Greenwald vs. Giuliani

September 7, 2007

I’ve seen the polls, watched the debates, and read the fundraising reports. Rudy Giuliani, for reasons that continue to escape me, is at or near the front of the Republican presidential field, based almost entirely on the belief the former mayor is strong on counter-terrorism policy based on the events of Sept. 11.

About a month ago, Wayne Barrett published a devastating piece on the Village Voice on Giuliani and the “five big lies” surrounding his performance on 9/11. The entire piece, if read, would effectively end Giuliani’s presidential ambitions.

Of course, Barrett’s piece was published in August, where it was likely to be missed. What’s more, not everyone reads the Village Voice (indeed, not everyone reads). Hitting some of the same points in video is more likely to have an effect.

A filmmaker who was behind documentaries that bashed Rupert Murdoch and Wal-Mart is now focusing on Rudy Giuliani, creating an “online viral video campaign” about the presidential candidate timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack.

Robert Greenwald on Thursday launched the first of four short videos about Sept. 11 and the Republican former mayor. The others are planned to launch throughout the month.

The videos attack Giuliani by saying he failed to prepare New York City for a major disaster, he ignored sick ground zero workers after the terrorist attack and he profited financially from his association with the tragedy after leaving office in 2001.

“We want to use this forum to reach people and show and tell and say, ‘Look here are some truths that we want you to know,'” Greenwald told The Associated Press. The video blitz has an accompanying web site, therealrudy.org.

The Giuliani campaign blasted Greenwald as “a conspiracy theorist” who is “disconnected from reality.” But therein lies the rub: smearing Greenwald isn’t going to help. The video doesn’t include Greenwald’s opinions; they include the perspectives of Giuliani’s former emergency director.

Take a couple of minutes to watch this:

Giuliani’s gang can go after Greenwald every day, but it doesn’t much matter. When Giuliani’s former emergency director explains that the former mayor is telling a “flat-out lie,” the filmmaker who got the footage is beside the point.

Right now, Republican voters perceive Giuliani as someone who held some impressive press conferences on 9/11, which somehow translates to “leadership” abilities. But it’s only a matter of time. Giuliani’s decisions should be a national scandal that not only force him from the presidential race, but may even shame him permanently.

Inevitably, this is going to become a part of this campaign, and when it does, it’s going to be ugly.

We need more Robert Greenwalds. Video is the only way to penetrate the skulls of the folks who can’t or won’t read. Unfortunately, they still know how to vote.

  • Greenwald is being soft on Rudolf if you ask me.

    What about Rudolf W. Giuliani’s interview with Peter Jennings on 9/11/2001?

    “I–I went down to the scene and we set up headquarters at 75 Barkley Street, which was right there with the police commissioner, the fire commissioner, the head of emergency management, and we were operating out of there when we were told that the World Trade Center was going to collapse. And it did collapse before we could actually get out of the building, so we were trapped in the building for 10, 15 minutes, and finally found an exit and got out, walked north, and took a lot of people with us.”

    What about the Firefighters Union Letter On Rudolf Giuliani, 3/8/2007?

    […]

    In conjunction with the cut in fire fighters allowed to search, Giuliani also made a conscious decision to institute a “scoop-and-dump” operation to expedite the clean-up of Ground Zero in lieu of the more time-consuming, but respectful, process of removing debris piece by piece in hope of uncovering more remains.

    Mayor Giuliani’s actions meant that fire fighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill.

    […]

  • “Video is the only way to penetrate the skulls of the folks who can’t or won’t read.”

    So true. But logistically, how does one get such video out to the masses? Especially when the TV/cable media refuses to show anything they deem ‘controversial’ especially when it comes from the DFHs?

  • bubba said:

    “So true. But logistically, how does one get such video out to the masses?”

    Certainly a valid concern but the answer is virally. I’ll be passing it on to at least 12 contacts before I leave for work this AM with “pass it on” in the subject line. It’s not prime time but it’s better than nothing. Think where we’d be without the internet thus far. It’s been our only saving grace.

    And they know that too.

  • Giuliani’s decisions should be a national scandal that not only force him from the presidential race, but may even shame him permanently. Why? He’s a republican, they have no shame.

