Posted on 11/10/2007 4:03:39 PM PST by neverdem
The reported indictment of Rudy Giuliani's high-profile former police commissioner sets in motion a new and challenging phase for the presidential campaign of the former New York mayor.
Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996, said the expected charges against Bernard Kerik - CNN, ABC, and the Associated Press reported last night that the indictment would be unsealed today - "raises a new round of questions about judgment, it will cause opposition researchers to dig in and find out if there are any other Bernie Keriks, and it will throw the campaign off its game."
"Rudy's had a pretty good ride, but he's starting to get some heat," Reed, who is not aligned with any GOP candidate, said yesterday. "Often, it's how a candidate deals with the incoming that is more important than the issue itself."
Giuliani appointed Kerik, a former police detective who had been Giuliani's campaign driver, to corrections commissioner, then promoted him to police commissioner for the final 16 months of Giuliani's eight-year tenure as mayor. A federal grand jury in New York has been investigating Kerik for about a year on allegations of income tax fraud and other wrongdoing while he was corrections chief. Earlier this year he rejected a plea deal and his lawyer insisted he had done nothing wrong.
Last year, Kerik pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor state ethics charges involving some of the same allegations. He was fined $221,000 for accepting $165,000 in renovations on his Bronx apartment by a company that was suspected of organized crime connections and that was seeking a license from the city in 2000.
Kerik was by Giuliani's side during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and their aftermath. He joined Giuliani's consulting firm in 2002. And in 2004, with Giuliani's...
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
The book "Radio Silence: The Betrayal of New York's Bravest" describes the technical failures of the FDNY radio system.
More importantly, it describes the failure of conscience of the Giuliani administration and points out that Rudy's cronies were involved in out-and-out incompetence and shady dealing with a major radio vendor.
The book does not put Rudy in very good light - and rightfully so. Former Fire Commissioner Von Essen, now a partner in Rudy's consultancy firm, was directly responsible for the radio system debacle that was a contributing factor in the loss of 343 FDNY personnel on September 11, 2001.
If it comes down to Hillary vs Rudy in the general election, I will hold my nose and vote for Rudy, but he's got some major problems in his past.
Giuliani has to be beat in the primaries. Polls show Fred Thompson defeating Hillary in the general election plus he's a far better candidate for conservatives to rally around.
Go away Rooty. I know I wouldn’t waste my time defending you agaist Hillary.
You two deserve each other.
[Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996, ]
That is hardly a high praise and cause for confidence.
Rudy, it's time for you to put your campaign to bed.
Besides, think of how much money she'll save not having to rig elections in three states. That action don't come cheap.
“...out-and-out incompetence and shady dealing with a major radio vendor.”
Rosaleen Tallon, whose brother, also a firefighter, was killed on September 11, shouted at Giuliani: “Talk about the radios.”
The fire department radio scandal
The radios she was referring to were the antiquated “handie-talkies” used by the fire department. They were the same equipment that the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) had used in responding to the terrorist truck bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. They failed then, and, not surprisingly, they failed again on September 11.
Not only were firefighters on the 19th floor of the building unable to hear orders from their own commanders in the lobby of the north tower, but the fire department commanders had no ability to communicate with the New York Police Department (NYPD), whose members were responding to the same disaster. A police helicopter radioed to NYPD commanders that the building appeared about to fall. In response to this information, an evacuation order was communicated to police personnel on the scene. This report, however, never reached the fire department.
Similarly, 20 minutes before the south tower collapsed, a caller to the police department’s emergency number reported that one of the top floors of the building was collapsing. While the information was relayed to the NYPD’s commanders, it never reached the fire department, many of whose members were still in the tower.
Senior FDNY officials have testified that those watching the tragedy unfold on television knew more about the damage to the towers than fire chiefs directing rescue efforts from the buildings’ lobbies. This lack of information helps explain why the death toll for firefighters was 15 times as high as that suffered by city cops.
Why didn’t the city have a radio system that allowed firefighters to communicate with each other and with the police? Asked this question, Giuliani claimed that “technology” was the problem. “Those radios don’t exist today,” he added. No one on the panel bothered to challenge this incredible assertion.
Those who know the history of the fire department—including many of those who were in the audience—are well aware that the problem was not one of technology, but rather of political corruption.
Firefighter union officials called for a grand jury investigation into a $33 million deal struck several months before September 11 between the city and Motorola Corporation for the purchase of new digital radios for the fire department. The no-bid contract resulted in the introduction of radios that proved grossly ill-suited for use by firefighters.
The model selected by the city was designed for intelligence agencies seeking encryption capabilities, something with no apparent use in emergency rescue operations or fire fighting. After the radios were introduced over the objections of department members, they had to be withdrawn in the face of repeated failures, some of them life-threatening.
The expensive new radios were mothballed, and the firefighters were stuck with equipment that was not only more than 15 years old, but was also incompatible with the communications system used by the police and known to be failure-prone in high-rise situations.
Suspicions about the peculiar Motorola deal were heightened by the well-known predilection within the Giuliani administration for steering city contracts to political supporters and allies. No one on the panel bothered to broach the sensitive subject of this contract.
While both Giuliani and the commission members sought to exploit the heroism of New York City firefighters to gloss over the city administration’s responsibility for the problems that plagued the response to the September 11 attack, it was notable that not a single city firefighter was invited to testify at the hearing.
6 minute youtube:
The REAL Rudy: Radios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StE_Xa6TiQU&v3
He shouldn’t be nominated. He should be indicted.
Not much difference between the two!
This turd needs to be flushed.
When is Hillary going to face her first questions about Hsu and Chinese money?
Rudy can’t even pick an honest priest.
For the PING lists. ;)
Checking Out the Bali Beachheads of UN Climate Change
Thompson Goes Bold On Social Security
Humdinger of a Project: Tracing Slang to Ireland FWIW, for those with Irish ancestry
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Rudy's mob-busting past (including busting a Gambino boss) leads me to think this slipup was unintentional, but it raises serious questions about his competence.
This could sink him.
I suppose if you have the right “connections”, one could use their position of influence and the “law” to aid their “business partners” and reduce the amount of competition among “business” rivals...
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