Well, at least he had his priorities straight.

It's not like he was doing anything to help at Ground Zero.

It's not like he was doing anything to help at Ground Zero.

In contrast, he had a tremendous impact on the Yankees' postseason run.

Rudy brings the intangibles.

Giuliani was quick to scold New York sportswriters who wrote about the Diamondbacks' victory saying that it would embolden the Red Sox.

So what was he supposed to do down there...get a broom and help sweep?

He probably went down there, thanked a few workers, got updates and then got out of there. If he spent an hour a time down there, that's 29 days in 3 months...two days every week. Good enough for me.

I really hope we get better scandals this political season than what we have seen so far. Edwards's hair cut, Fred Thompson's hot wife, and now this...just totally week compared to the glory days of the Clinton/Bush elections.

Shibal, it only matters because, well let's quote the referred-to NY Times article:

On at least three occasions, in responding to accusations that the city failed to adequately protect the health of workers in the wreckage, he has boasted that he faced comparable risks himself. In one appearance he declared that he had been in the ruins "as often, if not more" than the cleanup workers who logged hundreds of hours in the smoldering pile.

Another time he brushed aside safety claims by asserting that his long hours at the site had left him susceptible to "every health consequence that people have suffered."

I agree that had he actually been at Ground Zero he would have been more a nuisance than a help, but he'd been talking like he was down there operating a back hoe or something. He's been trying to get around his city government's handling of a safety issue by not talking about the issue directly, and greatly exaggerating his personal risks. This one is actually something of a useful scandal, in that it actually speaks to the realities of a candidate's governing past, management style, character, etc.

"I really hope we get better scandals this political season than what we have seen so far."

Well, there IS the thing about Giuliani putting the emergency responce center in Tower II (instead of a better location across the river) because it was easier for him to walk there when he wanted to screw his mistress... does that work?

He probably went down there, thanked a few workers, got updates and then got out of there. If he spent an hour a time down there, that's 29 days in 3 months...two days every week. Good enough for me.

Me too... of course, one then shouldn't try to claim he was at the WTC site "as often, if not more, than most of the workers."

Shall I hold my breath and wait for the media to brand Rudy a serial exaggerator/liar ala Al Gore and the internet?

Well, there IS the thing about Giuliani putting the emergency responce center in Tower II (instead of a better location across the river) because it was easier for him to walk there when he wanted to screw his mistress... does that work?

Giuliani put the emergency response center in Tower III (the one that collapsed even though it wasn't struck by a plane - its believed the gas tanks stored with the center contributed to the huge fire that eventually weakened the building to the point of collapse).

As for your second joke, I believe it was Bernie Kerrik who used the WTC rest station to screw his mistress.

"As for your second joke, I believe it was Bernie Kerrik who used the WTC rest station to screw his mistress."

No, Kerik's love nest was a completely different thing. And that wasn't a joke:

"The 7 WTC site was the brainchild of Bill Diamond, a prominent Manhattan Republican that Giuliani had installed at the city agency handling rentals. When Diamond held a similar post in the Reagan administration a few years earlier, his office had selected the same building to house nine federal agencies. Diamond's GOP-wired broker steered Hauer to the building, which was owned by a major Giuliani donor and fundraiser. When Hauer signed onto it, he was locked in by the limitations Giuliani had imposed on the search and the sites Diamond offered him. The mayor was so personally focused on the siting and construction of the bunker that the city administrator who oversaw it testified in a subsequent lawsuit that "very senior officials," specifically including Giuliani, "were involved," which he said was a major difference between this and other projects. 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. Great concern was expressed in writing that the platform in the press room had to be high enough to make sure his head was above the cameras. It's inconceivable that the hands-on mayor's fantasy command center was shaped—or sited—by anyone other than him.

