If you knew Rudy the way a lot of us do

I have faith that most people tuned in to what’s happening in the world beyond their own everyday lives will pay attention to what the various presidential candidates are saying versus what the truth is. If they do so, they must help spread the word about Rudy Giuliani’s blatant attempt to rewrite his past and pull the wool over the eyes of people who’d barely heard of him as of Sept. 10, 2001.

Take a look at Wayne Barrett’s explication of the Rudy lies and exaggerations about his expertise in handling terrorist attacks – all based on his exploitation of Sept. 11 and his confidence that by evoking the image of him “leading” New Yorkers from Lower Manhattan that day will bring about such reverence that enough people will be bamboozled into choosing him as the nominee of the Republican Party and, ultimately, the President of the United States. Barrett’s Village Voice piece totally eviscerates that strategy.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0732,barrett,77463,6.html/full

Giuliani's Repackaging Himself

So Rudy, who says he doesn't always agree with himself, went to the convention of the Conservative Political Action Conference, the folks who don't like gay people, don't support abortion rights and harp upon family values. It seems that Giuliani has absolutely NOTHING in common with them.

But he'll grovel for votes, obscuring his actual pre-9/11 record as a husband and father and as New York City's mayor -- and these desperate CPACers seem willing to hitch their wagon to whoever looks like he can beat Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or any other Democrat. Forget that he's been married three times, including to a cousin and to a woman he cheated on then announced in a press conference that he was leaving her -- before he let her know it in person. Forget that he's estranged from his children. Forget that he supports gay rights and abortion rights and gun control.

And people wonder why so many of US are cynical about -- and turned off by -- politics?

For Rudy and the CPACers, the theme seems to be: "Anything Goes, As Long as It Doesn't Involve a Democrat."