Rudy Giuliani Should Not Be the Next Republican Presidential Nominee

Rudy Giuliani Should Not Be the Republican Presidential Nominee

Rudolph Giuliani started out as a great mayor for the city of New York; however, it became increasingly apparent that he was not as fair as many had thought him to be. When he first ran for office, as a conservative Democrat, I crossed party lines to vote for him, rather than his opponent Ruth Messinger. He was a no-nonsense U.S. Attorney who cleaned up crime in New York City. But when the scuffles between African Americans and the New York Police Department were being highlighted in the news, Giuliani sought to take the side of the police and not to appease the racial tensions that brewed as a result. For first example of Giuliani's bias came when Amadou Bailo Diallo, a 23 year old immigrant from Guinea, was shot and killed on February 4,1999, by four NYPD plain clothes officers-Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss. The four men fired a total of 41 rounds. Diallo was unarmed at the time of the shooting and a firestorm of controversy erupted as the shooting prompted outrage within and outside New York City. This shooting highlighted issues of police brutality and racial profiling. It also highlighted Giuliani's decision to stick with the police no matter what. On April 18, 2000, Diallo's mother and stepfather filed an US$61 million ($20 million plus $1 million for each shot fired) lawsuit against the City of New York and the officers, who were indicted but later acquitted, charging gross negligence, wrongful death, racial profiling and other violations of Diallo's civil rights. They later accepted a US$3 million settlement. Diallo's death became an issue in the 2005 mayoral election in NYC.

The second incident involved Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant, who got into an altercation with the police outside a Brooklyn night club in 1997. Louima said that he and several other men had interceded in a fight between two women. Officer Justin Volpe identified Louima as his assailant, after claiming that he was "sucker punched" and arrested him. He was charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest. The arresting officers beat Louima with their fists, nightsticks and hand-held police radios on the ride to the station. On arriving to the station house, Louima was strip-searched and put in a holding cell. The beating continued and culminated with Louima being raped in a bathroom at the 70^th Precinct in Brooklyn. Justin Volpe kicked him in the testicles while his hands were cuffed behind his back, sodomized him with a plunger, which caused severe internal damage to his colon and bladder that required several operations to repair. At first, the officers involved denied any wrongdoing and said that Louima got those injuries from being a homosexual. This sentiment was also echoed by Sean Hannity of Fox's Hannity & Colmes, who has never apologized, even after criminal charges and subsequent conviction of the officers involved were handed down. Giulani, again, did nothing to quell the racial unrest that resulted from this barbaric treatment of this man. On December 13, 1999, Justin Volpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison, a $525 fine and restitution in the amount of $277,495. Louima's civil suit against the city resulted in a settlement of $8.75 million on July 30, 2001. This was the largest police brutality settlement in New York City history.

So, Republicans have more than family values to consider when choosing whether or not to vote for Rudy Giuliani. He did nothing to quell the atmosphere of racial tension in New York City, even in the face of apparent racism and police brutality. African Americans have many reasons not to trust this man, as do many other groups. He has been mired in controversies many times. This was a man who was married to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi, and later had the marriage annulled. It was said that he knew this woman was his cousin. He has consistently showed poor judgment in promoting the career of Bernard Kerik, who started out as a NYPD detective, who later became the city's Correction Commissioner and later the police commissioner. Giuliani pushed President Bush to nominate Kerik to be the Homeland Security Secretary, but multiple scandals derailed the nomination and Kerik's career. Kerik has pled guilty to corruption charges dating back to his days in the Corrections department. On March 2007, the New York Times reported that Kerik was likely to be indicted for tax fraud and illegal eavesdropping. It was also disclosed that Giuliani testified under oath in April 2006, that he had in fact been briefed on Kerik's mob ties in 2000, prior to his appointment of Kerik as Corrections Commissioner, which he had previously denied knowledge about. Giuliani is the godfather of Kerik's two youngest children.

