Competent Government

Steve Benen has a good report about FEMA working diligently on the ground in Georgia to manage a once in 500 years flood that's ravaged the area. Even Georgia's conservative Senators are praising the emergency management effort. And then there's this nice story from the Veterans Affairs Department:

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has authorized checks for up to $3,000 to be given to students who have applied for educational benefits and who have not yet received their government payment. The checks will be distributed to eligible students at VA regional benefits offices across the country starting Oct. 2, 2009.

"Students should be focusing on their studies, not worrying about financial difficulties," Secretary Shinseki said. "Education creates life-expanding opportunities for our Veterans."

Starting Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, students can go to one of VA's 57 regional benefit offices with a photo ID, a course schedule and an eligibility certificate to request advance payment of their housing and book allowance. Because not all these offices are located near students, VA expects to send representatives to schools with large Veteran-student bodies and work with Veteran Service Organizations to help students with transportation needs.

A list of those VA regional offices is available at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/offices.asp.

We're unused to this kind of government, which manages emergencies effectively and cleans up mistakes with efficiency and speed. This stuff only makes headlines when there's a screw-up, and not when government does its job. But we shouldn't take it for granted, as we saw in the Bush era.

GoOPer: We're Not Going To Cry "Emergency" Every Time There's An Emergency!

Marsha Blackburn (Oblivious-TN) probably could have chosen a better example:

BLACKBURN: Let’s agree that we’re going to have PAYGO enforcement. That we’re not going to cry ‘emergency’ every time we have a Katrina, every time we have a Tsunami, every time we have a need for extra spending, that we don’t go call for a special appropriation that allows us to circumvent the PAYGO rules.

Well, I'm sure Blackburn will hold herself to that. I'm sure that any time a disaster threatens her state of Tennessee, she won't cry emergency and bother to get federal funding to help people in need. I'm sure that-

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding on April 10, 2009.

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding in Benton, McMinn, Rutherford, and Sequatchie Counties.

Well, OK, fine, but that's the President, I'm sure Marsha Blackburn HERSELF never requested emergency funding for her state of Tennessee--

Members of Tennessee Delegation Urge Disaster Declaration for Five Counties Affected by Flooding

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Representatives Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn. 4), Bart Gordon (D-Tenn. 6), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn. 7) have joined Governor Phil Bredesen in requesting that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issue a federal disaster declaration for five counties in Tennessee "to help farmers who have suffered crop losses and damage to farm equipment and structures as a result of excessive rain and extensive flooding that occurred in May." The five counties are Bedford, Hickman, Lewis, Moore and Perry.

According to their letter to Secretary Vilsack, a declaration would allow qualifying farmers "to apply for a variety of federal farm disaster programs - including supplemental farm revenue payments, livestock assistance and low-interest emergency loans - through their local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency office."

OK, one time, fine, but there's no history of this---

Title: Letter to The Honorable Mike Johanns, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Date: 07/12/2007

Alexander, Corker Join Tenn. Delegation In Requesting Disaster Declaration For Drought
from the Office of Senator Bob Corker

U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker joined other members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation Tuesday in asking U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to issue an agricultural disaster declaration for all 95 Tennessee counties due to the results of the ongoing drought.

Marsha Blackburn
Member of congress

What's your point? That Marsha Blackburn is a rank hypocrite whose statements don't match her actions?

Oh, that is your point?

Well, OK, I agree with you, then.

Red River Flooding And National Service

A spate of winter storms in the Fargo, ND/Moorhead, MN area have threatened homes and businesses as the Red River rises and increases the potential for a catastrophic flood. Thousands of volunteers reinforced dikes and levees, raising the floodwall level to roughly 43 feet, and many communities already submerged have been evacuated. On Friday the water level in the river rose to a level approaching 41 feet, with cresting expected in the next 48 hours. But this morning, freezing temperatures have slowed the rise of the river, as snow has not melted, and the National Weather Service cautiously announced that the river crested at a lower level than predicted. This is positive news suggesting that the levees will hold, but the situation remains dangerous, with more storms in the forecast for next week and the water level still at a record high.

In his weekly radio address, President Obama expressed his support for those affected by the flooding, citing his disaster declarations for North Dakota and Minnesota, the FEMA response and the US Army Corps of Engineers support in coordinating the building of makeshift levees. It's good to see this kind of coordination and attention in the midst of the emergency, not after it.

In addition, the President also connected the situation to the theme of national service that Steve discussed yesterday.

For at moments like these, we are reminded of the power of nature to disrupt lives and endanger communities. But we are also reminded of the power of individuals to make a difference.

In the Fargodome, thousands of people gathered not to watch a football game or a rodeo, but to fill sandbags. Volunteers filled 2.5 million of them in just five days, working against the clock, day and night, with tired arms and aching backs. Others braved freezing temperatures, gusting winds, and falling snow to build levees along the river's banks to help protect against waters that have exceeded record levels.

