Jon Chait takes a look at the continuing conservative love of "swagger" no matter how many inept, corrupt fools it winds up leading them to embrace.
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Built Kerik Tough
08 May 2007 07:11 pm
Comments (13)
Come now, Al, now you want facts to get in the way of a good smear? Hasn't seemed to stop you these past six years...And why is it exactly that Rudy gets credit for what's going on in New York now? I realize that such things as an understanding of a timeline become difficult when everything is still Clinton's fault 6 years on, but really, try harder.
Alternatively, make the affirmative case that Rudy (or Thompson, or any of them) has anything more than superficial manliness going for them, instead of nitpicking.
Not holding my breath.
Wasn't NYC's counterterrorism unit mostly developed post-9/11, under Bloomberg?
Does ths sophistication include, a la Guiliani, not insuring the firefighters and police can communicate and putting the anti terrorism headquarters in the WTC, which even before 9-11, was the one major attempted target in NYC. NYC today might do all sorts of great anti terrorist stuff, but Rudy didn't do much besides seem impressive for a week. This is a thought experiment for everyone who puts through this BS that rudy is some magical tough guy vis a vis terrorism. Lets take Bush, he had a poor, pitaible reaction immediatly on 9-11, with my pet goat and all. And then later that week he was actually very impressive, with the bull horn etc etc. Would you rather have a president that was the wimpering, confused mess GWB was on 9-11, and never got on rubble, never did the bullhoarn, never was that inspiring etc etc BUT didn't execut e a rash, ill thought out anti terrorism startegy that involved invading iraq, rejecting iranian envoys in '03 who wanted to negotiate, stop funding hezbollah, perhaps recognize israel etc etc. I think we all know the answer is yes, so guiliani's one fake asset...isn't much of an asset at all
Does this sophistication include, a la Guiliani, not insuring the firefighters and police can communicate and putting the anti terrorism headquarters in the WTC, which even before 9-11, was the one major attempted target in NYC. NYC today might do all sorts of great anti terrorist stuff, but Rudy didn't do much besides seem impressive for a week.
This is a thought experiment for everyone who puts through this BS that rudy is some magical tough guy vis a vis terrorism. Lets take Bush, he had a poor, pitaible reaction on 9-11, with "my pet goat" and all. And then later that week he was actually very impressive, with the bull horn etc etc. Would you rather have a president that was the wimpering, confused mess GWB was on 9-11, and never got on rubble, never did the bullhoarn, never was that inspiring etc etc BUT didn't execut e a rash, ill thought out anti terrorism strategy that involved invading iraq and creating more terrorists, decimating the army, alienating allies we need to acutally fight terrorists etc and rejecting iranian envoys in '03 who wanted to negotiate, stop funding hezbollah, perhaps recognize israel etc etc. I think we all know the answer is yes, so guiliani's one fake asset ...isn't much of an asset at all, or at least an overrated one
In that case, you have to explain why, as Chait points out (and he is hardly the only one to do so):
(1) Why the hell Giuliani put the city's emergency response center in the WORLD TRADE CENTER -- the one place where he already had strong evidence it should NOT be.
(2) Why he didn't arrange for the NYC police and firefighters to be able to radio-communicate with each other.
(3) Why he tried to impose Kerik on the nation as Secretary of DHS. (Of course, one also has to explain why he imposed Kerik on NYC itself as Police Commissioner long AFTER receiving extensive advance warnings from his staff about the latter's likely Mob connections.)
One is forced to conclude that, if there are positive aspects to NYC's anti-terrorism operations, they exist in spite of -- rather than because of -- Giuliani. (How many of them is Bloomberg responsible for?) One is also forced to conclude -- looking at Giuliani's combination of arrogance, would-be tyranny, and incompetence -- that if he does get into the White House in 2008 (and he's still running even with all the Dems), we will be treated to Bush-Cheney, Part 3.
It's really depressing to see how quickly Matt has gone over to the Dark Side. TNR's neoconservative bent is only slightly less horrible than the racist ravings of it's editor in chief. At what price glory, Matt?
The world is waiting for a comprehensive account of this aspect of conservative psychopathology -- the love of swagger, the Green Lantern foreign policy, the popularity of figures like G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North, and so on. Maybe this is what Rick Perlstein's oeuvre is building to.
If what we were getting from the contemporary American right was nothing worse than a bunch of inept, corrupt fools we would be in much, much better shape than we are. The problem is *not* that they are stupid, it's that they are working to an advance an agenda that can only be described as evil, and when they get a chance to do so, terrible things start happening.
Republicans have made middle America think that their version of West Side Story is the Puppetry of the Penis. The US military is their enzyte.
I think it's homoerotocism. They love the swagger, al has a poster of the codpiece next to his bed, but they are all cowards.
Al would never dream of enlisting for example but he will be drooling on Rudy's picture next.
NYC's antiterrorism initiatives, such as they are, are almost wholly the creation of NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Bloomberg.
The whole Chait's piece amounts to the observation that shameless demagogues are often successful in electoral politics, especially in the times of crisis. Well, OK.
Comments closed May 22, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
Chait writes: But Giuliani isn't really saying he has the most expertise fighting terrorism. (After all, he has never held office beyond the municipal level.)
Wow. This is an extraordinarily ignorant statement. The City of New York has one of the most sophisitcated anti-terrorism operations in the world. I know some of the people involved - who regularly travel around the world to consult with other countries regarding how those countries should copy what NYC is doing.
Posted by Al | May 8, 2007 7:48 PM