Then there is the incident with Russell Harding, who Giuliani appointed in 2000, to head the New York City Housing Development Corporation. Harding did not have a college degree or relevant experience for the position. He lived a lavish lifestyle and in 2005 pled guilty to defrauding the Housing Development and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to five years in prison. He has also been accused of free speech abridgements. There are some court cases that have found that the Giuliani administration had violated First Amendment rights including actions barring public events from their previous location at the steps of City Hall, not allowing taxi drivers to assemble for a protest, not allowing city workers to speak to the press without permission, barring church members from delivering AIDS education program in a park, denying a permit for a march to object to police brutality, imposing an excessive daily fee on street musicians, imposing varying city fees for newsstand owners based on the content they sold and the list goes on. It has been said that more than 35 successful lawsuits were brought against him and his administration for blocking free speech. First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams has said in his book Speaking Freely, that Giuliani had an "insistence on doing the one thing that the First Amendment most clearly forbids: using the power of government to restrict or punish speech critical of government itself." Is this the man people want to be the next U.S. President?

Did he really go above and beyond after the horrific events of September 11? I do not think so. He had been faced with increasing criticism for downplaying the health effects of the air in the Financial District and lower Manhattan areas close to Ground Zero. He moved quickly to open Wall Street, on September 17^th. He said that the air quality was safe and acceptable. However, in the weeks after the attack, the United States Geological Survey identified hundreds of asbestos hot spots of debris dust that remained on buildings and by the end of the month, it was reported that the toxicity levels of the debris was astronomically high. The city had left the responsibility of testing and clean-up to the building owners. Firefighters, police and their unions have also criticized Giuliani over the issue of protective equipment and debilitating illness after the attacks. It seems as though Giuliani's triumph of leadership came with a human cost. Two years after he left office, FEMA appropriated $1 billion to a special insurance fund to protect the city against September 11^th lawsuits.

Giuliani is not being supported by many social conservatives, religious and social groups because he supports gay rights, abortion rights and the notion of a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. He has cast himself as an imperfect man who has sought prayer. I think we are all aware of our imperfections, but that does not qualify us to become the President of the United States. He said during a 40 minute speech at a summit sponsored by the conservative Christian advocacy group, Family Research Council that his belief in God and reliance on his guidance is at the core of who he is. So, are all the things he has done and advocated in his political, business and person life indicative of this deep religious conviction? He said that he would give us a reason to trust him? Really, how does he explain his non-action towards racial profiling during his tenure as Mayor of New York City?

While he can take credit for cleaning up New York City's Times Square from pornography and for reducing crime in the city, he had some serious limitations, both on a personal and professional level. While what happened between his wives and he is a private matter, one has to question his judgment in handling the break-up of his marriage to Donna Hanover and the embarrassment he put her through with publicly flaunting his then girlfriend and present wife Judith Nathan, even before either one filed for a divorce. Former President Bill Clinton was held to a higher standard when he was accused of having an illicit affair with Monica Lewinsky, so too, must we hold Giuliani to the same level of integrity. He cheated on his two former wives. He called a press conference to announce his decision to separate from Donna Hanover, even before telling her of his decision. Again, this was a serious lack of good judgment on his part. While this was a private matter, he made it public by living it out in front of New Yorkers. In March 2007, the New York Times and the New York Daily News reported that Giuliani had become estranged from both his son and daughter, missing major events in their lives such as graduations and sometimes going for long periods of time without speaking with them. His daughter, Caroline, uses her mother's surname, Hanover and reportedly did not inform her father that she was accepted to attend Harvard University, where she is now a student.

The list goes on about his lack of judgment and I believe that many Americans have well-founded reasons why he should not be elected the next President. Many of the candidates are deeply flawed, but racial intolerance is a deeply divisive issue and we cannot elect someone that will be objective and impartial. I am proud to say that while I am a registered Democrat, I will cross party lines to vote for the candidate that best meets the needs of the American people. I have to be honest to say, in my opinion, that candidate is not Rudy Giuliani.