Continued from Part one of this article
Most famously, Mayor Giuliani appeared in public dressed in women's clothing three times: Giuliani drag events
On March 1,
1997, at the New York Inner Circle press dinner, an annual event in which New
York politicians & the press corps stage skits, roast each other & make
fun of themselves, with proceeds going to charity. In his appearance he first
imitated Marilyn Monroe. Then, he appeared in a spoofing stage skit "Rudy/Rudia"
together with Julie Andrews, starring at the time on Broadway in the cross-dressing
classic Victor/Victoria (about a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be
a woman). Under his drag name "Rudia" & wearing a spangled pink
gown, Giuliani said he was "a Republican pretending to be a Democrat pretending
to be a Republican."
On November 22, 1997, during his Saturday Night
Live hosting role, he played an Italian American grandmother in a bright floral
dress during a long sketch that satirized Italian American family rites at Thanksgiving
time.
On March 11, 2000, at another Inner Circle dinner. He was on stage in
male disco garb spoofing John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, but also appeared
in drag in taped video clips which reworked the "Rudy/Rudia" theme again.
These included a bit in which he flirts with (normally dressed) real estate mogul
Donald Trump, then slaps Trump for trying to get too "familiar" with
him, & then afterward in an exchange with Joan Rivers that sought to make
fun of his then-Senate race rival & fellow dinner attendee Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
In October 2001, Giuliani agreed to appear in drag on the gay-themed
television series Queer as Folk to raise aid money for gay & lesbians affected
by the September 11 attacks, saying "If it means more money for relief funds,
sure." However, the appearance never took place.
Actions related to
foreign policy
In 1995, Giuliani made national headlines by ordering PLO Chairman
Yasser Arafat ejected from a Lincoln Center concert held in celebration of the
50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations after Arafat showed up
to the event uninvited. "Maybe we should wake people up to the way this terrorist
is being romanticized", Giuliani said, & noted that Arafat had been implicated
in the murder of American civilians & diplomatic personnel.
Brooklyn
Museum art battle
In 1999, Giuliani threatened to cut off city funding for
the Brooklyn Museum if the museum did not remove a number of works in an exhibit
entitled "Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection."
One work in particular, The Holy Virgin Mary by Turner Prize-winning artist &
Catholic Chris Ofili, featured an image of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant
dung & female genitalia pictures. It was targeted as being offensive to some
in the Christian community in New York, leading the artist to comment, "This
is all about control." Giuliani's position was that the museum's actions
amounted to a government-supported attack on a religion.
In its defense, the museum filed a lawsuit, charging Giuliani with violating the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Religious groups such as the Catholic League for Religious & Civil Rights supported the mayor's actions, while they were condemned by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, accusing the mayor of censorship & interference with the first amendment rights of the museum. The museum's lawsuit was successful; the mayor was ordered to resume funding, & the judge, Federal District Judge Nina Gershon, declared "[t]here is no federal constitutional issue more grave than the effort by government officials to censor works of expression & to threaten the vitality of a major cultural institution as punishment for failing to abide by governmental demands for orthodoxy."
Statements
on abortion prior to 2001
Giuliani expressed pro-choice positions during election
years when he was running for mayor of New York City, (1989 & 1993), &
when he was running for a New York State seat in the United States Senate (2000).
1989:
Giuliani said, “There must be public funding for abortion for poor women.”
In the same 1989 speech he said, "I have also stated that I disagree
with President [George H.W.] Bush's veto last week of public funding for abortions."
1993: He addressed a letter to a pro-choice group, saying, New York City
“has an obligation to protect the constitutional right of women to choose
abortion.”
2000: During his competition with Hillary Clinton for a New
York State seat in the United States Senate, he said that he supported then president
Bill Clinton’s veto of a law that banned partial birth abortion: “I
would vote to preserve the option for women.”
Giuliani in recent years
stated he is against banning partial-birth abortions & that he did not see
his position on that changing. Giuliani also told the Albany Times Union that
he would not support a ban on late-term. However, on April 18, 2007, Guiliani
stated that the United States Supreme Court "reached the correct conclusion
in upholding the congressional ban on partial birth abortion."
