First thing I thought of when I saw that story was the Teufelsberg in Berlin. 12 million cubic meters (upwards of four hundred thousand buildings) of World War 2 rubble all piled up into a huge man-made mountain. You can't tell me there are no bodies in there.
Well, what kind of remains are we talking about? I don't think anything salvageable. It stands to reason that in a catastrophe of that nature that the debris left over is going to contain human remains that are beyond reconigition or destroyed, unidentifiable and undistinguisable from the resultant rubble of the towers collapsing.
The way to hit Guiliani is not this. It's his decision to put the Command Center in the base of the WTC, despite complaints raised by NYC Police/Fire officials or his lack of interest in terrorism, protecting the city from terrorism, as mayor, especially after the WTC attack in '93, when it was obvious NYC was a target. Rudy was more interested in going after Hot Dog vendors and graffiti artists...that's how you take some of the shine off his glossy 9/11 image.
No, it wasn't the hot dog vendors, it was the homeless guys who would clean windshields at red lights. It was them, hookers and all the porn shops on 42nd Street between Broadway and 8th. That street looks like the freakin' Mall of America now. It's clean, but it's not New York. That's Rudy's big contribution. He circumvented the law to turn NYC into a midwest outpost.
I agree that this is not issue #1 (but it's still telling).
I am aware that Rudy was warned to put the Command Center underground in Brooklyn and he ignored that warning. Guess where it is now? Underground in Brooklyn.
He was also aware prior to 9/11 that there was a problem with communications with the radio transmiters the police and firefighters had -- it can certainly be argued that many died because they could not get the message to GET OUT.
Additionally, I lived in Manhattan for 15 years -- under Koch, Dinkins and the beginnings of Rudy and I agree with what Viking67 says as well.
I keep meaning to post on a little known Rudy incident when he was running against Dinkins that involved a police riot that Rudy participated in. Unfortunately, it got shockingly little press at the time and I cannot find a reference to it despite several attempts at googling it.
I will post about Rudy in more depth sometime soon.
I'm no Rudy fan, but given how most of the country viewed New York during the 1970s and 1980s, you're not going to turn people against him by complaining that he Disneyified Times Square.
It seems to me that Guilani is an autocrat who seeks to silence his critics. Haven't we had enough of that the past eight years?
Wiping out a gritty porn district and replacing it with Disney would not be a campaign negative, certainly.
But it's the way Rudy does things that's the bigger issue. I think a lot of the clean-up stuff he proposed eventually got tossed by the courts, but he made the big splash by casting himself as The Great Reformer.
I would agree with what's been said here to my response. I think everyone got my point...If you want to tarnish Rudy, you have to go after something more significant but this all seems to tie into a greater narrative of how Rudy went about running the city.
It's interesting...I'm a huge West Wing fan and I can't help but see similarities between Alda's Vinick and the real-life Giuliani campaign...watch season 7...Rudy may get the nomination, but he's go to have to do things and say certain things to get the GOP base to come out and support him and it could create a whole mess of problems for him...
For instance, he's pro-choice. If he doesn't change that position, died-in-the-wool social value Republicans aren't going to that enthusiastic to support him. If he makes some concessions to them and hardens his position, he risks alienating himself from moderate, pro-choice Republicans and Independents.
There isn't a GOP candidate for Prez '08 that scares me. Rudy as the nominee just might be a blessing in disguise...unless our nominee is Hillary. Dems gotta pick Obama or Edwards. Hillary could win, but as per a recent poll, 50% already say they wouldn't vote for her. And not a single Republican in the field today could beat Obama in the general.
11 comments:
First thing I thought of when I saw that story was the Teufelsberg in Berlin. 12 million cubic meters (upwards of four hundred thousand buildings) of World War 2 rubble all piled up into a huge man-made mountain. You can't tell me there are no bodies in there.
Well, what kind of remains are we talking about? I don't think anything salvageable. It stands to reason that in a catastrophe of that nature that the debris left over is going to contain human remains that are beyond reconigition or destroyed, unidentifiable and undistinguisable from the resultant rubble of the towers collapsing.
The way to hit Guiliani is not this. It's his decision to put the Command Center in the base of the WTC, despite complaints raised by NYC Police/Fire officials or his lack of interest in terrorism, protecting the city from terrorism, as mayor, especially after the WTC attack in '93, when it was obvious NYC was a target. Rudy was more interested in going after Hot Dog vendors and graffiti artists...that's how you take some of the shine off his glossy 9/11 image.
No, it wasn't the hot dog vendors, it was the homeless guys who would clean windshields at red lights. It was them, hookers and all the porn shops on 42nd Street between Broadway and 8th. That street looks like the freakin' Mall of America now. It's clean, but it's not New York. That's Rudy's big contribution. He circumvented the law to turn NYC into a midwest outpost.
I agree that this is not issue #1 (but it's still telling).
I am aware that Rudy was warned to put the Command Center underground in Brooklyn and he ignored that warning. Guess where it is now? Underground in Brooklyn.
He was also aware prior to 9/11 that there was a problem with communications with the radio transmiters the police and firefighters had -- it can certainly be argued that many died because they could not get the message to GET OUT.
Additionally, I lived in Manhattan for 15 years -- under Koch, Dinkins and the beginnings of Rudy and I agree with what Viking67 says as well.
I keep meaning to post on a little known Rudy incident when he was running against Dinkins that involved a police riot that Rudy participated in. Unfortunately, it got shockingly little press at the time and I cannot find a reference to it despite several attempts at googling it.
I will post about Rudy in more depth sometime soon.
I'm no Rudy fan, but given how most of the country viewed New York during the 1970s and 1980s, you're not going to turn people against him by complaining that he Disneyified Times Square.
It seems to me that Guilani is an autocrat who seeks to silence his critics. Haven't we had enough of that the past eight years?
JP,
"...you're not going to turn people against him by complaining that he Disneyified Times Square."
While I still agree with the viking, I also agree with you that this is not something to build a campaign against him around.
"...autocrat who seeks to silence his critics."
I would add who has also at times displayed shockingly poor judgement.
Wiping out a gritty porn district and replacing it with Disney would not be a campaign negative, certainly.
But it's the way Rudy does things that's the bigger issue. I think a lot of the clean-up stuff he proposed eventually got tossed by the courts, but he made the big splash by casting himself as The Great Reformer.
I would agree with what's been said here to my response. I think everyone got my point...If you want to tarnish Rudy, you have to go after something more significant but this all seems to tie into a greater narrative of how Rudy went about running the city.
Yes, I remember that not a few New Yorkers -- myself included -- used to refer to him as "Benito Giuliani."
It's interesting...I'm a huge West Wing fan and I can't help but see similarities between Alda's Vinick and the real-life Giuliani campaign...watch season 7...Rudy may get the nomination, but he's go to have to do things and say certain things to get the GOP base to come out and support him and it could create a whole mess of problems for him...
For instance, he's pro-choice. If he doesn't change that position, died-in-the-wool social value Republicans aren't going to that enthusiastic to support him. If he makes some concessions to them and hardens his position, he risks alienating himself from moderate, pro-choice Republicans and Independents.
There isn't a GOP candidate for Prez '08 that scares me. Rudy as the nominee just might be a blessing in disguise...unless our nominee is Hillary. Dems gotta pick Obama or Edwards. Hillary could win, but as per a recent poll, 50% already say they wouldn't vote for her. And not a single Republican in the field today could beat Obama in the general.
LOL I'm a terrible proof reader..."died" should be "dyed"...My bad...I've got drowsy blogger syndrome.
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