Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Rudy's Ground Zero Lie vs. Al's Invented Internet Myth

I still angrily remember the shameful piling on that Al Gore received regarding a a claim to have "invented the Internet" that he NEVER FUCKING MADE. This completely bogus piece of shit story spun out by GOP Asshole Dick Armey's fax machine and was immediately and eagerly swallowed by print and television reporters without question. As a result, Gore, who was ever nothing if not straight-laced and boringly honest got turned into a foolish serial exaggerator.

By comparison, what consequences has Rudy Giuliani suffered for his videotaped claim in front of a Cincinnati crowd that that he was at ground zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers"? Yeah, it did make the papers, briefly. And Rudy later backtracked and said that he "misspoke." But it doesn't seem like it's got the legs, or has been purposely woven into a part of a pattern in the way Al Gore's NON-EXISTENT claim did.

But besides being REAL, and Gore's FAKE, there are such huge differences between the two that if Gore's claim turned him into an untrustworthy laughingstock, then Giuliani's should deservedly make him a pariah, to be treated with contempt and derision.

Not only is it blatantly false (later schedule checking showed that Rudy actually spent 29 hours at the Ground Zero site, compared to hundreds by recovery and reconstruction workers. But the intent was mean spirited and contemptuous. Rudy was doing more than trying to burnish his post-911 credentials, which is bad enough. He was also attempting to downplay the legitimate health concerns of the 911 rescue workers, and minimize the shoddy treatment that they have received from both the City of New York and the U.S. Government.

If there's any justice in the world (doubtful) or sense in the Democratic Party brain trust (more doubtful yet) this statement will be wielded like a sharp stake to impale the dark heart of Rudy's Presidential aspirations. In this one statement, Rudy crystallizes all the things that make him such a horrible human and truly frightening Presidential candidate --- he's mean, he's arrogant, he's combative, he's self-delusional, and absolutely and completely full of his own self-serving shit.