Donations
to Planned Parenthood
Giuliani & and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, gave
money to Planned Parenthood at least six times during the 1990s.
Gay rights
During
his mayoralty, gays & lesbians in New York asked for domestic-partnership
rights. Giuliani in turn pushed the city's Democratic-controlled New York City
Council, which had avoided the issue for years, to then pass legislation providing
broad protection for same-sex partners. In 1998, he codified local law by granting
all city employees equal benefits for their domestic partners. Giuliani also allowed
gays & lesbians to serve openly in his administration.
Gun control lawsuit
On
June 20, 2000, Giuliani announced that the City of New York had filed a lawsuit
against two dozen major gun manufacturers & distributors. President Bush signed
the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in October 2005 in an effort to
protect gun companies from liability. In 2006, the Tiarht Amendment was added
to an appropiations bill & was signed into law. The amendment seeks to prevent
ATF data from being used to sue gun companies. Despite these two legislative attempts
to end the case, the case remains active.
Virginia Trash Controversy
On
January 13, 1999, Giuliani suggested a "reciprocal relationship" where
other states such as Virginia should accept New York City's garbage. Then Governor
of Virginia, Jim Gilmore III, wrote in response, "I am offended by your suggestion
that New York's substantial cultural achievements, such as they are, obligate
Virginia & other states to accept your garbage".
Board of Education
Giuliani
expressed frustration with the New York City Board of Education. He was on record
as saying in April 1999 that he would like to "blow up" the [then] Board
of Education. This statement was made two days after the Columbine massacre.
Other
In
August 1999, Giuliani served as jury foreman for a civil suit; he is believed
to be the first sitting mayor of New York to serve on a jury. The case concerned
a Harlem couple who alleged that their building's supervisor improperly maintained
the facilities, resulting in the man's genitals being burned by the shower, which
hurt their sexual life & ultimately caused their marriage to break down.
Run
for United States Senate, 2000
Due to term limits Giuliani could not run for
a third term as Mayor. In November 1998, long-serving Democratic New York Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan retired. Giuliani immediately indicated an interest in
running for the seat, & due to his high profile & visibility he was supported
by the state Republican Party, even though Giuliani had irritated many by endorsing
incumbent Democrat Governor Mario Cuomo over Republican George Pataki in 1994.
Giuliani's entrance led to Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel & others
recruiting then-U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to combat his star power.
In April 1999, Giuliani formed an exploratory committee in connection with the run. However, on May 19, 2000, before the Republican primary, which he was expected to win, he withdrew his candidacy because of prostate cancer, the Farmersville Garbage Scandal which significantly reduced his support in his core upstate counties, & the fallout from his affair & messy divorce from his wife Donna Hanover. During the ill-fated campaign, Giuliani was forced to confess to his marital infidelity & , in the process, lost a further significant base of electoral support. New York Congressman Rick Lazio replaced Giuliani as the Republican nominee. He ran significantly ahead of U.S. Presidential candidate George W. Bush's performance in New York, but lost to Clinton by a wider-than-expected 12-point margin.
September
11, 2001 terrorist attacks
Giuliani was highly visible in the aftermath
of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. After the attacks,
Giuliani coordinated the response of various city departments while organizing
the support of state & federal authorities for the World Trade Center site,
for city-wide anti-terrorist measures, & for restoration of destroyed infrastructure.
He made frequent appearances on radio & television on September 11 & afterwards
-- for example, to indicate that tunnels would be closed as a precautionary measure,
& that there was no reason to believe that the dispersion of chemical or biological
weaponry into the air was a factor in the attack. He also around the buildimg
near to when it fell, with him ging to the location, during the disaster, so almost
being killed in the event too.
When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suggested that the attacks were an indication that the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East & adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause", Giuliani asserted,
There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist]
act. There is no justification for it... & one of the reasons I think this
happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding
the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel,
& terrorist states & those who condone terrorism. So I think not only
are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem.
