primary, but I think that the voters in the real primary might have a few different approaches. Rudy 08!
libertarianuberalles on December 5, 2006 at 2:25 PM
As a libertarian on social issues (though personally conservative), I am not looking for someone to pursue an active agenda in cramming the heinous leftist agenda down my throat. I am also not looking for someone who wants to control the last line of defense I have against the enemies of America, my firearms. However, your point is valid.
Valiant on December 5, 2006 at 2:26 PM
Valiant, you don’t earn the right to be president, you are voted in. Than you earn the right, through acts, of either being a successful president (Reagan) or a loser (Carter). No polition earns their position, they earn the right to retain it. The only president that earned that right was George Washington, the rest begged for it.
right2bright on December 5, 2006 at 2:28 PM
I’m not a big Rudy fan, though there is no arguing with the positive effect he had on the city in terms of cleaning it up (in both senses). My problem with him is that 9/11 was the best thing that every happened to him, career-wise. Prior to that, he was on a downward vector in terms of popularity in NYC for a lot of reasons. Foremost among them a pretty ugly personal life.
I realize that you can’t blame the man for capitalizing on his 9/11 profile–which was terrific. Just bothers me somehow.
honora on December 5, 2006 at 2:36 PM
Hey Cintra,
It’s called the “Broken Window” theory of crime prevention. Little things matter, especially when it comes to infractions of public order. If a broken pane of glass goes unrepaired, other panes will be shattered, and then doors will be jimmied up and down the street. If graffiti on a train goes unremoved, more graffiti will follow, and so will robberies in the cars and stations. No tolerance for petty lawbreaking leads to fewer incidents of major lawbreaking.
It works, mostly. So when former Police Commissioner Bratton brought the Broken Window theory to the NYPD, and when Mayor Giuliani backed him, crime went down. It’s hard to deny that police attention to matters heretofore considered beneath their dignity (fare beating, say , or squeegee extortion) played a considerable part in reducing crime and changing the reputation of the city.
Martial law? Yeah, right.
there it is on December 5, 2006 at 2:39 PM
frankj,
The Pope made him do that.
Pablo on December 5, 2006 at 2:46 PM
Well there is that nasty side of Rudy: don’t forget he fired Bratton because everyone was giving Bratton credit for his Broken Window theory yielding great results. Rudy wasn’t about to share the credit so he got rid of Bratton. Nice.
honora on December 5, 2006 at 2:47 PM
Originally Giuliani was a backer of the Clinton-era Assault Weapons Ban, now with ‘08 aspriations he backing away from this and other anti-gun positions. Sounds like a case of I was for it before I was against it and pander to whom I must .
The only way I could vote for Giuliani is if it comes down to the lesser of two evils choice.
AZ_Redneck on December 5, 2006 at 2:48 PM
Wow. Rudy couldn’t have asked for a better campaign ad.
I don’t mind at all if the bad guys think we have an overly-harsh enforcer for a president. Remember when the terrorists thought Bush was an unpredictable, enraged, unilateral cowboy after we went into Afghanistan? It was really nice to see how quickly they scampered off to their caves to hide in abject fear. Didn’t last long, unfortunately, but it was nice while it lasted. Maybe Rudy could keep them convinced that he and the U.S. mean it when we say we won’t tolerate terrorism.
aero on December 5, 2006 at 2:53 PM
…and, unfortunately, it probably will. It usually does. I voted for Bush on Super Tuesday in the 2000 primaries mostly because I found McCain to be unacceptable. Even though I’m from Texas, I never thought Bush was our strongest candidate. But the interesting candidates were already pretty much out of the race before Texas had its say, and I definitely didn’t want to see McCain get the nomination.
aero on December 5, 2006 at 2:57 PM
To clarify, despite social conservatives’ concerns about him, I do think Rudy will make a really good candidate and could be an excellent president on what I consider to be the most important issue–the War on Terror. I also think he’s a very good communicator, with the ability to convey a message clearly and powerfully while energizing and motivating an audience. I think that’s important for our next president–even if we win the shooting war, we will lose the information war without another effective communicator in the White House.
Newt would be my first choice, but I could definitely vote for Giuliani.
aero on December 5, 2006 at 3:04 PM
It will be interesting to see what Rudy thinks is good for the U.S. versus what he thinks is good for N.Y.C. They could be very different things.
Also, Rudy himself may change. With Kerry the evidence that he hadn’t changed was revealed by the fact that he harped on the same thing over and over again– he was a flat character in a round room– bad match. Rudy? Well, you never know.
I have hopes for the guy. Barring that–
Bolton ‘08!
RiverCocytus on December 5, 2006 at 3:06 PM
Wilson’s piece is a textbook example of how not to write an editorial. It’s filled with hyperbole, innuendo, ad hominems, and overgeneralizations. No doubt Giuliani is a flawed person–and there is room to debate the merits of his policies–but the writer is so overwrought in her prose that the piece says more about her than about Giuliani himself.