  • The True Believers not only don’t read, but they limit their informational viewing to Fox “News.” Try getting one of them to sit through “An Inconvenient Truth” (they hate Al Gore but they aren’t sure why) or “Fahrenheit 911” or “Sicko” (they hate Michael Moore but they aren’t sure why).

    In spite of all that, this series of videos definitely will do some good at the margins. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that will tear down Giuliani in the eyes of his fans as long as he keeps mouthing the right platitudes. After all, 29% of Americans still think that George W. Bush is a good president.

  • Okie,

    I don’t think it’s for the “true” believers. Having read Greenwald’s articles, I think he’s a lot smarter than taking on the stoneheaded. I think Greenwald’s targets are aimed at the independents and swing voters.

    I think the “true” believers are a lost cause. Hard to change someone’s mind when it won’t deal with anything new or different than what was accepted.

  • Dan: I agree. My point was that the video won’t end Rudy’s candidacy. He might even get the nomination. But the video will be devastating to him in the general election if he gets that far.

  • Thanks for the great post. The myth of Rudi’s brilliance and bravery was a media creation and filled the need for an identifiable hero in the face of Bush’s craven cowardice. The neo-cons are behind Rudi, however, and he’ll be a force to reckon with.

  • So Rudy wanted the command center in the tower because his buddy owned the building? Didn’t I also read not too long ago that this was Rudy’s love nest while he was still married to his former wife? Or am I confused?

  • moi,

    Yes, you’re right. From Talking Points Memo:

    Giuliani’s office had a humidor for cigars and mementos from City Hall, including a fire horn, police hats and fire hats, as well as monogrammed towels in his bathroom. His suite was bulletproofed and he visited it often, even on weekends, bringing his girlfriend Judi Nathan there long before the relationship surfaced. He had his own elevator.

    For the city, this meant that on 9/11, the NYC make-shift command center didn’t exist until seven hours after the attack. As for Giuliani’s poor judgment, the most rational conclusion is that he put his center in the wrong place because he was creating a “convenient love nest.”

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/016484.php

  • Criticizing what Giuliani did before 9/11 is soooo pre-9/11. The fact of the matter is that the best thing Giuliani did was to fill the leadership vacuum created by Bush’s disappearance on that day. So in that regard, doesn’t it just make sense that we’d want him to replace Bush next year too?

    It’s not like the presidency is that important. We’ll just have Rudy walk around the streets of Washington, acting tough and answerng questions. That’s real leadership. Anyone can sit in an office and make decisions. What we need is a street walker for president.

  • this is straight political tactics, but wouldn’t this sort of thing be better once he has the nomination? rudy gone in the primary is someone else as nominee, but once he’s the nominee it’s not like the gop can call “do overs”

  • Pingback: All Spin Zone » The Real Rudy

  • Actually, I think we need a few more doofuses like Rudolph—so we could do remakes of all the Monty Python “Stupid Twit” skits….

  • “… (they hate Al Gore but they aren’t sure why) … (they hate Michael Moore but they aren’t sure why).”

    It’s because they’re fat, silly.]

    Except that that’s why they like Fred Thompson.

    Fat Republicans, good. Fat Democrats, bad.

    BTW, that’s why Fred isn’t going to be the nominee. He’s lost too much weight (probably running after that little tyke at his age, and their daughter, too).

  • The premise in Greenwald’s vid – that Giuliani gets paid 100k a speec, therefore this is 9/11 blood money – is like the thought process of a simple child.

    The man took a place that was the economic, political and social basket case of America and turned it into one of the two or three most desired tourists destinations in the world, as well as one of the two or three most important business centers of the world. Duh. Any corporation that can afford the 100k would pay it in a heartbeat to get access to this kind of insight.

    Lord help us if the level of discourse on the blogs and boards doesn’t rise about the level of fourth grade emoting.

  • It’s worse than you think, you know. It isn’t just Pubs. A recent poll (Quinipiac, I think) asked “Which candidate for president, Democrat or Republican, is most admirable?”

    Of all the candidates, Rudy was at the top of the list with – wait for it – 45%!!

    That’s beyond scary. It’s terrifying.

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