Rudy Giuliani forgets 9/11

Unbelievable: Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York City on September 11, 2001, forgets the attacks.

Rudy Giuliani claimed Friday that were “no domestic attacks” during George W. Bush’s presidency.

...“We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We’ve had one under Obama,” he said, forgetting not only Sept. 11  but also the anthrax mailings to congressional offices and media outlets.

Giuliani should be ashamed of his idiocy. And apologize to the relatives of those who died on 9/11, which he has forgotten.

Comments

[Rain]

The right wing leaders not only are nuts but they have no respect for the intelligence of their 'followers'. Not only was there 9/11 but Richard Reid on a flight to Miami who tried to set off a shoe bomb and likewise failed. People like Giuliani are not only shallow and disgusting but they consider the ones they influence to be likewise. Amazing that people would consider him seriously for any office

[tucson]

"Idiocy"? I don't know Blogger Brian. I think you're putting a left wing spin on it. To me, Giuliani meant there were no more domestic attacks SINCE the Bush administration's security measures were put in place in response to 911. I guess that's my right wing spin on it.

Nevertheless it is indeed politics as usual and really no big deal.

It's not hard to perform terrorist acts. No one can be aware of every extremist and their plans. The Bush administration was lucky after 911 and that lucky trend has continued. Things could be far worse. Look how easily McVeigh blew up the federal building and how easily terrorists blow people up every day around the world, or how easily that guy in Virginia shot all those people, or the guy in Texas, etc.

I know someone who works at the CDC on biological terrorism. There is a real threat there, but that's all I'm going to say about it on a public forum.

Frankly it's amazing how little terrorism we have here in the USA.

Knock on wood.

[Blogger Brian]

tucson, Giuliani has used 9/11 shamelessly to further his political career. He is indeed an idiot if he believes that Bush isn't to blame for the successful 9/11 plot that happened entirely in the U.S., but Obama is to blame for an unsuccessful attempt to bring down an airliner that came from Amsterdam.
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2010/01/08/giuliani/

This isn't the first time that Republicans have claimed that no domestic terrorist attacks happened on Bush's watch. So it's past time to call them on their bullshit.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jsI04dYXesUTy8IYW8Ob3TAbk0XQ

Excerpt:
-----------------
While saying he believes Obama "turned the corner" on understanding the nature of terrorism when he publicly declared the U.S. at war, Giuliani added that Obama has plenty of room to improve on terrorism.

"We had no domestic attacks under Bush," Giuliani said. "We've had one under Obama."

That statement set off waves of protest in the blogosphere. And it echoed a recent claim by former Bush press secretary Dana Perino. Republican strategist Mary Matalin also recently said the Bush administration "inherited the most tragic attack on our soil in our nation's history," implying that the 9/11 attacks resulted from mistakes by the Clinton administration.

Bush replaced Clinton in the White House on Jan. 20, 2001, or almost eight months before the al-Qaida sponsored attacks.

[asdf]

Hoping Anonymous steps in and forces Rudy Guliani to give an hour long apology for his agenda driven talking points.

[Blogger Brian]

Ah, more proof that Giuliani is a liar: PoliliFact just gave him the not-coveted "Pants on Fire" award for his claim that there were no domestic attacks under Bush.
http://www.politifact.org/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/08/rudy-giuliani/giuliani-says-there-were-no-domestic-attacks-durin/

Excerpt:

"Giuliani ran a presidential campaign based on the leadership he showed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. We would expect him to at least acknowledge that those attacks occurred while George W. Bush was president. But even considering that he was talking post-9/11, Giuliani is just plain wrong to suggest no terrorist attacks happened under Bush's watch. The clarifications added by a Giuliani spokesman are thredded so thin, it sounds like damage control more than anything. We say Pants on Fire!"

[tucson]

Blogger Brian you wrote:

"Giuliani has used 9/11 shamelessly to further his political career."

--Yes, he does rely on that rather heavily.

"He is indeed an idiot if he believes that Bush isn't to blame for the successful 9/11 plot that happened entirely in the U.S.,"

--I don't think that Bush is to blame for 911 so I guess you would call me an idiot too. That's OK. I've been called worse. No hard feelings.

"but Obama is to blame for an unsuccessful attempt to bring down an airliner that came from Amsterdam."

--I think anyone who believes Obama is to blame for the underwear bombing attempt is an idiot. Tit for tat. We're even.

[Blogger Brian]

tucson, fair enough. Actually, when you pointed out my use of the word "idiot" to describe Giuliani, I felt that I'd used the wrong term. I really meant "unreasonable" or "unjustified," since I think Giuliani has gone overboard on the whole Democrats are weak on terrorism thing, which doesn't do anything to unify our country around a common threat.

But then I remembered the blogging adage: never rewrite. Meaning, if you felt it at the time, leave it as is. Tomorrow is another blogging day. (I'll correct errors, but rarely will I go back and change what I said in a post, along with most bloggers). Anyway, wanted to let you know that I felt a bit ill at ease about saying "idiot" -- just not ill enough to replace it with another word.

[tucson]

I understand. Political issues tend to be emotional. Hence the social adage of avoiding discussions about religion and politics (except on blogs).

But to clarify:

I don't think Obama or Bush are responsible for the terrorist acts. The terrorists are. Some people say that U.S. foreign policy instigates terrorism, but that doesn't change who the perpetrators are or who they wish to target... namely our friends, children, grandchildren, all of us. The PC route doesn't work with irrational fanatics, especially those driven by religious righteousness. There's no playing games with these people.