Giuliani's Mistress Problem

A report posted on Politico.com Wednesday said that at the time when Giuliani was beginning an extramarital relationship with Judith Nathan, who eventually became his third wife, he billed obscure city agencies thousands of dollars for his police security detail covering trips to visit Nathan. But Giuliani insists that everything was done in the open, “honestly, honorably, above board.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3556684n

Only Giuliani could say that using pubic-- I mean public-- funding to enable his adulterous lifestyle was honorable and honest.

And then there is the other mistress. Last month, a federal grand jury indicted Bernard Kerik, Giuliani's police commisioner, on 16 counts. Kerik's mistress was Judith Regan, who recently sued the Murdock empire for $100 million dollars for getting dumped for the O.J. Simpson book "If I Did It". Here is a paragraph from Regan's lawsuit:

“In fact, a senior executive in the News Corporation organization told Regan that he believed she had information about Kerik that, if disclosed, would harm Giuliani’s presidential campaign. This executive advised Regan to lie to, and to withhold information from, investigators concerning Kerik.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/opinion/18rich.html?ref=opinion

Cherchez la femme is an old French phrase which literally means "look for the woman," and women that Giuliani or his handlers have loved or crossed will continue to dog his campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/opinion/18rich.html?ref=opinion

Giuliani the Draft Dodger

There are many people that share my skepticism that John McCain is the shining hero of the Hanoi Hilton. There are many questions that need to be asked, such as the precise circumstances that led to his capture and his behavior while in prison. The Republican's Manchurian Candidate may have some explaining to do as well as records to release. Perhaps the only things that prevents McCain from being swift-boated is the presumption that he won't be the Republican candidate.

The conventional wisdom is that Rudy Giuliani will be the Republican candidate. As with his values, credentials, and stand on issues in general, there is less than meets the eye. It appears that Rudy was an especially oily draft dodger during the Viet Nam war. Of course, he is in good company, with Clinton and Cheney among others. And yet if Giuliani is going to make national security the paramont issue in the 2008 election, I don't think it is rude to ask what exactly he did to answer our nation's call to arms at another time of peril.

From a tactical perspective, it's appropriate for the Democrats to hold their fire at present. In many respects, he is the worst possible candidate that the Republicans could want. His liberal stands cancel out the liberal stands by the Democratic candidates, and his character-- his treatment of his many wives and children-- is laughable and despicable.

The Giulianis Come to Jesus

Asked whether thrice-married Rudy Giuliani was aware of her two other marriages, Judith said, "Of course! One of the things that Rudy and I have in common is we were both married three times. At this stage in life, we believe in the institution of marriage. "

Ah yes, the stages of life. With George, it was booze. With the Giulianis, it is infidelity. But all is forgiven if you're a values voter.

The Man, the Moment, the Creep

The national election horserace is shaping up as a contest between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Right now, I like neither of them much. Hillary reminds me of the cartoon character Lisa Simpson except that Lisa has more depth and less pretension. Many people snickered at a recent speech she gave in front of a southern black audience where she adopted a phony red-neck accent. Just after that speech, the camera lingered on Hillary as she shook the hands of those who passed her by. I was struck by the disconnect between the dead-fish coldness of Hillary's eyes and her crinkled smile. Hillary has impressive ambition and she may well be the smartest candidate. But her inability to account for her continuing support for her vote for the war in Iraq fosters with me deep distrust in her character.

And yet when it comes to character, Hillary is a tower of integrity compared to Rudy Giuliani, who the New York Times described as "swaggering, brash and opinionated and loves to stick his thumb in the eye of conventional political norms. Those traits won him some acclaim in New York, not to mention a lot of tabloid headlines. But he can also be temperamental, controlling, capricious, volatile." That he married his second cousin, divorced his second wife, is estranged from his kids. and presided over some of the worst civil rights violations in New York's recent history must surely provide a window to his soul much more so than Time's 2001 Man of the Year haliography.

Just as some liberals distrust Hillary in her embrace of the Bush war machine, so too do some conservatives distrust Giuliani in his embrace of abortion, gay rights, and other red meat social issues. After the defeat of John Kerry, I would have thought that presidential wannerbees would have heeded the lesson of that election-- that northeastern liberals need not apply for the Oval office.

My prediction: neither Clinton nor Giuliani will be nominated by their respective parties.

Read more.

http://www.nndb.com/people/587/000024515/