Letters to the Editor
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Inside the Kingdom of Allegiances= For Giuliani's Inner Circle Reigns Supreme.
I read a Nov. 15th, Wa/Po article By Louis Romano.
It has aphotp of Tony Carbonetti's personal key advisor. He is said to be the archetypal alter ego == a stocky ,cards on the table New Yorker who conveys absolute authority in his main are of expertise, Rudy.
He's said to swallow a room when he enters it. He's affable, and the final buffer, between an exacting, edgy politician, and the world. He takes the heat. He knows what the candidate likes to eat, what sets him off like a Fourth of July rocket, and when politicians sleep. Tony is called "Carbo."
I know there is 350 plus days left to slog along on the campaign trail, but can I recommend something more entertaining?.
Barbie and the Nutcrackers is a sasonal DVC. Has anyone ever saw a bumper sticker that reads:
I Love (a red Valentine heart) RUDY? or CRONIES fer HADES!
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the effect of beating Rudy
Best to defeat Giuliani as early as possible in the primaries.
Here's the interesting thing. If Rudy wins the primary and goes on to lose to the Democratic nominee in the general (both of which I think are more likely than not), the lessons Americans should learn about that defeat will not be learned by those who need to learn it most.
In a rational world, Rudy's defeat would be viewed as a defeat of neoconservative militarism, xenophobia, and authoritarianism, but this will not be the case. Instead, due to the relentless media framing of Rudy as a "moderate," as Glenn has detailed, his defeat will be viewed as a failure to be extreme enough. This will be particularly the case if the Democratic nominee fails to express clear and unequivocal opposition to the policy pillars of neoconservativism, even if he or she is in fact worlds better than Giuliani on that score.
Analysts will point over and over to statistics suggesting that some hard-line evangelical voters did not turn out to vote, or that Rudy was "too much like the Democratic nominee" to present a stark enough choice to the voter. Despite the fact that war and authoritarian policies here and abroad have been the overwhelmingly dominant political themes of almost the entire Bush presidency, the post-election commentary will place remarkably disproportionate emphasis on issues like abortion and gay rights.
As a result, the Democratic president will be heavily expected by the media and the Washington establishment to continue with militarist, authoritarian policies, particularly out of a Pavlovian expectation by these observers that the Democratic commander-in-chief will need to struggle existentially not to appear "soft on terror."
Yes, sadly, even if Giuliani loses, the establishment will have learned none of the essential lessons of that outcome. Instead, they will learn the opposite. And a new era of Democrat-baiting will begin.
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@Chris Dowd
You're exactly right. And nothing could be less relevant to the actions on the political stage than the fact that it's all a lie. No one on the stage will ever be tested on anything but the fantasy. To be a star on the stage, you have to sing the numbers with only a little improvisation, and show lots of leg and teeth.
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silenced
I disagree with your assertion that communism is needed to save from fascism.
Communism is an idealogy that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production (workers, slaves)...
Those in charge are called 'proletariats" -as Orwells' 1984 reference of "proles".
Silence maybe you think it is communism that saved us-due to the fact that the US recruited many Societ communists into this country (Russian Jews)during WWII.There was Project VENONA. Alger Hiss and Klaus Fuchs who were convicted as a result from it. The Soviets had just developed the A-bomb, something the US desperately wanted to get thier hands on. (Wasn't Kissinger an agent(spy) during this time also-(possible when US recruited him)).
But what many of these men of Russian Jewish decent who were recruited-were marxists/communists. Obviously coming to the the US didn't change that. In fact, it seemed to just make them more paranoid after the deaths of other Jews at Hitlers' hands-they still did not assimilate in the US-and instead continued to only trust those of the same "bloodlines" and heritage-and communism. An understandable thing, until the paranoia of these events took hold in a deep tribalism and disrespect for others' religions, intellect, heritage,political beliefs....in the US.They became elitists who fed off their own aggrandizement of each other. So they held onto these communists ideals-even while living here in the US.
It was a woman named Elizabeth Bentley who was working for the US when her cover was blown by someone inside the US govt (to the Russians). So it seems the US was beginning to see some 'blowback" from recruiting these Russian Jewish spies-who had thier own agenda and ax to grind-even if it meant sabotauging US efforts.
Back to Bentley-she was on the case of exposing some of those "double"agents as part of the Silvermaster ring. the FBI had files of communist penetration of Federal govt. during the Cold War. Under FDR- an Admin Ass who worked for him by the name of Lauchlin Currie-was named on this file of communist agents. So was Harry Dexter White-Sec. of Treasury. as was Wm Donovan-Office of Strategic Srevices. Then there was the Ware Group, which alger Hiss was a member. 10 were named as Soviet agents that had inflitrated the US govt. and were giving up US secrets to enemies.
(taking a break for now-didn't want to hog the thread-I'll come back to wrap my point up.)
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The Mad Caliph from Brooklyn
Mad Rudi, who believes that a bunch of criminals living in caves and riding mules pose an existential threat to civilization, is a special nutcase. Instead of being ensconced in a room with padded walls, soft music piped in and a burly male nurse coming in every few hours to administer his medication, he's running for President. Only in the US and Uganda.
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That's Our Rudy, all right
He's the ultimate Vicar of Bray. Imagine Norm Coleman with a couple dozen extra IQ points, more powerful friends (Coleman had to leave New York to make his mark), and even less in the way of scruples, and that's Rudy Giuliani.
He's so vile that he corrupts even otherwise-good people. His running buddy Howard Safir used to be a good law enforcer until he got into Rudy's orbit. One of my friends who used to be in the US Marshals' Service knew both men fairly well a few decades ago; while Rudy was always scum under a glad-handing veneer, Safir did in fact once possess morals.
Oh, yes: The big cleanup of NYC for which Rudy likes to claim the credit? Most of it was done by William Bratton, who Rudy forced out in 1996 as Rudy didn't want him taking what Rudy sees as his fair share of the limelight (meaning all of it).