Freedom Rider:
Gangster Giuliani
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"A
Giuliani presidency is a nightmarish scenario."
It is a supreme irony that Rudolph Giuliani became mayor of
New York City because his opponent and predecessor, David Dinkins, is a black
man. The myth of the always liberal white New Yorker was proven to be just that
on election day in 1993. White voters deserted Dinkins in droves and elected a
Republican mayor for the first time in 30 years.
Giuliani, a former prosecutor, took office and immediately
began treating New Yorkers, particularly black New Yorkers, like criminals. He
specialized in pleasing white people by beating up black people. Under his
leadership the police were unleashed and given the right to arrest for petty
offenses and even to kill when they felt the urge to do so.
When Haitian immigrant Patrick
Dorismond was killed by a police officer, Giuliani illegally released his
juvenile justice records to police. Adding insult to injury, he smeared the
dead man by stating that he was "no altar boy." The Dorismond case was one of
the tipping points that made even some white New Yorkers long for the day that
Giuliani would be their former mayor.
His public actions involving his private life also took
the bloom off of the Rudy rose. In 2000 Giuliani informed his wife he was
leaving her for another woman. He brought her that news via press conference.
New York sophistication should not be confused with moral laissez faire. The
tacky behavior was never forgotten.
"Giuliani told his wife
about divorce plans via press conference."
On September 11, 2001 New Yorkers were giving collective
thanks because term limits legislation insured that Rudy would soon be gone for
good. Only a small number of dead enders were still in his thrall. But the
terror attacks on the twin towers put him back in the spotlight. He was dubbed
"America's mayor," and made a Knight of British Empire. He then made a bundle
by forming Giuliani Partners and making up to $200,000 for a single speaking engagement,
marketing himself as a terrorism expert because he managed to look calm for a
few days.
Now Giuliani is running for the Republican presidential
nomination and he is the very worst of a bad lot. He unabashedly supports the
occupation of Iraq and a military attack on Iran. He doesn't think simulating
drowning via water boarding is torture and agrees wholeheartedly with the Bush
destruction of civil liberties.
If a potential Giuliani presidency in any way resembles a
Giuliani mayoralty then the country would be in for a truly awful time. As
mayor Giuliani promoted the worst, least competent people to high positions in
New York City government. Bernard
Kerik, an undercover cop, had the shrewdness to put himself in the right
place at the right time when he volunteered to drive Rudy around during his
mayoral campaign. Despite the lack of any other credential, his rise to power
was swift. First he was made a Deputy Commissioner at the Department of
Corrections, then Commissioner.
Kerik was nothing but a crook. Fully aware that Kerik was
under investigation for taking money from a construction company with organized
crime connections, Giuliani nonetheless appointed him Police Commissioner.
While others insist that they informed Giuliani of Kerik's mob ties, Rudy
claims not to remember. He certainly didn't remember when he recommended his
pal for a cabinet level position as Secretary of Homeland Security. When Kerik
imploded under an avalanche of bad publicity Rudy just shrugged his shoulders,
confident that he would continue to get away with doing whatever he wants.
"Giuliani is the very
worst of a bad lot."
Giuliani has credibility with most Republican voters because
of his warmongering and inclination to inflict physical pain on dark people. He
is still in trouble with conservative Christians for his pro-choice position as
mayor of New York City and for publicly treating his wife and children like
dirt. He plans to make up for that by being more overtly
racist.
He will remind white Republicans of the good old days when
he cut the welfare roles. He did so by breaking the law and denying benefits to
eligible people, but no matter. He knows his audience. When they hear the word
welfare they will salivate like Pavlovian dogs and decide that Rudy is their
man.
There is every reason to believe that Giuliani will act out
his every sick fantasy if he were to occupy the oval office. There is no reason
to believe that Democrats would finally behave like an opposition. A Giuliani
presidency is a nightmarish scenario. We will all be Patrick Dorismond, assumed
to be guilty of something and therefore worthy of punishment. It is hard to imagine
a worse president than George W. Bush, but Rudolph Giuliani fits that
description perfectly.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com.
Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her
work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive
page.
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