Rudy Giuliani was playing to a very small crowd — the seats immediately behind him were (as often the case with such events) stacked with some of his best-known local supporters, such as Rusty DePass and Gayle Averyt, hardly "faces in the crowd" in this town — but he was in fine form as he addressed his "town-hall" meeting at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
On both immigration and health care, he managed to slip in the idea that America is one heck of a great place (which it is). On immigration, that’s why all those bothersome illegals want to come here. On health care, the fact that folks who have a choice come to this country for health care rather than vice versa is in his book (but not in mine) evidence that we do, too have the best system among advanced countries.
Anyway, enjoy my rough videos from this afternoon’s session. (By the way, with regard to what I said about it being a "small crowd" — note that in the second clip, many of the seats in the not-so-well-lit sections were empty. I should add that at least a couple of those that were not empty were taken up by those lazy freeloaders in the working press.)
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After listening to Rudy’s simplistic and yet ridiculous explanation of how poor people will be able to afford insurance because the cost will go down like TV’s and Ipods, I was embarrassed for him.
He’s so full of crap, it’s not even funny.
His shtick may work in NYC, but people across the U.S. will see through his act pretty quickly. He lacks depth, insight, and understanding. He’s running on a persona established after 9/11.
I didn’t think we could have a President worse than Bush, but I think Rudy might make a really good attempt at it.
I am ashamed to be of a generation that thinks that building a fence and deporting working immigrants is a great idea. Is this the best we can do as a nation? Maybe the next generation will understand that our intentions were misguided by ignorance and fear not by overt racism.
Anyone ask why Giuliani put the NYC emergency command center mere yards away from the site of a previous terror attack? town hall meetings?
Or why WTC7 was pulled on 9/11 in a clearly controlled demolition? I bet they didn’t.
And why so many empty seats? Were the general public not allowed to attend, ala Bush and his
Health care is a back-burner issue for the GOP. What we currently have is basically the Republican plan, so why should they propose any major changes? And of course they aren’t.
Sadly the events in Iraq overshadow all other issues. Rudy apparently supports the “stay forever” policy. Here’s yet another story of how our occupation has made the lives of the Iraqi people cruel and desparate:
“Prior to the US invasion, Iraqi widows, particularly those who lost husbands during the Iran-Iraq war, were provided with compensation and free education for their children. In some cases, they were provided with free homes.
However, no such safety nets currently exist and widows have few resources at their disposal.”
According to the non-governmental organisation Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), 15 per cent of Iraqi women widowed by the war have been desperately searching for temporary marriages or prostitution, either for financial support or protection in the midst of sectarian war.”
-Al Jazeera
Il Duce is glad Ron Paul was not in town.
You are absolutely right, Doug. Yeah, it’s possible that health insurance might go down–in a generation or two. Guiliani seems to be of the “a rising tide lifts all boats” persuasion. I have never understood why those who subscribe to that allusion don’t realize that a rising tide drowns most of the folks who don’t have boats.
Foster, All of this talk about deportation is just talk. When people have to pay full price for day labor it will stop. And meanwhile, they can’t find everyone to deport. Possible paranoid thought…are the “powers that be” trying to drive the wages we pay these people even lower, by pushing them further underground? I hope not, but then I look at machiavellian Cheney and oblivious Bush, and I can’t help but wonder.
I’ve always thought a better analogy than the old “a rising tide lifts all boats” would be “a rising tide lifts only the boats in the deep end of a swimming pool until such time as the level rises to the shallow end.” Therefore the easiest way to lift the boats in the shallow end is to fill in part of the deep end so the disparity between deep and shallow is not so great.
The deepest part of the US economic pool has never been deeper than it is now. It’s probably hundreds of feet deep at the very deepest part. Having a deep end certainly makes for a better swimming experience. But to have a very deep hole in one tiny spot in the pool merely diverts water away from the shallowest end thereby making the swimming experience less attractive overall.
Does it not raise a red flag on Rudy that he just reported his wealth as somewhere between $13 million and $45 million?
His net worth prior to 9/11 was reported to be under $2 million. I guess the firefighter who said that Rudy got the ashes of the World Trade Center on him and hasn’t washed them off yet may have a point.