Rudy Giuliani and 9/11

On Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Rudy Guiliani will deliver a lecture to a Filipino audience on “Leadership in Times of Crisis.” By the looks of it, the event promises to be significant with very prominent sponsors behind it both in media and big business. Looking at the ad, our own newspaper, the Philippine STAR has top of the page billing which it shares with J.C. Binay Foundation and De La Salle University. Other sponsors are Globe, San Miguel Corporation, Metrobank, Lopez Group Foundation, ANC, Business Mirror, Business World, Manila Broadcasting Company, Philippine Daily Inquirer among others.

It would be fitting that the audience be informed about their guest speaker. It is in this spirit that I write this column. In this age of information, I am sure there will be many others who would have access to the background of Rudy Guiliani, the former mayor of New York who rose to prominence after his role in 9/11. There must be a way for the more informed to participate and eventually contribute to the debate even if they cannot be in the conference. Media coverage is often not enough. With the cost at thousands of pesos only a few Filipinos will be able to attend and if guests will be paid for by their employers the debate will be limited.

Since majority of Filipinos will not be present in a conference to discuss an issue that affects all of us, whether or not we can afford the fees, it will be sadly one sided. I can almost see sectors of local media falling over each other to praise the guest speaker and treat his pronouncements as gospel truth. It is my opinion that a subject like “Leadership in Times of Crisis” is a loaded subject especially because it is offered by a prominent conservative American politician in a Philippine setting at this time.

Guiliani’s fame was largely gained during the 9/11 crisis. Most Filipinos knew that through reading American magazines such as Time Magazine that made him Man of the Year. If Time says he’s the man of the year, he is the man of the year as far as some Filipinos are concerned. But there are Americans who know and have the moral courage to make judgments. After all, they were on the ground during those days. This information should reach Filipinos as well if the aim of this conference is to justify the guest speaker’s reputation. For this we defer to American publications other than Time Magazine. The Democratic Party published on November 19, 2007 under the title Giuliani Ad Ignores Charges from 9/11 Firefighters and Families by citing different sources. It debunked the claims of the 9/11 hero:

“On the same day 9/11 firefighters and families are in New Hampshire rebuking his failure to prepare New York City for a terrorist attack, Rudy Giuliani launched an ad that ironically touts his so-called leadership credentials. While Giuliani talks about “being tested” during “times of crisis” in the new ad, he has yet to answer questions from the 9/11 group who say he failed to protect firefighters and recovery workers from debilitating toxic air at Ground Zero.

According to the New York Post 11/19/07: 9/11 families and firefighters who are holding a press conference at Dartmouth College this afternoon are outraged with Rudy Giuliani’s leadership in the aftermath of 9/11. FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches said, “He’s misleading voters and distorting the truth. He didn’t prepare the first responders for a terrorist attack. The Office of Emergency Management was a joke that day. There was a lack of communication. People died unnecessarily.”

The testimony from the 9/11 families and New York’s bravest speaks volumes about Rudy Giuliani’s real leadership credentials,” said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. “It is disturbing that Rudy has yet to truthfully answer their concerns and take responsibility for his poor decisions before, during and after 9/11. No doubt voters will look past his flashy TV ad and seriously question Giuliani’s judgment and his ability to lead during a time of crisis.”

Here are some excerpts from New Yorkers themselves. GIULIANI: “I believe I’ve had the most leadership experience of anyone that’s running. It’s not just holding executive positions, like Mayor of New York… REALITY: New York Times: Giuliani Left Budget Worse Than He Found It. Giuliani’s repeated claim that he “turned a $2.3 billion deficit into a multibillion dollar surplus” is “misleading,” independent fiscal monitors said. In fact, Mr. Giuliani left his successor, Michael R. Bloomberg, with a bigger deficit than the one Mr. Giuliani had to deal with when he arrived in 1994. And that deficit would have been large even if the city had not been attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.” New York Times, 8/27/07; Los Angeles Times 9/13/07: Giuliani Has “Poor School Marks” And “Problematic Record on Education.” They wrote an article entitled, “Giuliani’s poor school marks; His record in New York City includes four chancellors, angry teachers and an inferior educational system.” The article referred to  “Giuliani’s problematic record on education.”]

New York Times, 7/11/89 Newsday, 9/20/93] “Five months after Mr. Giuliani left the office, some of those who are best qualified to judge him say in interviews that not all of Mr. Giuliani’s accomplishments were as impressive as his press clippings suggested and that his successes stemmed partly from extensive work by others and a healthy dose of luck.”

In what the New York Times noted were “major setbacks,” several key prosecutions started by Giuliani ultimately collapsed, were thrown out or reversed, including 7 of the 14 defendants in the Pizza Connection 2 heroin cases, with many critics concluding Giuliani put ego ahead of sound legal work.

Newsday wrote that among major cases ultimately lost or reversed were the John Mulheren Jr. stock manipulation case, lawyer-lobbyist E. Robert Wallach’s racketeering conviction, and “the case against former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos for racketeering and fraud,” finding at least 25 reversals from an appeals court that rarely granted them, particularly in cases were Giuliani made high-profile promises.”

Does it mean that you should not go to the conference? No. On the contrary do go if you can afford it, go on your own instead of being corporate sponsored. Ask him proper questions so that when he stands at the rostrum and surveys the crowd he will respect his audience — Filipinos are an intelligent people, well informed and not easy to fool or beguile.