9/11

There is a movement afoot to get the New York City Council to open an investigation into the inept handling by then-mayor Rudy Giuliani of the replacement of defective radios for the New York Fire Department (FDNY). Remember, it was Rudy's failure to replace the radios as recommended that pretty much condemned to death the majority of firefighters that died on 9/11. Those defective radios meant that many did not get the call to get out and so died needlessly.

The organizers of the movement to investigate Rudy's mishandling of the whole affair have delivered petitions with 20,000 signitures to the City Council. Here is the footage of the petitions being delivered Oct. 29th, 2007:

To find out more about this issue, you can read about it at The Albany Project. And you can get a brief intro on this video from The Real Rudy:

One month ago when Rudy Giuliani's campaign tried, as one blogger put it, humping the corpse by using 9/11 as a theme for a fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani. The idea was to get people to donate $9.11 for Rudy, playing off the 9/11 myth that surrounds Rudy.

Needless to say, many of those who lived through 9/11, particularly those who lost people on that day, were disgusted by the idea.

Let's get one thing straight, and you can take it from someone who saw Rudy in action on 9/11: this whole Rudy 9/11 mystique is a myth. For coverage of that (from another New Yorker) go here and here.

Here's my idea. They, in essence, were desecrating the memories of the victims of 9/11 by turning our tragedy into a fundraising opportunity. That last month. My first reaction was to donate $9.11 to MoveOn.org in protest. Then I decided that was being as disgusting as them.

So I propose, on 10/11, to donate $10.11 to MoveOn.org. I will do it. I invite you to join me to show Rudy Guiliani and his supporters that 9/11 is NOT something you demean by using it to raise money for the man who the real 9/11 heros detest.

Mr. Bush...what part of "Osama bin Laden determined to attack the US" didn't you understand?

And why haven't you stopped al-Qaeda and caught bin Laden? Six years after Pearl Harbor we had won. Decisively. Six years after Pearl Harbor Hitler was dead and many of those responsible for atrocities brought to justice. Six years after 9/11, where is Osama bin Laden?

Imagine leaving home in the morning, voting in a primary election for mayor, catching the subway to work and starting your day. Imagine hearing strange noises, but thinking nothing of them. Then imagine hearing that the WTC was no more and desperately trying to reuinte your family, now scattered across a city in crisis with no subways running. That was six years ago.

Six years ago today, I was sitting in the same place, the NYU medical center (though a different part of the building). It was here in the NYU medical center that I heard the planes hit the WTC and wondered what those sounds were. It sounded like exactly like a semi-truck going too fast down the highway and hitting some bumps...that is what the 9/11 attacks sounded like. I looked up both times I heard that noise, looked out over the FDR highway and East River of NYC, saw nothing but the usual traffic, thought nothing more about it. It was only much later that I realized I had heard the planes hit.

Been writing about this for some time, but since I am on vacation, Bouldin beat me to the latest installment of Giuliani's 9/11 facade crumbling thanks to the efforts of firefighters, the REAL heroes of 9/11.

I will simply repost Bouldin's piece from Daily Gotham since there is not much I can add except a reminder that this is not the first time firefighters have been down on Rudy. From here this diary is Michael's:

It was on September 11th, 2001, that I first started hating George Bush. We watched the towers come down, three miles away, and the Decider was nowhere to be seen, delivering a scared little video message to the nation only hours later from some Air Force Base in some god-forsaken spot. Later, he gave an equally cringe-inducing little speech from the Oval Office; that speech must have left most of the country wondering how this crisis was going to be mastered with such a scared little man in charge. "Little" is the operative, descriptive word on so many things about the Bush era; on 9/11, little turned into too little, too late.

Into that vacuum stepped Rudy Giuliani, reassuring his grieving City, telling us what we needed to hear without sugar-coating, and with a tone of grace that was and remains admirable. Out of this, however, he has woven, with great skill, a modern myth of heroism, one potent enough to make him the front-runner for his party's nomination for President. Indispensable to that myth are the firefighters of the City of New York.

They aren't having any of it. Yesterday, the International Association of Firefighters released this video:

Here's a partial transcript (any errors are mine):

[Editor's Note: While I am on vacation I am reposting some old articles I consider still relavent. For those who care about truth rather than Republican lies, let's look at the real Rudy Giuliani.]

Rudy Giuliani has just shown that he is as much a lying fearmonger as Karl Rove or any other Bush administration toady. From Politico:

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.

