For better or worse, the presidential candidacy of Rudolph Giuliani has given those of us who know him best New Yorkers a chance to relieve his administration. And to many what stands out is not 9/11 or crackdowns on squeegee men but the former mayors weirdness.
Writing in Vanity Fair, Michael Wolff finds that both reporters who have covered the man and those who have worked for him consider him to be nuts, actually mad. Every New Yorkers can lay claim to having witnessed, and in many cases suffered, his periods of mania, political behavior that, in the end, can’t have much of a rational explanation.
Among the specifics, Wolff cites: Giulianis attack on ferret owner who called in to the mayor’s radio show to protest the city’s ban on them as pets; his bitter fights with anybody in his administration who got more publicity than he did: his refusal to meet with black elected officials; his jihadish campaign against the Brooklyn Museum of Art over a painting that mocked the Virgin Mary; and his authoritarian campaign against jaywalkers. Wolff also looks at Rudy the parent (non-parent?): His two children were often left in the care of the police who to keep them happy and quiet stuffed them full of food.
Digging Deeper comes up with its own litany: The former mayor married his cousin, was forced to admit marital infidelity during an ugly divorce proceeding, and is a serial cross-dresser Giuliani put a particularly odious fix in to slide under the Vietnam-era draft He got lots of publicity for the sharp reduction in New York City crime, but the real mover there was Police Commissioner William Bratton, who Giuliani got rid of. And then there are the foibles of the commissioner Giuliani kept: Bernie Kerik. All this, the blog says, makes Giuliani so vulnerable to the facts of his history that in a national election hed be in trouble against Porky Pig.
No More Mr. Nice Guy cites what the blogger calls a creepy and disturbing scene scene in the documentary film Giuliani Time, in which Giuliani mocks a man with Parkinson’s disease who calls in to his radio show complaining that his benefits have been cut off. And Chucks Weird World offers a picture of the former mayor in drag showing a lot of leg.
For its part, Gothamist provides a link to the ferret audio clip and revisits the Giuliani weirdness dossier available on The Smoking Gun. Prepared by Giuliani’s campaign staff before his successful 1993 run for mayor, it highlights his marriage to his second cousin, his avoidance of military service during the Vietnam War and his alleged racism (remember the washroom attendant rally, which could explain Giulianis defense of Dom Imus?)
Mike Lupica cant resist commenting on the marriages: The Catholic boy from Brooklyn . has been married three times already. You put his three with the three that the current Mrs. Giuliani has in the books and come up with six, a world’s record for any presidential candidate. But Lupica continues, It will be much tougher for Giuliani to run away from being the mayor of New York who thought a small-timer named Bernard Kerik was not just a hero police commissioner, but somebody who should be running Homeland Security and has now plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and is under federal investigation.
Wayne Barrett takes on another eccentric aspect of Giulianis mayoralty: His almost pathological devotion to the Yankees. And, Barrett says, that fealty paid off for the mayor. It turns out Giuliani owns four World Series rings which memorabilia and baseball experts say are collectively worth a minimum of $200,000. His payment of only $16,000 for the baubles, the article says, could be be a serious breach of the law, and one that could still be prosecuted.
By Gail Robinson on May 9, 2007, 11:35 am
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