All Tragedy All the Time

David Weigel | December 14, 2007

I wonder how much truth there is to this item in Washington Whispers. I've heard the rumor, too, so it's not coming out of nowhere.

Political allies of former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour are actively pushing the two together, with the 9/11 mayor and New Yawker on top of a ticket that would feature the just re-elected drawling hero of his state's Hurricane Katrina victims as veep. They are being dubbed the "Masters of Disasters."

But neither man's disaster record holds up to scrutiny. Giuliani's pre-9/11 decisions have been battered over the last few months, and much longer than that in New York media. The impetus for the attacks were... six years of him dining out on 9/11. And the "drawling hero" Barbour has tossed contracts to his relatives and pals, which seems like the last thing you want from a post-Cheney VP.

Comments

|12.14.07 @ 9:54AM|#

Wow.

If the biggest liability your campaign is encountering are charges of corruption and cronyism, you might want to put Haley Freaking Barbour's resume in the Maybe pile.

|12.14.07 @ 9:56AM|#

Is Haley Barbour black? Guiliani doesn't like to speak with black people.

|12.14.07 @ 9:57AM|#

And the "drawling hero" Barbour has tossed contracts to his relatives and pals, which seems like the last thing you want from a post-Cheney VP.

You might think it's just the last thing you'd want in any elected official. But you'd be wrong. That's how we got Cheney to begin with.

|12.14.07 @ 9:58AM|#

"Is Haley Barbour black? Guiliani doesn't like to speak with black people."

No, he's white.

|12.14.07 @ 10:22AM|#

Bernie Kerik has some time on his hands.

Episiarch|12.14.07 @ 10:35AM|#

I used to watch Giuliani's press conferences when he was mayor on NY1, purely for the amusement of watching him eat the reporters alive. They were utterly boring except for the fact that Giuliani had zero interest in answering any questions he didn't like and would tear down the reporter who asked it.

I'd like to see him pull that shit now, especially with some ultra-corrupt (it's LA, how can he not be?) deep-southern running mate.

|12.14.07 @ 10:43AM|#

Giuliani had zero interest in answering any questions he didn't like and would tear down the reporter who asked it.

Bill Parcels in a sport coat?

Episiarch|12.14.07 @ 10:49AM|#

Bill Parcels in a sport coat?

Hah, worse. I'm not exaggerating. Giuliani would ridicule and embarrass any reporter who annoyed him, and quite expertly too, to the extent that the reporter's colleagues were laughing along with Rudy at him/her. It really was entertaining. It had to be to get me to watch mega-boring City Hall meetings on budget crap and the like.

|12.14.07 @ 11:04AM|#

Maybe they should make a beer ad.

"We're going to a party with lots of girls. Should we talk about the playoffs?"

|12.14.07 @ 11:12AM|#

Giuliani would ridicule and embarrass any reporter who annoyed him, and quite expertly too,

C'mon, who wouldn't like to see that?

Episiarch|12.14.07 @ 11:42AM|#

RC, that's why I watched. As much as Rudy is an authoritarian ass, he was very good at ripping the reporters. Who were generally statist assholes anyway, so it all worked out.

|12.14.07 @ 12:27PM|#

Was it Guiliani who slapped around Chris Wallace on Faux Nooz Sunday a couple of weeks ago?

That guy is the Washington Generals of journalism. Hey, everybody, watch this, I'm going to bushwhack Bill Clinton!

Happy Jack|12.14.07 @ 12:41PM|#

And the "drawling hero" Barbour has tossed contracts to his relatives and pals, which seems like the last thing you want from a post-Cheney VP.

It makes sense if you're looking for continuity. Preserving tradition, in other words.

|12.14.07 @ 12:43PM|#

That guy is the Washington Generals of journalism.

That's not a very nice comment. Funny and apt, but not very nice.

|12.15.07 @ 9:01AM|#

I have Haley am my Gov. now, and he sucks, he is crooked as the day is long. I am a transplant from Montana, and this is like a different country, a poor, uneducated, backwards and very muggy country. Alas, but it is now home for a dozen years, so I just try to survive. LOL

|12.16.07 @ 12:40PM|#

On the other hand, Haley Barbour will also serve to remind people of Hurricane Katrina, the unequal provision of emergency and recovery services from the feds, and how that unevenness broke down along party and racial lines.

Which would look really terrific, especially if Obama or Edwards is on the Democratic ticket.