I have repeatedly and aggressively attacked Rudy Giuliani on my blog since its inception. I intend to continue to do so until I am sure he will never again hold public office. Some may wonder where this vitriol comes from- let me recap a few of my past posts. Here are the reasons I have cited thus far why I think Rudy would make a bad president;
-Rudy is not only a cross-dresser, he's an enthusiastically fabulous one. I am pretty damned sure any male who has necked with Donald Trump (all the while making quite convincing sounds of female passion) has no chance of securing the Republican nomination.
-The real heroes of 9/11 universally think he's a grandstanding putz who halted recovery efforts and used World Trade Center debris, without a doubt carrying remains of victims, to be used as fill for road construction.
-Rudy heroically walked the streets of New York primarily because he was dumb enough to headquarter his emergency management facilities in the shadow of a known terrorist target, against the advice of his advisers.
-Others may not care, but his wife worked for a firm that used puppies as living victims to demonstrate medical equipment for sales purposes. We're not talking about medical testing; this was to sell medical staplers. Dogs were "either put to death following the sales demonstrations because they can't recover from them, or they die during them." Oh yes, and this went on for three decades. I admit this does not affect his governing ability, but it sure as hell will come up in the general election, if he makes it that far.
-Giuliani supports publicly-funded abortions, and says a woman's right to choose is a Constitutional right. I expect these words will come back to haunt him as the GOP primaries heat up.
-Rudy is a draft dodger with three deferments. This may not be so much of a factor considering who the Republicans nominated last time, but again, I think this would play well in the general.
-Three wives, including an annulment of the marriage to his second cousin. This great piece from Brave New Films does a good job of going over most of the highlights.
The newest reason Rudy Giuliani should never be president comes via Glen Greenwald;
Like most countries, Israel deems all of its wars to be defensive wars in response to threats. So Rudy Giuliani, as President, would in essence deem any war in which Israel is involved to be, by definition, a war on the U.S., and would use American resources and lives to become involved in any such war and fight on behalf of Israel. Shouldn't the fact that the leading GOP candidate for President believes such a thing be the source of a bit more discussion? Other than John Edwards' views regarding haircuts, is there any major presidential candidate who has espoused a view anywhere near this radical or controversial?Israel has been involved, and will continue to be involved, in an endless series of wars with its neighbors over matters having nothing to do with U.S. interests. As Matt Yglesias noted, Guiliani's policy would, among many other things, "commit[] the United States to the armed defense of the borders of a country that lacks internationally recognized borders." A Giuliani presidency would mean that we would be almost immediately deemed to be at war with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. It is hard to imagine a more certain and rapid guarantee of endless American wars in the Middle East than this.
To sum up, I sincerely doubt the American people will elect a cross-dressing womanizer who broke with one unknowing wife during a press conference, had another who tortures puppies for profit, disastrously mismanaged emergency services in America's greatest city during the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, favored business interests at Ground Zero and "scooped and dumped" the remains of World Trade Center victims to be used to fill potholes, employed and then nominated a gangster for federal office, and dodged the draft three times, and enthusiastically supports continual warfare in the Middle East.
Maybe it's just me.
