Matt Taibbi: Giuliani…Worse Than Bush
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The following is a letter I sent to The Economist on May 9th, in response to an article on Giuliani’s candidacy. It was published on their blog:
As a 40-year Manhattanite who lived under Mayor Giuliani, I would like to correct some canards and phony appellations:
-Record as U.S. Attorney. Mr. Giuliani boasts of his many high-profile cases, particularly re organized crime. What he doesn’t say is that his rate of convictions overturned on appeal was among the highest of all U.S. Attorneys, and that most of these were caused by overzealousness which led to appeal-winning technicalities.
-Record on Crime. The significant drop in crime during Mr. Giuliani’s administration had very little to do with him; all of the ideas that led to it were the brainchildren of then Police Commissioner William Bratton and particularly then Deputy Commissioner Jack Maple. And as you point out, Mr. Giuliani “sacked” Mr. Bratton when the latter dared take credit for his own work. It should also be noted that evidence has recently come to light showing that the aggressive police tactics permitted under Mr. Giuliani led to the arrest and confinement of over 30,000 completely innocent New Yorkers during crime sweeps.
-Record on Race Relations. None such exists. Indeed, Mr. Giuliani was almost certainly the most polarizing mayor in New York history. The Abner Louima and Amidou Diallo cases were only the most high-profile of many incidents in which Mr. Giuliani showed little or no tact, and in which he cemented his reputation as a knee-jerk supporter of the police no matter what the situation.
-Record re 9/11. This is the biggest phony appellation of all. There is no reason to believe that any other mayor on 9/11 would not have reacted in similar fashion, and done as good (or perhaps even better) a job as Mr. Giuliani did. Ultimately, Mr. Giuliani was simply in the right place at the right time.
As you point out, Mr. Giuliani does not have either the judgment or the temperament to be president. Re the former, he used a news conference to let his wife know he was divorcing her, he hired the hopelessly compromised Bernard Kerik, and he fired anyone (no matter how effective) who tried to take even a little of his spotlight. Re the latter, he is a thin-skinned bully whose monomania would make him a truly dangerous choice to lead the world’s only hyperpower.
Posted on 02-Jun-07 at 2:17 pm | Permalink