St. Rudy's Mistake

[npincus]

Which is more revolting: another election season run on the ashes of 9-11 or St. Rudy keeping his halo intact, exploiting our national tragedy as his own personal cash cow? I don't believe he can have it both ways.

If St. Rudy is serious about running, that halo will soon be covered with shit... it will fly fast and furiously. When he was mayor, the New York press was rather incurious about his private dalliances; excepting an occasional page six reference or New York magazine snark piece. But it was an open secret that Rudy was "close" with his former Directer of Communications, Cristyne something-or-other, it even got written about in Vanity Fair. I remember one anecdote: he took her shopping downtown on a Saturday, waiting patiently as she tried on this-or-that. Rudy the family man. As the whispers got louder, she left his admin. and somehow landed a cushy job that she may not have been qualified for, with a stratospheric salary... now how did that happen? Hmmmm.... I am sure we will find out, once his presidential campaign takes off.

And then: Judy, Judy, Judy. He squired her about town openly, almost daring the media to go after him. Which they hardly did- but enough that I read an item way back about Rudy spending a holiday (Christmas or Thanksgiving, I don't recall) with Ms. Nathan and her daughter, not with his wife, Donna Hanover and their 2 children. An yes, Donna Hanover. I understand she learned about her marital separation watching a Guiliani press conference. Was it the one where he gushed about his "good friend, Judy Nathan" who was by his side as he received treatment for prostate cancer? I'm sure the details of this affair will be examined in his presidential bid.

Alright. I normally don't give a rat's ass about the private life of any politician, unless they are a HYPOCRITE... profiting off of their own moral superiority or the tragedy of 9-11. Let's see, I think the figure from speaking fees the first year he became a private citizen, was $8 million... St. Rudy was getting $100,000 per speech. We'll find out more about his ghoulish profiteering in the next campaign season.

So, back to the original question. If he does really run, we have to endure another disgusting, 9-11 exploitation-thon... it will be 9-11 all the time, all over again. Running on our past, challenging the patriotism of the opposition, running a campaign of fear and terror. At the same time, Rudy will become damaged goods-- he will be savaged before a national audience who is unfamiliar with his less-saintly qualities. Guiliani Partners will be damaged, as Rudy is savaged, and his association with former partner Bernard Kerik, an unsavory scandalized figure, is examined under a microscope and hyped endlessly by the opposition.

With the same hubris that allowed him, the sitting mayor of a large city, to openly date while he had a wife and 2 kids, he is diving into a presidential campaign thinking that these small details of his life will go unexamined.

HA! I for one will enjoy the shit storm that defiles his profit-soaked, 9-11 mantle of sainthood. Rudy will be a victim of his own enormous ego, his hubris will be his downfall. I don't believe he can get the nomination, and a season of campaigning will leave him damaged goods, hence reduced earning power. That's karma, baby.




http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/05/11/politics/main194350.shtml

The woman Hanover blames for seriously damaging her 16-year marriage to the mayor is former City Hall communications director Cristyne Lategano.

At her news conference, Hanover didn’t mention Lategano by name, but said, "For several years, it was difficult to participate in Rudy's public life because of his relationship with one staff member."

Hanover's spokeswoman, Joannie Danielides, later said her boss was referring to Lategano.

In 1997, Vanity Fair magazine reported there was a romantic link between Lategano and Giuliani. Both denied the report and it was never confirmed.






http://archive.salon.com/politics2000/feature/2000/05/04/giuliani/index.html

May 4, 2000 | NEW YORK -- Any truce the New York press might have had with Mayor Rudy Giuliani since he announced last week that he has prostate cancer has quickly collapsed, with the local press corps putting the state of the mayor's marriage under scrutiny yet again.

