Myths of a 9/11 hero, Giuliani, debunked

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT book review: Myths of a 9/11 hero, debunked
After the terrorist attacks, Mayor Giuliani was the man. Now his leadership comes under fire in "Grand Illusion."
By Kit R. Roane, Special to The Times

'Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11'
Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins

....although Giuliani's "quick response and personal fearlessness ... provided a clean and reassuring narrative," Barrett, a senior writer at the Village Voice, and Collins, a senior producer at CBSNews.com, argue that there is a darker, more important narrative of the mayor's failures, one they contend cost many lives on Sept. 11 and may contribute to future illnesses and deaths due to lax safety standards during the cleanup. The tone of "Grand Illusion" is often prosecutorial. But the writers' extensive research results in a convincing indictment of Giuliani's priorities as mayor and his later self-promotion as a terrorism expert.

The city's problems on Sept. 11 are now well known. Police officers and firefighters hardly communicated. With radios that didn't operate between departments or work at all in steel high-rises, many firefighters didn't get the final mayday call to evacuate the North Tower before it fell. Cut off from relevant information, emergency operators continued to tell victims in the tower to stay put even though top fire chiefs had called for a complete evacuation almost immediately after arriving on the scene. The list goes on. But somehow, the mayor has been able to escape much of the blame. Barrett and Collins now hold Giuliani accountable.

The focus of their ire is Giuliani's claim that, although the magnitude of the attacks was unforeseeable, he had assumed from the moment he came into office in 1994 that terrorists would attack New York City and so he made the city's emergency response a priority. There has been little in Giuliani's record to support that claim. But "Grand Illusion" now reveals a record that directly contradicts it.

It is not that Giuliani wouldn't have had reason to prepare. After all, terrorists had exploded a car bomb underneath one World Trade Center tower in 1993. But Barrett and Collins' detailed research shows a mayor who utterly failed to grasp the importance of readying the city for another terrorist attack. Lou Anemone, the police department's chief operating officer during much of Giuliani's tenure, recalls trying to brief the mayor on a citywide terrorism security plan in 1998. "Rudy glazed over," he said, adding: "We never had any discussion about security at the World Trade Center. We never even had a drill or exercise there.... There was just a lack of recognition of the problem at City Hall."...

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/reviews/cl-et-book22aug22,0,5753334.story?coll=cl-lat-homepage

[bryant69]

1. Guilliani and McCain strike me as their most dangerous candidates

So anything to deflate them is good news.

I hope they throw up George Allen - but I suspect that's not likely. Or maybe they could coax Vlad the Impaler out of retirement.

Bryant
Check it out--> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Not Me]

3. Just ordered it

from my library...on the waiting list as soon as it hits the shelves.

[Catrina]

38. This is not news to N.Yorkers. Giuliani never was a hero

But it would have been the best thing that ever happened if the GOP had chosen him as their candidate. I really was wishing for that. Rightwingers adore him, but like Bush, all he ever was was a bully, and it's absolutely true that he ignored the threat of an attack in NYC and constantly dismissed the legitimate fears of another one, claiming that 'NY is the safest city in the world'.

The PR-machine-created 'heroes' of 9/11 were untouchable for a while, but if anyone watched the 9/11 Hearings when Rudy was testifying, the reaction of the victims' families to his appearance demonstrated what many people in NY thought of him. Many have asked why he was not held accountable for not preparing the city for what most people believed, was inevitable.

I think one of the most unbelievable aspects of 9/11 for so many in NY, was seeing this little man raised to the status of hero, and even normally astute people, falling for it. And he and his sidekick Bernie Kerik have profited enormously from 9/11. He's smarter than Bush, but no less of a bully.

I doubt he will be the Repubican nominee, but it would have been fun to watch, just as it was to watch Bernie Kerik finally have his fake hero status fade away under the glare of the spotlight, when Bush stupidly nominated him as head of Homeland Security.

[DoYouEverWonder]

39. His sidekick Bernie Kerik

was in charge of communications on 9-11 and we know how well that all went.

[Catrina]

40. Exactly! And now we know that he was otherwise

occupied, cavorting with his Fox News anchor in an apartment overlooking Ground Zero, meant as a place for the rescue workers to rest. And using the police to guard their little love-nest.