A good contrasting article is George Saunders’ critique of Borat at the New Yorker. Saunders’ clearly takes a negative tone towards his subject, but he channels his anger into legitimate criticisms of Borat’s schtick. Wilson just reaches for any snarky phrase she can find in order to take a shot at Giulliani and Bush.
Bill Ramey on December 5, 2006 at 3:20 PM
What New Yorkers? Carpetbaggers don’t count, in my book.
Kid from Brooklyn on December 5, 2006 at 3:40 PM
Ironically, that “hit piece” made me feel a lot better about a potential Giuliani presidency. Thanks, Salon. If he’s that firm and hawkish – and if you hate him that much – I probably ought to try to look past some of his social liberalism. You know – the stuff that you love about him?
Oh – and that was nice how you subtly tossed in a “chimp” reference. Cute.
If they were trying to make me *not* vote for Rudy, they failed. Miserably.
Professor Blather on December 5, 2006 at 3:44 PM
You mean the Bratton that treated his friends to lavish vacation, because he thought he was above the law? You mean the Bratton who told ICE (Immigration) to shove it, that if an illegal is caught doing a crime they will not turn him in as an illegal, but treat him as a citizen? Who wants to share credit with a guy like that? Smart Rudy.
right2bright on December 5, 2006 at 3:45 PM
Rudy is Jack Bauer’s choice for President in 08. Definitely not the choice of that Canadian commie scum that plays him, but the real Jack Bauer option.
McCain could have been the Jack Bauer option, but was traumatised like any normal man by his torture at the hands of the VietCong/NVA/PLA. Jack gets tortured, likes it, and gets some new ideas on how to deal with the next terrorist/traitor. Rudy could be Jack, and would definitely keep him on the payroll. He’s David Palmer at least.
“We’re running out of time!”
libertarianuberalles on December 5, 2006 at 4:02 PM
Go crazy with the Thesaurus kids!
budorob on December 5, 2006 at 4:21 PM
Health questions would plague his campaign more than warmongering.
Newt! Newt! Newt! Newt!
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 4:25 PM
And Guiliani has some marital problems in his past. Conservative women will likely look towards another candidate.
Newt! Newt! Newt! Newt!
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 4:33 PM
*sarcasm off*
natesnake on December 5, 2006 at 4:37 PM
Let he who is without sin cast the first wife.
Kid from Brooklyn on December 5, 2006 at 4:40 PM
Where do you start with this kind of slander job? During Guiliani’s tenure as mayor, he reduced the murder rate by 70%. But the cost was too high, because some pot smokers (who were breaking the law, by the way) were arrested. Great values!
So when the police actually arrest law-violators, it constitutes a nazi state?
stonemeister on December 5, 2006 at 4:42 PM
See, America doesn’t really know how much of a hard-ass Rudy really is. All that’s out there is his Churchillan conduct of affairs post 9-11, his leftward social positions, and very little else. I’m glad these little lefty hit pieces are starting to come out. If Salon and the Village Voice want to start that fight, I say let ‘em.
Kid from Brooklyn on December 5, 2006 at 4:48 PM
If this isn’t a prime example of paranoia, I don’t know what is.
Sigmund would have had to use reams of 11×14, legal sized, lined, paper before he would dare make a diagnosis.
And when he did, he’d discover that she had a deep-seeded lust for Rudy.
pocomoco on December 5, 2006 at 4:53 PM
Besides lowering the NYC crime rate, what has he done to earn the presidency of the nation?Ha! Wasn’t it the mantra of the Left that New York was ungovernable and crime was a fact of life? Turned out to be the classic lower your expectations trick when Liberal Lefties fail at the job of management.
Notice how New York has slipped under Bloomberg, in contrast?
Rudy also told that Saudi to take his $10 million check and shove it.
Salon writers have the luxury of sneering, while go-to guys like Guiliani roll up their sleeves and face the tough streets.
naliaka on December 5, 2006 at 4:56 PM
…bingo!
Puritan1648 on December 5, 2006 at 5:08 PM
…scientific wild-a$$ guess: you liked Slippery William. He and the Dragon Lady are not exactly Ozzie and Harriet.
He gave the city much needed leadership. His “downward vector” came, I think, from some of the navel-gazing press in the city, and some of the seriously disfunctional city council and other notables in the wormy side of the Apple. Remember Mr. Barron? Probably not a Rudy fan.
Folks like order, but the job of leadership doesn’t often put you out front, waving the big banner, taking the troops over the top. Often, it’s filling potholes and worrying over precinct coverage. A big city is like spitting into a culture dish…you throw together all sorts of unrelated single-celled whatzits, hoping that the dish won’t explode and destroy the rest of the lab. Unnatural and unhygienic things happen.
9/11 was a pivotal event in American history. He did well on and after 9/11, and he was a maximum lame-duck while it all went down. They were supposed to hold the election which chose his replacement on 9/11. Lame duck makes good.