The latest round began Tuesday, when New York Daily News gossip columnist Mitchell Fink ran an item titled "Rudy & Friend Dine & Dine." Giuliani, Fink wrote, "hasn't let the diagnosis of prostate cancer slow him down." The mayor was spotted twice over the weekend dining out with an unnamed "friend," wrote Fink, who did not explicitly reveal the gender of Giuliani's dining companion until the end of the item: "One restaurant staffer opined that the mayor was with his wife," Fink wrote, "but shown a picture of Donna Hanover, he said it wasn't her."

Playing a frantic game of catch-up, the next day's New York Post published a pair of undated surveillance-style photographs of Giuliani's female dining companion coming out of yet another restaurant. One of the photographs -- which were accompanied by the headline "Rudy's mystery brunch pal is Upper East Side divorcée" -- featured Giuliani a few feet away from the woman, whom the Post identified as Judith Nathan.

Gossip that the mayor has a new companion has been circulating among journalists for weeks. Indeed, the Post's photographs were actually snapped at least 11 days before they were published. A source at the Post said that the newspaper heard Giuliani had been spotted on Saturdays eating brunch at a particular restaurant near Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence, and dispatched a photographer to capture the duo.

<snip>

Speculation about the state of Giuliani's marriage -- and possible extramarital affairs -- has run rampant for years in New York. It reached a crescendo in mid-1997 when a Vanity Fair article implied he had an affair with his then-communications director, Cristyne Lategano. That article also took the city's press corps to task for its alleged inadequate coverage of the mayor's marriage, a criticism that the tabloids are eager to avoid this time.

[Joe Chi Minh]

1. So... Farewell, Newtonius Gingrich! Long live Rudolph Giuliani!

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Christyne Lanagano I think. Now married as Christyne Nichols,

working for the NYC Tourist Bureau. One of her "attributes" for Rudy was telling him which individuals could be "trusted" and which were out to "get" him. He turned away old loyal friends upon her advice.

[hedgehog]

3. I can remember when Nelson Rockefeller blew his chance at the

Presidency because he divorced his first wife to marry Happy. I guess times have changed.

[goclark]

4. And he died at the home of his mistress

they kept that very hush hush.

[hedgehog]

6. There are rumors that he was actually buried under the Albany Mall

with 23 dancing girls.

[kskiska]

25. Died in the saddle with Megan Marshak

Megan Marshak

Megan Ruth Marshak (born ca. 1952 in California) was the mistress of former Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller when he died on January 26 1979.

The Medical Examiner report (still available at the New York City archive at 520 1st Ave.) states that Nelson Rockefeller died of a heart attack while he was having sexual intercourse. The attack occurred between 9:15 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Reports indicated that in response to the incident, Marshak called her girlfriend, Ponchitta Pierce, a television news personality who lived nearby.

Pierce arrived at the Rockefeller suite, and at some later point Pierce (not Marshak) called for help. The police call was made an hour or two after Rockefeller had collapsed. In subsequent public statements, Pierce claimed that Marshak had called her between 10:50 and 11 p.m. on the evening of January 26. Pierce said that she arrived at Rockefeller's townhouse at about 11:15 p.m., called the emergency number to request an ambulance, and then left quickly to go back to her own apartment. The initial story from Rockefeller spokesmen indicated that the heart attack had occurred at 11:15 p.m., as an early attempt to avoid the scandal from breaking.

There has been speculation that up to two hours passed between the actual heart attack and the call for help, due to the need to "sanitize" the location before police photographers arrived. Various rumours abound, and it is unclear whether Rockefeller was still alive when the ambulance arrived, or if he died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

(snip)

It was later revealed that Marshak holed up in her townhouse while photographers maintained a vigil outside. She did not appear for weeks. Rockefeller's will deeded Marshack the townhouse she lived in, located at 3 W. 54th St., and $50,000. There is no known "tell all" of the events by Marshak, and she appears to have dropped out of public view since Rockefeller's death.

more…
http://www.answers.com/topic/megan-marshak

[npincus]

28. thanks- that was interesting.

[npincus]

5. didn't he die

while havig sex with a hooker?