They are beyond disgusting ~

[AlCzervik]

2. anybody remember the group of families of firefighters and cops chanting

"What about the radios Rudy?" I do and i'm glad this is coming out.

[Cosmocat]

6. It is just ... just ... BIZARRE ...

the world these freaks live in ...

I had a go around with some clown on a mixed board who was CONVINCED that "Rudy saved lives" on 9-11 ...

There is only one thing more amazing than how utterly shameless the republican party is in politicizing 9-11 ... And, that is how they can take people who have been at best mediocre, and often near complete failures, and have their zombies embrace them as their future leaders ...

Guiliani was at best a moderately tolerated mayor prior to 9-11, and know is trumpeted as a hero - the particulars of this story totally ignored ...

Look at polls about republican candidates for 2008, and some of them have Condi Rice as being a top candidate ... This freakin lady was the national security advisor when 9-11 happened, which somehow earned her a promotion to secretary of state ... During her tenure as secretary of state Iraq and Afgansitan have been disasters, Iran and NK have stepped up their bad actions, Israel and Lebanon broke out, Hugo Chavez has given the US the middle finger at every opportunity ... I mean, our foreign policy is just rudderless, and we have fires breaking out EVERYWHERE ...

And, SOMEHOW, in these freaks minds, this lady is a presidential candidate ...

[The Deacon]

19. Five Years Later

And fire departments, law enforcement & emergency responders are STILL waiting for "communications inter-operability standards" from the Department of Homeland Security (I know, I was one of those responders standing hip-deep in Katrina refugees who had to depend on ham radio operators if I wanted to talk to anyone except my own people.)

[EFerrari]

50. I remember that. That was when I realized how much theater

there is in any televised hearing. It's like a ballet. I pretty much stopped watching them after that. Those families were horribly disrespected.

[WCGreen]

4. And remember he wanted to call a state of emergency

and stay on as mayor...

He even postponed the election...

[Buzz Clik]

5. I'm sure this is an interesting hacking to death of Giuliani...

...perhaps it's even deserved.

As a presidential candidate, Rudy is DOA -- too many skeletons.

However, during the first 72 hours after the terrorist attacks, Giuliani was THE face on the news who acted as if he had a clue and had some stones. Cheney went into deep hiding. Bush was zig-zagging across the country, hiding from Men with Beards. And Rudy was at Ground Zero.

Was Rudy a master magician pulling off a grand illusion? Maybe, but we needed that image.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Actually, I agree. I remember distinctly when he appeared on TV...

that night. Before that moment, there was nothing, nobody to look to for leadership, information, or comfort.

Beyond that, this reviewer seems to think the book has merit.

[flyarm]

8. unfortunately people in Kansas and Nebraska are totally clueless

of this sob..

ny'ers know what an incompetent boob he is...but it is the ignorant in the mid west that never read or educate themselves to what the N.E. knows...

look at the election of 2004..perfect example..

little lord pissy pants did not hold any of the NE where people were directly effected by 9/11..and yet the mid west ignored that..

wasn't that a freaking clue to the clueless in the mid west???????

and it wasn't like our polls didn't close first..they had a warning..and yet they voted for the criminals of 9/11

and they will do it again with Rudy;.because they are ignorant!

and before you say i am being mean to those in the mid west..i lived in Kansas& Missouri for 16 yrs..

prob the most ignorant people i have ever seen in my life!..and they don't even attempt to know what is going on..

***now that is not everyone...but the vast majority!

fly

[Buzz Clik]

10. I, too, lived in Kansas for 15 years.

We got newspapers there, and the Intenet extends across the Great Plains. I am well aware of Giuliani's deficiencies and would not want him as Prez.

What you're calling ignorance probably just boils down to priorities. If one of the 9/11 planes had hit the Con-Agra "tower" in Omaha, maybe the Midwestern priorities would shift.

By the way, don't get too puffed up about the NE having their fingers on the pulse of America -- you guys gave us John Kerry in 2004. Not exactly a stellar choice. Not exactly a man who knew shit from Shinola about the workings in the Heartland.

