Giuliani has no idea what he’s talking about

April 9, 2007

If [tag]Rudy Giuliani[/tag] really wants to convince voters that he’s an expert on foreign policy, I’d like to offer the former NYC mayor a helpful tip: pick up a newspaper once in a while.

Giuliani recently told a supportive audience, “It’s something that I think I know, I think I know as well as anybody else who’s running for president, probably better than a lot.” Last week, he went on to argue that he has more knowledge of the world than anyone else running for President.

Fine. Let’s put this boast to the test, shall we?

At a house party in New Hampshire, Mr. Giuliani suggested that it was unclear which was farther along, Iran or North Korea, in the development of a nuclear weapons program.

Now, this one isn’t complicated. If Giuliani were confused about the distinction within North Korea’s nuclear program between enriched uranium and plutonium, I’d understand. The most knowledgeable candidate running should understand the difference, but it’s not exactly common knowledge.

But understanding which nuclear program is farther along, Iran or North Korea, is not limited to the realm of Brookings scholars. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with current events heard about North Korea restarting its plutonium program and building nuclear weapons. Kim Jung Il even conducted a highly provocative missile test not too long ago. Iran, in contrast, is believed to want weapons, which it doesn’t have. Giuliani flubbed a softball question.

Remember, Giuliani is running on a platform of being a foreign policy expert, particularly on the matter of international security and counter-terrorism. But on this, he doesn’t even understand the basics. It’s like applying for a job at ESPN, claiming to be authority on sports, but not knowing the difference between the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls.

Giuliani is equally confused about al Qaeda.

As for Iran, Mr. Giuliani said that “in the long term,” it might be “more dangerous than Iraq.”

He then casually lumped Iran with Al Qaeda. “Their movement has already displayed more aggressive tendencies by coming here and killing us,” he said.

Mr. Giuliani was asked in an interview to clarify that, inasmuch as Iran had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks. Further, most of its people are Shiites, whereas Al Qaeda is an organization of Sunnis.

“They have a similar objective,” he replied, “in their anger at the modern world.”

This has all the sophistication of a drunk in a bar. “Sunni, Shiite, whatever. They’re bad.” It’s an impressive expertise, isn’t it?

Giuliani told an audience in Iowa last week that “there are terrorists around the world that are planning to come here and kill us. It is something I understand better than anyone else running for president.”

He “understands” national security the same way Stephen Colbert’s character “understands” the news — he feels the truth. It’s hollow, vacuous, and based on nothing but a public-relations facade, but no matter. Giuliani is an expert, because he says so.

Just don’t ask the guy any questions. His is the kind of expertise that transcends questions.

Don’t forget that NK also apparently tested/exploded a small nuclear device.

  • This has all the sophistication of a drunk in a bar.

    A succinct description of the Republican base, who are the ones this is playing to.

    If being an ignorant moron were an absolute disqualification to sit in the oval office, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

    I’ll be astonished if the idiocy of these statements receives wide play on teevee (where the great unwashed might see it).

  • If the media can bring itself to do its job, Rudy will be revealed as being not-ready-for-prime-time, the money will start to dry up, and by year-end, his campaign may – if we’re lucky – be in full death-rattle mode. That’s a big “if,” by the way – and it would not surprise me to hear Rudy make one bone-headed statement after another, with little challenge from the talking heads. Unless, of course, it falls out of love with Rudy and gets a mad crush for Fred Thompson.

    The Republican field is abysmal, which should bode well for the Democrats, but I admit to having some concerns that we may not field the best candidate ourselves – due in some part to the media’s insistence that it be allowed to determine who the front-runners are, and the lazy electorate just going along for the ride.

  • “This has all the sophistication of a drunk in a bar.”

    As a former bartender this is insulting to my former customers.

    Seriously, it’s probably going to be fairly easy to tie Giuliani up in knots with his own words. But, will the American public be paying attention, or will they be mesmerized by the “America’s mayor” meme?

  • This has all the sophistication of a drunk in a bar.

    He may be dumb as a bat, and he may have failed to protect the Ground Zero cleanup crew from health hazards, but at least he’s a human deodorizer… that gotta be worth something.

    “He cleaned up the streets of New York so you could walk in the subways without smelling urine. ”

    – Chris Matthews, Today Show (3/5/07)

  • Shorter Giuliani: I’m as dumb as Bush, but less confused about it. Plus, I look fab in drag. Vote for me!

  • Rudy thinks “I was the mayor of New York on 9/11” is the only credential he needs to show concerning foreign policy.

  • Don’t forget that NK also apparently tested/exploded a small nuclear device.

    If CB did, in his zeal, overlook this significant milestone then, well, Rudy’s got some company.