Puritan1648 on December 5, 2006 at 5:16 PM
I am not attempting to disassemble the fellow, but I am not sure I buy the whole crime fighting savior hoopla.
You can pull the NYC crime stats here
Unfortunately, not as granular as needed, but Giuliani did not become mayor until 1994, if I recall (some one call me on this). From ‘90 to ‘95 it would appear that there is ~40% reduction in the crimes listed. So, did the entire reduction occur in ‘94-’95 timeframe? Or was Giuliani a benefactor from some other vector?
AZ_Redneck on December 5, 2006 at 5:41 PM
link here
AZ_Redneck on December 5, 2006 at 5:51 PM
Right, that would eliminate: Mrs. Clinton, Messrs Gore, Kerry, Edwards, Dean, Obama. Don’t come back with “oh, not Edwards and Obama” – yes, indeedee – they are passive-agressive ’screw-you-from-behind’ types of narcissists.
I learned from the 90s that personal life doesn’t matter. Now, we’re lectured by the Left that it will. Not only you, honora. It has just begun: Rudy, Newt, whoever…
One asset R. Giuliani has is his talent for speaking. I look forward to the debates. Hopefully the format will change into something more meaningful, whereby they talk to each other and us, versus some stupid media rep. and in a limited 1-2 min. format.
Entelechy on December 5, 2006 at 5:59 PM
Rudy has great qualityies and some not so great. I guess we are all in the same boat to some extent. I have seen and watched Rudy before 9/11 and after. He came to the plate with a team he put together to get a job done that he was elected to do. I think he has a good shot at becoming the next president but he sure isn’t worried about all the BS that is gonna come flying at him from every direction, just as anyone who is serious about becoming the leader of this great country. I sure as heck want someone with some nads who can come to the plate when the time is needed for all the people not just a selected few. Look at the liberals already hammering the ones they don’t want to be in the white house. It should be a comedy show in itself the next few months. Sit back and enjoy the ride, we are all gonna see who a real leader is and who really can lead instead of baffle everyone with thier BS.
bones47 on December 5, 2006 at 6:11 PM
Hard to say. Being a geek, I pulled the violent crime statistics alone out and ran them through excel for the Dinkins years and the Guiliani years. This is what I got:
Dinkins Admin.
1989 203,042
1990 212,458
1991 210,184
1992 203,311
1993 195,352
Avg. 204,869
Guiliani Admin
1994 175,433
1995 152,683
1996 132,206
1997 124,890
1998 115,915
1999 107,147
2000 124,890
2001 98,022
Avg. 128,898
The most dramatic drops in the crime rate occurred during the years between 1996 and 2001, with a burp in 2000. That would suggest Guiliani’s policies had more to do with it, but then there’s the whole ‘correlation does not imply causation’ thing, so…
Slublog on December 5, 2006 at 7:01 PM
I’d like to see Giuliani as Attorney General or head of ICE. Those are good jobs for a law and order bulldog.
Bad Penny on December 5, 2006 at 7:05 PM
Re the violent crime drop: The authors of Freakonomics attribute this to the passage of Roe v. Wade, leading to the birth of fewer potential criminals.
I prefer to think it had to do with Hizzoner, but who knows?
mikeyboss on December 5, 2006 at 7:25 PM
If you want to see how a lousy mayor can wreck a city and still run for President, catch the Nanny Bloomberg show where he doesn’t give a freak about crime but just wants to make everyone quit smoking and eating yummy, fatty foods!
Between those 2 crusades, there won’t be a restaurant left in NYC in a year and a half and a new black market will open up not only for bootleg smokes, but for donuts, McDonalds “freedom” fries and KFC Original Recipe.
If we can’t have Rudy in the White House, could the Big Apple please dump Dr. Bloomberg?
Jen the Neocon on December 5, 2006 at 10:54 PM
Thanks for the data. Heh. Dinkins. I could not remember his name.
In the few states I have looked at you can correlate to conceal and carry statutes, but I never really took a gander at NYC. Never been in my big book of things to do or places to live.
Makes you wonder when the libs will figure out you can’t run a socialist state when you are murdering your young.
On the other hand, makes you understand why the left and right want amnesty. The left needs the votes and the right needs the labor.
AZ_Redneck on December 6, 2006 at 12:24 AM
Rudy for President! He was a great mayor and he’ll make a great President.
Free Kurdistan on December 6, 2006 at 3:27 AM
Huh. I didn’t think to compare to those laws, but it might make an interesting academic paper.
An academic paper that would stand no chance of getting published, I should add.
Slublog on December 6, 2006 at 8:32 AM
Cintra had better get ready for 8 years of “sheer hell” (from her perspective) as Guilinai will be the next president. For me, I’m cool with that, providing he will select constitutionalist judges who will interpret law, rather than create it.
ptolemy on December 6, 2006 at 10:51 AM
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