[bikesein]

11. Uhmm

It was the "ny'ers" who elected him to represent them, as far as I know he was never elected for any office in Nebraska or Kansas? You are on if you are referring to the presentdent, but the blame don't lie with those 2 states.

[DemonFighterLives]

14. You're not in Kansas anymore.

I'm sure you don't include Minnesota in your midwest.
:9

Great rant though- the elections were stolen.
:dem:

[EST]

22. As a resident of Illinois for most of the last thirty years and

a traveler of America and the world before that, I can understand these people, somewhat.
Most "normal" people have little or no real interest in politics. The lives of "normal" people are consumed with the high priorities of existence, such as making a living, handling the myriad of problems that go with running a business, maintaining a farm and family, getting the car fixed, trying to be effective at a local level, for instance, getting public water or sewer facilities created, cleaning up after traffic accidents and larger disasters, and handling the smaller-time idiots with their infractions, illegal activities and theft of resources and money.

It is only those with the time and inclination who make themselves aware of larger venues and national politics.

After all, the reason we have a representative democratic republic is that most folks simply cannot be deeply involved in politics in any big way, leaving them open to the flim-flamming from other, more "well informed" crooks.

Although it is incumbent on responsible citizens to become at least moderately well informed as to the country, as a whole, rather than strictly local issues, I cannot confidently condemn them for not having the time or drive to become as involved as my current disability allows (forces) me to be.

This situation ain't gonna change! It is up to us to handle the big stuff, to stifle the voices of evil and draw attention to those of human values and freedom. We, and we, alone must take it upon ourselves to carry that burden and serve as the conduit for good, fresh ideas and well worn, honest public policies.

Both republiclowns and dems will use the vast, uninformed public for their own ends, both good and nefarious, and we have to be the translators and judges of those policies, carrying the substance of them to our own circle of acquaintances. Bitch at them-the "public"- and judge them as capable of conscious thought or not; that is our job. If the public doesn't get it, it is our failure, not theirs.

[petgoat]

25. I know the midwesterners too. When they find out that Rudy

moved his mistress into the Mayor's mansion before he was divorced,
they'll lose interest in him.

[EST]

36. Yup-I sure as hell did!

[Mabus]

30. Not as clueless as you & NY'ers are

Here in Kansas we have a Democratic governor. It was the people in New York that held him as a their savior, not us.

You say you "lived in Kansas", well obviously you haven't been here recently, so why don't you post about something you know about rather than perpetuating a stereotype of us midwesterners.

[Imagevision]

9. Giuliani & McCain should be interesting in the primary's

[treestar]

13. IA with this. He was walking through the streets, he was there

and I thought * should have been, too.

Bush's handlers should have taken him right there to NYC that very day.

I still don't get why the freeple think of Bush as such a hero.

[Buzz Clik]

15. Exactly. Whether you like Giuliani or not ...

... the contrast those days between Rudy and George was striking: A true leader with balls versus a scared rookie with no clue.

[robbedvoter]

48. From Kansas he may have appeared so. In NYC, not so much.

In stead ofdoing the City's business he was preening for the cameras. The moment he pried himself away he ordered us out of Union Square that had become a place of mourning and community gatherings.
Spare me with what you saw on teeve. We needed a mayor not a TV star.
But of course, I forget, for most of you 911 was a teevee show.

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. We didn't need that image. We needed someone who was

actually DOING something. And the time for doing something is not during photo-ops after the fact, but in preparation, emergency planning, logistical readiness.

Giuliani was in the last, embarassing days of his failed administration when this happened - good PR saved his reputation. But that's all it was. Good PR.

[NNN0LHI]

21. OK, credit him with one good day in his entire sick miserable life

There see I can be reasonable.

Don

[Buzz Clik]

23. ... and people say that DU is filled with partisan zealots.

[robbedvoter]

49. Well, maybe NYC-ers didn't appreciate "The 911 Show"

Sorry if we didn't want to play for your entertainment. Your posts as an outsider are deeply offensive to me.

