Pardon me (we Midwesterners are nothing, if not polite) Timbuktom, but I do believe that the people of New York were the ones to elect Mr. Giuliani mayor. So, before you go bashing Midwesterners anymore ... let's return to the subject at hand.

And of course, he was a fool for saying he spent so much time at GZ that he felt like one of the recovery and cleanup workers (The rescue itself being over long before).

But I'm wondering: What would you expect an out-of-shape, totally unqualified older man to do down there in the hole? Become a casualty maybe. But what useful work could he have done to make a difference.

I know Giuliani deserves every kick he's going to get for his stupid remark, but consider this question:

How much time did N.Y. state senator Hillary Clinton spend at GZ during that same time period?

What would you expect her to do there, wield a cutting torch, run a front loader?

Aside from Il Duce trying to make some cheap political point with his lie, politicians in the hole only slow things down and get in the way.

To a narcissistic creep like Giuliani, choosing to spend time at ground zero, and choosing to spend time basking in the baseball limelight by association is a no-brainer. Once the photo ops at ground zero started to thin out...what was the point, after all? Getting to rub elbows with athletes when you, yourself are a skeletal wimp, and hang out in front of the press at the big games...well...that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Giuliani doesn't waste time on the things that aren't going to look good in his portfolio.

And he has leveraged his "lucky break" as the mayor of NYC on 9/11 to the hilt. Like George W. Bush, who has actually said "I planted the flag of democracy in Iraq", (not WE)Giuliani sees everything through the prism of his place in the equation. He's used the 9/11 victims, the firefighters and and police as props, just like "W" has used them.

And if Giuliani were ever to get to the White House, we could expect him to continue the use of the troops in the same manner. As props. And the "war on terror" would be the club he used to continue bludgeoning us into fearful submission, like his predecessor. All the while, his company of opportunity would continue to rake in the terror-related big bucks. Can you say Bernie Kerick?

No, Garry...he doesn't deserve a break.

As for president, have you heard him speak? It's "W" all over again in complete lack of cohesive thought. Just the badly articulated words are sometimes bigger. And "cowboy" crap would be replaced with an erudite city slicker facade.

Rudy....as all-American as baseball...and just as arrogant and corrupt.

but she was criticized as being unfeeling. But then again she didn't claim that she was one of teh rescue workers either. Since Rudi claims he was, in fact, one of the "boys," I'm wondering if he had to go to Havana to get an inhalator for his rescue worker breathing problems?

Of course Giuliani was under no obligation to spend 12-hour days at ground zero like the rescue workers; and of course it's likely that Hillary Clinton didn't spend much more time at ground zero than Giuliani did. But neither of these is relevant to the issue. The point is that GIULIANI CLAIMED to have spent as much time at ground zero as the rescue workers, which is total self-aggrandizing baloney. Clinton made no such claim.

As for the other letters demanding that critics instead provide substantive analysis of Giuliani's terrorism-related performance, this has been done in many venues, especially Barrett's reporting for the Village Voice (widely reported elsewhere). It's perfectly legit to ALSO discuss this aspect of the topic--which, again, Giuliani thrust into the conversation himself.

extra time at the 9/11 rescue site qualify a politician to be president? After one or two inspirational visits, get the hell out of the way. More than that is just self promotion-and the article shows how Rudy turned that into $millions for him and his minions. Now he's trying to turn it into being president. To me, in the midwest, thats a sign of low charactor and untrustworthiness, to put it mildly and politely.

...then the terrorists have already won.

Check out the look on Joe Torre's and on Giuliani's faces in the photo accompanying the story. Giuliani looks like he's about to wet himself with excitement, and Joe Torre is like, oh, great, this guy again.

Also, can we cut the crap about how Giuliani brought the city back from the brink? Giuliani hired an extremely effective police commissioner, I'll give him that much -- then he forced him out when he was getting the credit he deserved for bringing down crime rates. As for the economy, two words: Bill Clinton. Giuliani, like mayors across the country, benefited from the longest economic expansion in modern history. And New York got an extra boost from the booming stock market in the 1990s.

Look at it this way. The Yankees won four World Series on Rudy's watch. Why not give him credit for that too? The fact is, regarding both the Yankees' and the city's success, Giuliani was in the right place at the right time.

His record on terrorism, meanwhile, was an unqualified disaster, including, among other things, insisting that the city's emergency services center be placed in the WTC -- the only complex that had already been bombed -- against the advice of security experts. Oh, and he appointed his pimp/chauffer Bernie Kerik as police commissioner, and then recommended him as Director of Homeland Security, despite knowing that the guy was mobbed up to the gills. And let's not forget how both he and Bernie used their post-9/11 accommodations as adulterous lovenests.

As for Midwestern guy who claimed that they aren't rubes for falling for Rudy, since we're the ones who elected him: Yes, we're guilty as charged for putting him into office twice. Maybe we can be forgiven for the first time, since Dinkins was a horrendous mayor and even Zippy the Pinhead might have looked good by comparison. His re-election is down to us, though.

Still, we had had grown to hate him before 9/11 -- his approval ratings were such that people were gathering with torches and pitchforks. But anyone who supports him now that the facts are out there -- and more are being uncovered constantly -- is truly a rube.