FDNY stokes Rudy ire fire

This is a pretty damning video by the national firefighters union, the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), about Rudy Giuliani and his "leadership" before, during and after 9-11. It's too early to tell whether it will have any political ramifications, but if anything, it must be pretty embarrassing to a man who could turn a Girl Scout cookie sale into a lesson about 9-11.

"The urban legend of America's Mayor need to be balanced by truth," a line uttered pretty early on in this video, is perhaps the best single sentence I've heard yet about Giuliani, who really has profited monetarily from 9-11 more than the any other individual, by far. (Of course, the award for who has profited politically the most from 9-11 is the most obvious of all - President Bush.)

It's pretty amazing that I hear Giuliani on television now never missing an opportunity to slam Democrats, particularly the Clinton administration, for the 1990s and how poorly prepared we were for 9-11. I've been writing for months that Giuliani's preparation in NYC for an attack following the 1993 WTC attack deserves closer scrutiny. I'm glad the firefighters union is stepping up efforts to inform an American public that has been snowed over by the mayor's slick, expensive PR effort to paint him as an American hero.

I find two allegations by the IAFF particularly disturbing: the pathetic radios that the Giuliani administration authorized the purchase and use of by FDNY without testing, and Giuliani's brilliant decision to locate his crisis command center at World Trade, despite the 1993 attack.

The radio controversy is particular damning - it's not like the city didn't have years to fix the problem -- 8 1/2 years elapsed between the World Trade Center attacks. And why a no-bid contract for the radios? Someone got paid, that's for sure. Why would I not be surprised if that someone is the mayor himself? It's not a stretch to say (and several firefighters do in the video above) that the pathetically inadequate radios the firefighters were equipped with cost dozens and dozens of firefighters their lives on 9-11.

Locating the command center at the World Trade Center is so utterly idiotic of a decision that it almost defies description. Just imagine if Japan was discovered to have sabotaged the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor in 1939, and Roosevelt insisted that the entire Atlantic fleet should still be located at Pearl? Then, boom - December 7, 1941. That's pretty much what Giuliani did in New York City - he decided to locate his crisis command center at the one place in NYC with the biggest bulls eye - the World Trade Center. I suppose he deserves credit for not putting the command center at the top of the Empire State Building, or on the 101st floor of the North Tower.

With stupid, ill-advised decisions like these, perhaps Giuliani could be described as a bald George W. Bush. Yea, just what we need - four (or, GASP! EIGHT!) more years of decision making like we've had to endure since 1.20.01.

Some will inevitably ask: "What does all of this have to do with Giuliani running for president?" Plenty. If the mayor of America's largest city makes idiotic decisions like this, what would he do as president?

Another potential Repube counter-attack will predictably go something like this:

Democrats complained about the supposed Swiftboating of John Kerry in 2004, but now they are gleefully cheering the IAFF slamming Rudy Giuliani in this election season. What about this hypocrisy, Ann Coulter?

Wow, that was pretty good - I wonder if Karl Rove is hiring? Seriously though, how hard is it to envision Sean Insanity or Bill O'Lielly blabbering the above lines on their respective shows, and the sheeple who listen to them sopping it up on a plate with a biscuit?

This is not similar to Kerry's '04 Swiftboating, which was a despicable attack funded by far right financiers. This is the firefighters union, which Giuliani has pimped himself as being a champion of, slamming him for his decisions during 9-11 and for his lack of adequate preparation in the wake of the 1993 attacks.

The fallout from this will be the most interesting of all. Hopefully the 2008 Democratic candidates for president are storing this Giuliani stuff away; if the mayor receives the GOP nomination, fire away.

I still maintain my belief that Giuliani will not even receive the nomination, however. For once, I'm cheer leading the far fright right - he's moderate on a number of things that make him completely unacceptable to hardcore conservatives.

Bravo.