[petgoat]

24. Bush was zig-zagging, hiding from men who showed their access to

secret spy-agency code words, said Webster Tarpley at the Los Angeles
9/11 conference in June.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

31. I don't care how bad a disaster is.

The last thing anybody needs is a phony.

[Malikshah]

33. Operative phrase used here "Giuliani was THE face on the news"

This is key.

It wasn't necessarily reality, but rather creative imagery.

Not based on accuracy or reality, but rather salesmanship of the MSM

[Buzz Clik]

37. Leadership is at least 75% psychology.

Phony or not, Giuliani provided leadership at a time when Bush et al were sleeping in the basement.

Go ahead and hate him, but I found his strong presence to be important in those first few days.

[Malikshah]

42. I don't hate him-- I don't think much of him at all

The MSM found their image and used it. Look at the studies that prove that he didn't provide leadership when it counted. Before 9/11. He made the safe calculated decisions before and after.

He was and is a disappointment no matter what the MSM portrayed (and portray) him as.

[paparush]

47. Too many skeletons? Are you out of your F-ing mind?

Bush has what 2 DWI's and a decade long drug/alcohol addiction.

He went AWOL the National Guard and ran at least one business into the ground while sparking an SEC investigation.

His wife got drunk and killed her boyfriend in a car accident.


Skeletons don't mean shit in today's political theater.

[DemonFighterLives]

12. I took to calling him Ghouliani after his speech at the puke convention

I don't remember all the details, but he wanted to make his name on the blood of the victims of 911.
He was, as some have pointed out, the only personality on the TV that day.
I think it just makes him a co-conspirator.
:shrug:

[KG]

16. gee, shouldn't his serial adultery be enuff to turn off the moralists?

or will that be overlooked and glossed over?

[elehhhhna]

20. If not, this surely will:

(NOT photoshopped)

[Chiyo-chichi]

34. video here:

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/03/03/giuliani.drag.mov

[elehhhhna]

51. THANKS! I sooo just saved that!

[ComerPerro]

26. everyone say it with me, come on now

ALL IS FORGIVEN WHEN YOU'RE REPUBLICAN.

[savemefromdumbya]

18. Rudy is bad

he had a hand in the 911 attacks

[petgoat]

28. In the coverups, at least.

As a former federal prosecutor, Rudy should have known better than to permit the
rapid destruction of the WTC steel. Firemen rioted to protest the desecration of
the dead. Fire Engineering magazine said that the lack of samples would make the
FEMA investigation "a half-baked farce." And it did.

The latest WTC collapse report claims fire weakened the steel, but they have not
one piece of core steel showing heating above 250 degrees C.

These guys know that if there's a hell, they're going there.

[savemefromdumbya]

32. they know the voting machines won't let them down?

[petgoat]

35. IMHO a real 9/11 investigation was so much to be feared

that the 2004 election had to be stolen.

[Bandit]

27. The only reason Giuliani looked good at all was in comparrison

to Bush* who got the name bunnypants because of his hopping around the country hiding in little hidyholes..Remember Schumer and Clinton were there from day one and Bill Clinton who was in Australia on 9-11 and all air traffic was halted still managed to get to New York before Bush*....

[petgoat]

29. Remember Bush's press conference was given at

Barksdale, Louisiana? It looks like his first impulse was to head for Crawford,
and finally somebody got him to calm down and take a break, and somebody talked
him out of it.

[The Count]

41. What took them so long? I was barfing for years at the beatification!

A bigger baffoon I din't see. OK, maybe bush, but that's it!

[MethuenProgressive]

43. "Shifty" Giuliani

We can only hope that the Repugs put up a Giuliani/McCain ticket in '08!

[chimpymustgo]

44. K & R - the truth is getting out.

Guiliani is a dangerous man - and was considered a failed, much disliked mayor prior to the myth-making of 911.

[professor_grove]

45. Giulani knew!

this criminal knew all along about 911 and, like Bush, took political advantage of it. But unlike Bush, who´s too stupid to find his own belly button, Giuliani personally helped plan the mass-murder of 3,000 Americans.

The PNAC mobsters would not be able to pull that off without the help from the mayor of New York City.

[spanone]

46. When a politician 'cashes in' on his heroism, I'm cynical.