Of course, the consequences of putting the center there were predictable. The terrorist who engineered the 1993 bombing told the FBI they were coming back to the trade center. Opposing the site at a meeting with the mayor, Police Commissioner Howard Safir called it "Ground Zero" because of the earlier attack. Lou Anemone, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD, wrote memos slamming the site. 'I've never seen in my life 'walking distance' as some kind of a standard for crisis management,' Anemone said later. 'But you don't want to confuse Giuliani with the facts.' Anemone had done a detailed vulnerability study of the city for Giuliani, pinpointing terrorist targets. 'In terms of targets, the WTC was number one,' he says. 'I guess you had to be there in 1993 to know how strongly we felt it was the wrong place.'" Link.

As for your second joke, I believe it was Bernie Kerrik who used the WTC rest station to screw his mistress.

No, it was Giuliani.

It looks to me like the main reason for the choice - against the forewarning of all his advisers - was that the owner of WTC7 was a big Giuliani donor. The government-sponsored love nest was merely a side benefit.

ah, thanks Vlad.

Giuliani's numerous scandals are actually pretty entertaining (although also sad, after you think about them for a while). He's got close ties both with mobbed-up cop Kerik and a child-molesting priest. His first wife was also his cousin, and he flagrantly cheated on his second wife, actually marching in a St. Patrick's Day parade with his mistress, before eventually telling her he wanted a divorce during a press conference. He's estranged from his son, and his daughter is actively campaigning for Barak Obama.

The man has so much dirty laundry, it's unreal.

This is related to baseball how? Seriously, this is skirting the edges of what I would consider relevant for BTF.

The fact there are two threads devoted to it boggles my mind.

The man has so much dirty laundry, it's unreal.

Giuliani's father was also a part-time Mafia enforcer.

This is related to baseball how? Seriously, this is skirting the edges of what I would consider relevant for BTF.
The fact there are two threads devoted to it boggles my mind.

Boggle no more. If you want baseball relevance, Guiliani violated campaign law by accepting four championship World Series rings and then undervaluing them to avoid surpassing a gift threshold.

If you want baseball relevance, Guiliani violated campaign law by accepting four championship World Series rings and then undervaluing them to avoid surpassing a gift threshold.

And I think we had multiple threads on this back when it was news.

I think Vaux could add a couple more bedtime stories about sweet Rudy.

Aaargh, dueling threads, I can't stand it ...

This is related to baseball how?

"After 9/11, Giuliani wasn't a rescue worker--he was a Yankee".

I think that's pretty clearly related to baseball.

I think that's pretty clearly related to baseball.

The next twelve months are going to be wonderful.

Barack Obama gets spotted at Wrigley Field? 500-post thread!

John McCain mentions that once he glanced at the TV and a Diamondbacks game was on? 800-post thread!

Hilary Clinton shakes hands with Susan Sarandon, who was in Bull Durham? Pray we have the bandwidth!

One Yankee adulterer is a conniving disgrace who killed hero firemen, but another Yankee adulterer is the presumptive 2007 MVP. It's all so confusing!

Hey hey hey... he never did anything wrong in that hotel room. He was just teaching that nice stripper how to read.

"Ha!"

One Yankee adulterer is a conniving disgrace who killed hero firemen, but another Yankee adulterer is the presumptive 2007 MVP. It's all so confusing!

I agree that Alex Rodriguez is evil incarnate, but Rudy Giuliani can't be the MVP; heck, he can barely hit curveballs.

Well, of course Rudy has mob ties. I mean, his name does end in a vowel, doesn't it?

Rudy has mob ties.

The real mob is so much more entertaining than The Soprano's. Except for the unfortunate fact that they really do kill people and all.

Still, I will never criticize a politician for attending sporting events. The more time they spend watching the games, the less time they have for screwing things up.

Still, I will never criticize a politician for attending sporting events. The more time they spend watching the games, the less time they have for screwing things up.

Nah, with cell phones such, politicians can screw things up now no matter where they are.

wrong thread...

Well, there IS the thing about Giuliani putting the emergency responce center in Tower II (instead of a better location across the river) because it was easier for him to walk there when he wanted to screw his mistress... does that work?

Putting aside that you've got all the facts wrong, putting it "across the river" would be pretty damn stupid, since, you know, it helps to be able to get to an emergency response center in an emergency.