[KoKo]

7. Repugs are desperate to push Giuliani just like they trial balooned Macaca

as possible Pres Candidate, ignoring the dirt that was out there ready to come out. With a strong Dem base here on the Internet and a much more organized Liberal Blogosphere there's no way Rudy's "stuff" is not going to be a huge issue.

It's their desperation to give the talking head pundits and right wing something to talk about that allows Rudy to keep visible. If we can get another 9/11 Commission and more investigation Rudy's gonna smell even worse than what we know, methinks.

Thanks for your post because we need to keep Rudy's past alive every time they push him. With so much going on it's easy to forget his "Repug Family Values."

[zonkers]

8. The fact that Bernie Kerik was Rudi's "#1 boy" rattles any confidence I have in Rudi.

And as posted upthread, I suspect there is enough dirt on him that could be dredged up on Rudi to derail his election.

[sallyseven]

9. 9/11 made Giuliano. He was just a mediocre

mayor of NY before that day.

[The Count]

13. Actually, the 9.10 ignored budget showed he drove the city into debt

for the first time in many, many years. last day on the job, he committed the city he bankrupted to constructing 2 stadiums - 2 contracts he signed Dec 31, 2001. One can only imagine the commissions fees...

[Cha]

15. The cabbies didn't

like him in January 2001 when I was there.

[The Count]

10. Cover of NY Post: Rudy naked in a barrel (cartoon), pleading poverty

in his divorce case "BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?' was the banner title.
Then, 911 came...

[npincus]

20. I'd give a pound of flesh for that one...

is it archived anywhere?

[The Count]

26. I doubt - it's NY Post. His big head was a photo, body was scrawny, undersized

I almost bought the edition - but...it was NY Post. It was summer/fall 2001 - shortly before 9/11. His name & shennanigand in the divorce were page one on all tabloids all summer, BTW.

[Beelzebud]

11. Being mayor during 9/11 doesn't qualify anyone for president.

[patcox2]

12. Bigotry will do him in, trust me.

Things are really very simple in politics. Anything you have to research and read up on is irrelevant, like Bush's Air National Guard record or Rudy's record of infidelity and corruption. Rudy is an Italian Catholic from New York. Case closed. The base will stay home in droves.

[The Count]

14. So, did W's air national guard ruin him? His "sinning" before "rebirth"?

I seen to remember W's AWOL ruining Dan Rather, not W.

[patcox2]

27. I said that Rudi's record won't hurt him.

Just like Bush's ANG record did not ruin him.

What will ruin Rudi is bigotry. The GOP is, for better or worse, the southern party. The GOP base is crazy protestant fundie town. All republican candidates must go to Bob Jones University, hotbed of the haters of papistry, and renounce the wicked Roman Catholic Church.

In short, Rudi is not the kind of guy the double wide voters will approve of.

I remain convinced that if Kerry were not a catholic, he'd have picked up another million votes across the South and won. Do not discount anti-catholicism in the south. They cannot make good pizza there, either.

[Xenotime]

16. Rudy's weak. He won't do it.

[Dorian Gray]

17. I understand why people don't like Rudy.

But all this stuff is pretty well known to the public here in NYC. Perhaps it will come as a surprise to people in the Mid West or outside of NYC, but I don't think any of this stuff was hidden from the public. The breakup of his relationship/marriage with Hanover was scrutinized by the press here in New York.

[Catrina]

22. That alone may not be what does Rudy in

Although, if you remember, his attorney announcing his intended divorce on TV on Mother's Day before his wife was told, pretty much did him in in NY also.

However, that is not Rudy's biggest problem. He has many. But since his only real claim to fame is his phoney PR image as American's 9/11 mayor, it is that that 'Grand Illusion' that I believe will be shattered if he insists on letting his enormous ego overcome reason.

What happened to Bernie Kerik, also touted as a 9/11 hero, when Bush attempting once again to use 9/11, named him as DHS chief, will happen to Giuliani. The nation will finally learn the truth about the myth of Rudy as some kind of hero. He was anything but either on 9/11 and certainly not before.