Giuliani subsequently
rejected the prince's $10 million donation to disaster relief in the aftermath
of the attack.
"America's Mayor"
In the wake of the attacks,
Giuliani was hailed by many for his leadership during the crisis. When polled
just six weeks after the attack Giuliani received a 79% approval rating among
New York City voters, a dramatic increase over the 36% rating he had received
a year earlier - 7 years into his administration.
In his public statements, Giuliani mirrored the emotions of New Yorkers after the September 11 attacks: shock, sadness, anger, resolution to rebuild, & the desire for justice to be done to those responsible. "Tomorrow New York is going to be here", he said. "And we're going to rebuild, & we're going to be stronger than we were before...I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, & the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop us." Giuliani was widely praised for his close involvement with the rescue & recovery efforts.
As an avid & public fan of the New York Yankees, who won four World Series Championships during his time as mayor, Giuliani was frequently sighted at Yankee games, often accompanied by his son. On September 21, 2001, the first game was played in New York City after the attacks, with the New York Mets at home facing the Atlanta Braves. Despite his being a Yankee fan, the crowd cheered for him & for his leadership over the preceding days.
The term "America's Mayor", now in common usage among Giuliani supporters, seems to have been coined by Oprah Winfrey at a 9/11 memorial service held at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2001.
2001 Mayoral election controversy
The 9/11 attack occurred
on the scheduled date of the mayoral primary to select the Democratic & Republican
candidates to succeed Giuliani. The primary was immediately delayed two weeks
to September 25. During this period, Giuliani sought an unprecedented three-month
emergency extension of his term, from its scheduled expiration on January 1 to
April 1, due to the circumstances of the emergency besetting the city. He threatened
to challenge the law imposing term limits on elected New York City officials &
run for another full four-year term, if the primary candidates did not consent
to permit the extension of his mayoralty.
Advocates for the extension contended that Giuliani was needed to manage the initial requests for funds from Albany & Washington, speed up recovery, & slow down the exodus of jobs from lower Manhattan to outside New York City. Opponents viewed the extension as an unprecedented power grab & as a means for Giuliani to profit politically from the sudden, international prominence of the role of New York City Mayor. Voices were also countering the refrain that it was the mayor who had pulled the city together. "You didn't bring us together, our pain brought us together & our decency brought us together. We would have come together if Bozo was the mayor", said civil-rights activist Al Sharpton, in a statement largely supported by Fernando Ferrer, one of three main candidates for the mayoralty at the end of 2001. "He was a power-hungry person", Sharpton also said.
Although a provision for emergency extensions is written into the New York State Constitution (Article 3 Section 25), in the end leaders in the State Assembly & Senate indicated that they did not believe the extension was necessary. The election proceeded as scheduled, & the winning candiate, the Giuliani-endorsed Republican Michael Bloomberg, took office on January 1, 2002 per normal custom.
Time Person
of the Year
On December 24, 2001, Time magazine named Giuliani its Person
of the Year for 2001. Time observed that, prior to 9/11, the public image of Giuliani
had been that of a rigid, self-righteous, ambitious politician. After 9/11, &
perhaps owing also to his bout with cancer, his public image had been reformed
to that of a man who could be counted on to unite a city in the midst of its greatest
crisis. Thus historian Vincent J. Cannato concluded in September 2006, "With
time, Giuliani's legacy will be based on more than just 9/11. He left a city immeasurably
better off — safer, more prosperous, more confident — than the one he
had inherited eight years earlier, even with the smoldering ruins of the World
Trade Center at its heart. Debates about his accomplishments will continue, but
the significance of his mayoralty is hard to deny."