    We all make mistakes. At least CB isn’t running for president as a self-styled foreign policy expert.

  • What I find so strange about Giuliani’s cluelessness is that he’s actually a really smart guy, accomplished. He graduated at the top of his class at NYU law and quickly rose through the ranks of the most prestigious U.S. Attorney’s office in the country (the SDNY). Whatever you want to say about the guy’s politics, only a very smart, analytically-gifted person could have done that.

    But whenever he opens his mouth to talk about foreign policy, he invariably says something ill-informed or just plain silly. It’s as if he just doesn’t care enough to bother to do any background reading or keep up with the news. I don’t know what that says about his character, but it says something,

  • Roo-Dee proves, beyond the shadow of any doubt (even more so than McCaca and MormonZilla), shows that the ReThuglican primaries will not be about “who’s the better to lead the nation;” rather it’s becoming conclusively clear that the GOP race is going to be about “who’s the better puppet?”—and nothing more whatsover. The trick it sems, is to unravel the greater mystery—“Who is the Puppetmaster?”

    And personally, I think it goes wa-aaay beyond Simian George and Darth Dick….

  • “… the only credential he needs to show concerning foreign policy.” (2Manchu,#7)

    Given the overwhelming majority of Americans’ knowledge of international geography, let alone politics and history, I’d say Rudy’s probably correct.

    Fortunately for him, in this country knowledge of any kind means diddly squat when compared with, say, celebrity status and TeeVee presence.

  • Grumpy, I think CB knows that was not intended to be a critique, just one little addition to his otherwise fine text.

  • I am a native New Yorker and I can tell you Guiliani’s image is all hype.

    He was elected mayor of NYC on the strength of his image as a tough crime-fighting prosecutor who went after the mafia here in NY. He did indeed get a number of high profile convictions, all of which were, I beleive, overturned on appeal. Most of those mobsters were eventually convicted, but by Guiliani’s successors. He had moved on to bigger things by then. While he was mayor, he announced his shock that he had discovered there were mob connections to the annual San Genaro street festival in lower Manhattan. In NYC, this is akin to discovering that the sun rises in the east!

    During the course of his tenure as mayor, he fought with just about every major city union. Yes, the crime rate in the city went down during his time in office, but it is not clear how much credit he is due for that. At the same time as the crime rate was declining in NYC, it was declining in every other major city in the country; an indirect result of an economy that was doing quite well.

    Guiliani’s reputation in NYC was saved by 9-11. Since the whole city and country was united by the horror of that attack, he was largely spared the questions about placing the city’s emergency command center in a building next door to the WTC. Many people outside NYC may be unaware that Guiliani floated the idea of canceling the scheduled mayoral election of November 2001 and allowing an extra-legal extension of his term in office after Jan. 1, 2002. That certainly should tell you about his view of the rule of law as far as executive power is concerned.

  • Sounds like a lot of people I know. This retarded attitude is exactly why Bush was able to tie 9/11 to Iraq.

    It would be a good idea to sit Rudy down and ask him a lot of simple questions, and see how bad he screws them up.

    If we had a real media, this would have already happened.

  • “Giuliani told an audience in Iowa last week that “there are terrorists around the world that are planning to come here and kill us. It is something I understand better than anyone else running for president.”

    The main thing Giuliani “understands” about 9/11 is that mentioning it every chance he gets boosts his chances of becoming President.

    There is a word for this, I believe.

  • …but not knowing the difference between the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls.

    But the difference is clear to the GOP: the former refers to when the commodities market is in a sustained downturn and the latter when it’s in a sustained upturn. Shesh, I’m not running for President but even I knew that.

    what was the question again? 😉

  • Guiliani would be another George Bush in office. He plays the fear-card to get people in- line behind him. If Guiliani — god forbid — were to become the next president, from everything I’ve read, would continue the unitary presidential powers and maybe even take it further. This man is not fit for the office.

    Whether he does not understand or just chooses to ignore, or knows but refuses to be honest about why the hatred is directed toward the West, it is unclear. Nevertheless it indicates he will continue to wage more wars and keep the country divided. Perhaps he is stuck in the 911 mentality or he is exploiting it. Either way we will have had 6 years of that … enough is enough already.

    America is hungry — starving — for a leader who will lead; a leader who will be truthful and will talk to the public respectfully; moreover we need a leader who will inspire and unite the country.

    No more lies, no more sound bites and no more fear mongering, please!!

    Guiliani is a far cry from coming close to that!

  • This is exactly the kind of dangerous stupidity that Muslims in America fear. Let’s not distinguish between the ragheads, they’re all terrorists. Heck, let’s lump all the darkies together, because we know that terrorists flood across the Mexico border every day (/sarcasm)

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