A book has already been written exposing the myth, which 9/11 families tried to do at the 9/11 Commission Hearings. But that Commission helped to cover up Rudy's failures both before and after 9/11.

I hope he runs because for too long he has traded off that fake image and profited more than anyone else from being perceived as something he was not.

I'm afraid though, that he will be told to forget about a run for the presidency rather than shatter one more of the rightwing 9/11 myths. Better to leave the illusion intact.

Grand Illusion

Turning the mythology on its head, Grand Illusion reveals how Giuliani has revised his own history, casting himself as prescient terror hawk when in fact he ran his administration as if terrorist threats simply did not exist, too distracted by pet projects and turf wars to attend to vital precautions.

"Grand Illusion will forever alter how the world sees Rudy Giuliani’s place in America’s deadliest terror attacks."
— Newsday


http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060536602/Grand_Illusion/index.aspx

[Cosmocat]

18. ABOLUTELY ...

9-11 is the republican party's go to move ... Remaking this guy into some kind of national hero ...

Now, what has been the universal mantra from this last election, that the republicans drifted away from the "values" and that they need to return to their beliefs ...

Meanwhile, their present golden boy is a:

NYC Mayor ...
Who is PRO CHOICE !!!
SUPPORTED GUN CONTROL !!!
One time dressed in drag as a gag and SUPPORTS GAY RIGHTS !!!
And, has a personal life that makes Bill Clinton look like a monk ...

Almost to a freakin T, the polar opposite of what the party is supposed to stand for ...

[radfringe]

19. he pooped on his own parade

all the dems have to do is to play this over and over again...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2712782&mesg_id=2712782

[Beam Me Up]

21. Expose 9/11 for the fraud it is and expose G's participation in the

cover up. We need a full independent investigation into 9/11. Why isn't this obvious? It isn't going to happen until we all demand it.

[Canuckistanian]

23. I'll never understand why personal lives matter this much

Honestly, what the hell does what you do on your own time with another consenting adult have to do with your job performance?

Look at JFK, fergawds sake. A noble president, forward-looking, compassionate, intelligent, good for the country. Yet he was screwing everything in dress that walked by him. I don't hate him for that or call him a hypocrite. It's a separate, private part of his life.

Here in Canada, we have politicians cheating on wives, weird sexual behaviours and other unpalatable things. But you'll never read it in our newspapers, not even the tabloids.

Why? Because we Canadians just don't care. Or if we do, we think that people's private lives are just that - private.

For instance, in a local mayor's race here in Ottawa, an anonymous letter came out about one of the candidates.
The letter warned that the candidate was gay (not a huge secret anyways)and would spend taxpayer's money on "gay issues", whatever that means. Well, the letter caused A MAJOR SCANDAL because if it was ever traced back to another rival candidate, they would have been toast. We crucify bigoted public officials, and this was a shocking intrusion into his private life.

So, why do this? Rudy's dalliances are Rudy's business. Period.

[Marnieworld]

24. Another plus:returned 9/11 scrutiny

If he runs on 9/11 then that gets scrutinized again. Specifically all of his actions that day. Why was he wandering around and not in the emergency headquaters in Bldg 7. Why and how was that building "pulled" that day and what does he know about it? What measures did he take to evacuate the buildings? Inform the tennants of the warnings beforehand? Equip the fire stations adequately. Steps to protect the towers knowing that they were targets 8 years in advance?
What did you know about the air quality for the rescue workers and those working in the aftermath? Could you have protected them better instead of all of the self-congratulating press you had to do afterwards?
Run on 9/11 Rudy! I dare you. America is long past the haze that let you slide.

And all of this is added of course to the utter scumbag of a husband and father he is. He actually had his mistress stay in the Mayor's mansion while his wife and children were there. How abusive and disrespectful is that?

Trivia: Donna Hanover after her divorce/parole from Guilani married her college sweethear who she hadn't had contact with in about 20 years. Isn't that sweet? Good for her.