Criticism for
lack of preparedness before the 9/11 attacks
In September 2006, Village Voice
writer Wayne Barrett & senior producer for CBSNews.com, Dan Collins, published
The Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani & 9/11, one of the strongest
reassessments of Giuliani's role in the events of 9/11. The book highlights his
decision to locate the Office of Emergency Management headquarters (long-identified
as a target for a terrorist attack) on the 23rd floor inside the 7 World Trade
Center building, a decision that had been criticized at the time in light of the
previous terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in 1993. Large tanks
of diesel fuel were placed in 7 World Trade to power the command center, &
this fuel was later deemed responsible for the intense fire that caused that building
to collapse hours after the Twin Towers.
Also criticized was Giuliani's focus on personal projects & turf wars rather than vital precautions for the city, & his role in communications failures (which may have been the result of patronage deals inside City Hall). Kirkus Reviews stated, "Giuliani may not have been directly responsible for all those woes, but they happened on his watch".
Some family members of 9/11 victims have openly criticized Giuliani for the significant communication failures that occurred on that day. In December 2006, Sally Regenhard, mother of Christian Regenhard who died on September 11, & co-founder of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, vowed to expose the truths of Giuliani's actions on 9/11 before 2008, stating, "I can't see why any 9/11 family member who knows the truth about the failures of the Giuliani administration . . . would not be outraged."
By April of 2007 it was reported that Giuliani had been forced to limit his appearances in New York City due to the increasing protests by family members of 9/11 victims.
Criticism for handling
of Ground Zero air quality issue
Giuliani has been subject to increased criticism
for downplaying the health effects of the air in the Financial District &
lower Manhattan areas in the vicinity of the Ground Zero. He moved quickly to
reopen Wall Street, & it was reopened on September 17. He said, in the first
month after the attacks, "The air quality is safe & acceptable."
However, in the weeks after the attacks, the United States Geological Survey identified
hundreds of asbestos hot spots of debris dust that remained on buildings. By the
end of the month the USGS reported that the toxicity of the debris was akin to
that of drain cleaner. It would eventually be determined that a wide swath of
lower Manhattan & Brooklyn had been heavily contaminated by highly caustic
& toxic materials. The city's health agencies, such as the Department of Environmental
Protection, did not supervise or issue guidelines for the testing & cleanup
of private buildings. Instead, the city left this responsibility to building owners.
Firefighters, police & their unions, have criticized Giuliani over the issue of protective equipment & illnesses after the attacks. An October study by the National Institute of Environmental Safety & Health said that cleanup workers lacked adequate protective gear. The Executive Director of the National Fraternal Order of Police reportedly said of Giuliani: "Everybody likes a Churchillian kind of leader who jumps up when the ashes are still falling & takes over. But two or three good days don't expunge an eight-year record." Sally Regenhard, said, "There's a large & growing number of both FDNY families, FDNY members, former & current, & civilian families who want to expose the true failures of the Giuliani administration when it comes to 9/11." She told the New York Daily News that she intends to "Swift Boat" Giuliani.
A May 14, 2007 New York Times article, "Ground Zero Illness Clouding Giuliani's Legacy," gave the interpretation that thousands of workers at Ground Zero have become sick & that "many regard Mr. Giuliani's triumph of leadership as having come with a human cost." The article reported that he seized control of the cleanup of Ground Zero, taking control away from experienced federal agencies & instead handing over responsibility to the "largely unknown" city Department of Design & Contruction. Documents indicate that the Giuliani administration never enforced federal requirements requiring the wearing of respirators. Concurrently, the administrator threatened companies with dismissal if cleanup work slowed.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is contemplating calling Giulani to testify before a Senate committee on whether the government failed to protect recovery workers from the effects of polluted Ground Zero air.
Aftermath of Ground Zero recovery effort
In February
2007, the International Association of Fire Fighters issued a letter accusing
Giuliani of "egregious acts" against the 343 firemen who had died in
the September 11th attacks. The letter asserted that Giuliani rushed to conclude
the recovery effort once gold & silver had been recovered from World Trade
Center vaults & thereby prevented the remains of many victims from being recovered:
"Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters & citizens who perished
would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families,
or be removed like garbage & deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill,"
it said, adding: "Hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Giuliani
gave up on them." Lawyers for the International Association of Fire Fighters
seek to interview Giuliani under oath as part of a federal legal action alleging
that New York City negligently dumped body parts & other human remains in
the Fresh Kills Landfill.