But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.

“If any Republican is elected president —- and I think obviously I would be the best at this —- we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it,” Giuliani said.

Ummmm...let's review some history, Rudy. Ronald Reagan and the elected Bush both SUPPORTED the Muslim fanatics that evolved into al-Qaeda. Bill Clinton is the one who first recognized them as a threat and tried to get them. The attack he ordered after the bombing of the USS Coles hit the location where bin Laden had JUST LEFT. The Clinton administration PREVENTED the millenium attacks. Clinton was so focused on getting al-Qaeda that the Republicans called him "obsessed" with al-Qaeda and he TOLD Bush that al-Qaeda would be the number one focus of Bush's administration.

One of the most disgusting tactics the Republicans have used is exploiting the 9/11 attacks for their own gains. As my wife (when she was 8 months pregnant) yelled at Republican delegates to the Republican Convention in 2004, "Shame on you for turning our tragedy into a photo op!" The delegates were none too pleased being chased down the street by a very pregnant woman accusing them of exploiting our tragedy. I was in Manhattan when those planes hit... I heard them hit, though it was only later I realized what I had heard. My wife was in the subway right under the WTC when the first plane hit. That first plane also instantly took the life of a co-worker's spouse. So 9/11 is very personal for me, as it is for many Americans. When the Republicans twist it for their personal gain, I resent it.

Well, as I reported yesterday, Rudy Giuliani (the man despised by the firefighters who were the TRUE heroes of 9/11) is the latest Republican to use this disgusting tactic. Not only was Giuliani's claim that only a Republican can prevent a terrorist attack a disgusting exploitation of a national tragedy, but it is demonstrably wrong. Clinton's administration prevented the millenium attacks. He also warned the nation that al-Qaeda was going to attack again. Bush's administration ignored these warnings and the 9/11 attacks happened on HIS watch. Giuliani is wrong. Republicans have failed America and they continue to fail America as we escalate in Iraq while Osama bin Laden, the man who planned the attacks on us, goes free.

Rudy Giuliani has just shown that he is as much a lying fearmonger as Karl Rove or any other Bush administration toady. From Politico:

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.

But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped.

“If any Republican is elected president —- and I think obviously I would be the best at this —- we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it,” Giuliani said.

Ummmm...let's review some history, Rudy. Ronald Reagan and the elected Bush both SUPPORTED the Muslim fanatics that evolved into al-Qaeda. Bill Clinton is the one who first recognized them as a threat and tried to get them. The attack he ordered after the bombing of the USS Coles hit the location where bin Laden had JUST LEFT. The Clinton administration PREVENTED the millenium attacks. Clinton was so focused on getting al-Qaeda that the Republicans called him "obsessed" with al-Qaeda and he TOLD Bush that al-Qaeda would be the number one focus of Bush's administration.

Now let's look at Bush's administration: he ignored the warnings, let 9/11 happened, and he has consistently ignored the continuing al-Qaeda threat and instead invaded Iraq, a nation with absolutely NO TIES to al-Qaeda before we invaded. Experts around the world agree that we are LESS SAFE THAN EVER because of Bush's failed foreign policy.

Rudy Giuliani is running for President as the "You All Loved me on 9/11" candidate. But it seems the real heroes of 9/11, the first responders who gave the most, aren't buying it. The International Association of Firefighters are hosting a bi-partisan Presidential Forum on March 14th...and Giuiliani is SPECIFICALLY not invited. This is the letter from the Firefighters' Union to its affiliates regarding tomorrow's forum and the decision to shut out Rudy. I quote it in its entirety.

Firefighters Union Letter On Rudy Giuliani
March 8, 2007

On March 14, 2007, the IAFF will host the first bi-partisan Presidential Forum of the 2008 election cycle. No other union and very few organizations has the credibility and respect to attract top-tier candidates from both political parties. The lineup of speakers who have agreed to participate in our Forum is truly a testament to our great union and the reputation we have built as a powerful political force and a coveted endorsement.

John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and seven other candidates will make their case before the 1,000 delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire membership via same-day broadcast on our web site.

Early on, the IAFF made a decision to invite all serious candidates from both political parties — except one: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

UPDATE: Keith Ellison is also the first ImpeachPAC candidate to win a Congressional Election. Congratulations!

Massachussets elects its first African American governor and first woman Attorney General.

Now comes word Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives :

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim Americans make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered U.S. voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim Americans have become sensitized to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. U.S. foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.