IAFF-sponsored presidential forum
Giuliani
declined to appear at the IAFF-sponsored March 14, 2007 forum. The bipartisan
presidential forum in Washington, D.C., included ten other major Democratic &
Republican candidates for president.
Post-mayoralty
Business
Giuliani
Partners
After leaving the mayor's office, Giuliani became a millionaire. He
founded a security consulting business, Giuliani Partners LLC, in 2002, a firm
which has been categorized by various media outlets as a lobbying entity capitalizing
on Giuliani's name recognition.
Giuliani’s partners at Giuliani Partners included a former FBI administrator who admitted taking artifacts from Ground Zero & a former Roman Catholic priest who was accused of covering up sexual abuse in the church. Clients of Giuliani Partners are required to sign confidentiality agreements, so they do not comment about the work they get done or the amount that thay have paid for it. “No client is ever approved or worked on without a full discussion with Rudy,” according to Giuliani Partners’ senior managing partner, Michael D. Hess, former corporation counsel for New York City.
In 2002, Giuliani & Giuliani Partners struck a deal to promote the wireless communication company Nextel.
On December 1, 2004 his consulting firm announced it purchased accounting firm Ernst & Young's investment banking unit. The new investment bank would be known as Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC & would advise companies on acquisitions, restructurings & other strategic issues. On March 5, 2007, as a consequence of his presidential campaign, Giuliani Capital Advisors was sold to Macquarie Group, an Australian financial group, for an amount that analysts said might approach $100 million.
Bracewell &
Giuliani
On March 31, 2005, it was announced that Giuliani would join the firm
of Bracewell & Patterson LLP (renamed Bracewell & Giuliani LLP) as a name
partner & symbolic head of the expanding firm's new New York office. Despite
a busy schedule the former mayor is known to be highly active in the day-to-day
business of the Texas-based law firm described by the New York Times as "perhaps
the nation’s most aggressive lobbyist for coal-fired power plants, heavy
emitters of air pollutants & carbon dioxide, a gas associated with global
warming." While there was early speculation that the firm would merge with
Giuliani Partners, this is a legal impossibility (as a matter of ethics, lawyers
cannot share legal fees with non-lawyers). However, while the firm is completely
independent of the consulting business, the two entities maintain a close strategic
partnership.
On May 15, 2007 the Associated Press reported that Giuliani
"has profited from his firm's work representing corporate clients before
nearly every Cabinet department, exposing himself to a wide range of potential
ethical entanglements." It was further reported that Giuliani's efforts on
behalf of clients such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & the chewing tobacco
manufacturer UST Inc. had "contributed toward his personal net worth of millions
of dollars."
Part Three
of this article
An Index with links to almost all our sites.
A game where you can be elected President of a country like the US
US Senate majorities of 1789-2007
A list of all the Presidents of the USA to 2006
A Link to the numbers for the House, 1789-2007
The Lonympics Entertainment Special zone A Pleasure crammed compendium of fun, exitement, & sensation tugging links. For instance lists of some of the best comedians ever's official websites.
Our report on the history of racism, in US mainstream media, from the 1900s to 2006, & wonderings of what conclusions we can have, A short report.
http://www.lonympics.co.uk/new/10Mostfamous_fictional_SA_people.htm
The 10 most famous fictional Americans
http://www.lonympics.co.uk/new/10Mostfamous_fictionalScottish_people.htm
The 10 most famous fictional Scottish people
A recipe site http://www.lonympics.co.uk/delicousdishes.htm
A site stating what have been the world's largest empires ever
A site stating the 10 largest majority English speaking lands, as their main tongue in the world
A site on space, & the records to do with this subject
Our History Lounge - Where you can peruse many fascinating historical articles.
A map of where different US films & TV programmes blanket across the USA are
A site on giant sloths, a subject Thomas Jefferson found very interesting