College students have traveled by the busload from nearby campuses to lend a hand during their spring breaks. Students from local high schools asked if they could take time to participate. Young people have turned social networks into community networks, coordinating with one another online to figure out how best to help.

In the face of an incredible challenge, the people of these communities have rallied in support of one another. And their service isn't just inspirational – it's integral to our response.

It's also a reminder of what we can achieve when Americans come together to serve their communities. All across the nation, there are men, women and young people who have answered that call, and millions of other who would like to. Whether it's helping to reduce the energy we use, cleaning up a neighborhood park, tutoring in a local school, or volunteering in countless other ways, individual citizens can make a big difference.

This is the tradition of national service that conservative commentators have likened to Hitler Youth. This is the call to sacrifice that Chuck Todd doesn't seem to understand because it doesn't involve cutting Social Security or Medicare benefits. Obama's support of national service represents a continuum throughout his campaign and his public life, that we have a responsibility to one another, that we can do our part for change as neighbors and fellow citizens. I would ask those naysayers on the right if they asked the residents of these communities in North Dakota and Minnesota their opinion.

Brought To You By The F%$#^n' Union

Marcy Wheeler has an amazing post up about that daring rescue of all those airline passengers in the Hudson River yesterday. Turns out that almost everyone involved in the rescue, top to bottom, was a union member. I'm going to borrow liberally from her post.

There's the pilot:

"What might have been a catastrophe in New York — one that evoked the feel if not the scale of the Sept. 11 attack — was averted by a pilot’s quick thinking and deft maneuvers,

[snip]

On board, the pilot, Chesley B. Sullenberger III, 57, unable to get back to La Guardia, had made a command decision to avoid densely populated areas and try for the Hudson,

[snip]

When all were out, the pilot walked up and down the aisle twice to make sure the plane was empty, officials said."

Sullenberger is a former national committee member and the former safety chairman for the Airline Pilots Association and now represented by US Airline Pilots Association. He--and his union--have fought to ensure pilots get the kind of safety training to pull off what he did yesterday.

Then there are the flight attendants:

"One passenger, Elizabeth McHugh, 64, of Charlotte, seated on the aisle near the rear, said flight attendants shouted more instructions: feet flat on the floor, heads down, cover your heads."

They are members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Yesterday's accident should remind all of us that flight attendants are first and foremost safety professionals--they should not be treated like cocktail waitresses.

There are the air traffic controllers:

"The pilot radioed air traffic controllers on Long Island that his plane had sustained a 'double bird strike.'"

They're represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Someday, they'll rename National Airport for the work these men and women do to keep us safe in the air.

There are the ferry crews:

"As the first ferry nudged up alongside, witnesses said, some passengers were able to leap onto the decks. Others were helped aboard by ferry crews."

They're represented by the Seafarers International Union. They provide safety training to their members so they're prepared for events like yesterday's accident.

There are the cops and firemen:

"Helicopters brought wet-suited police divers, who dropped into the water to help with the rescues."

They're represented by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the Uniformed Firefighters Association and Uniformed Fire Officers Association (IAFF locals).They're the men and women who performed so heroically on 9/11--and they've been fighting to make sure first responders get the equipment to do this kind of thing.

Nobody's saying that only union members call pull off rescues - but it sure helps when you have the membership, the ones who are on the ground, fighting for what's necessary to make them successful. Unions fight against right-wing budget cutters, who would reduce funding for emergency services, as an example. To those who demonize the labor movement, stop for a moment and say Thank You to one of these heroes today.

And then maybe you'll understand why all workers should have the free choice to join a union and have pride in their work.

Heckuva Job

It's hard to believe that FEMA could screw up the post-storm planning after Hurricane Ike the way they did with Hurricane Katrina, but somehow they managed it.

It didn't take long for the finger-pointing to begin. The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

And no sooner had the agency -- widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else's fault.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the "unexpected challenge" of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.

State officials said that was a local responsibility, which came as a surprise to Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

Lots of finger-pointing and blame-gaming, but there are credible reports that FEMA assured state and local officials that they would lead with the response. Interestingly, the only thing that has appeared to change is their media strategy - the governor of Texas is blocking reports from Galveston Island and the Gulf Coast to hit the teevee. This looks pretty bad.

Secret Laws

Russ Feingold is doing the Lord's work, trying to get to the bottom on a set of laws that have been passed by executive order that none of us mere citizens have awareness of or ideas about. He calls them secret laws, and apparently the President believes he can create or modify them without informing anyone.

It would appear that this is the direction which the Bush regime is trying to take America. John R. Elwood, the Office of Legal Counsel's deputy assistant attorney general, recently testified at a Senate hearing on "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government" and he revealed that the Bush regime believes "that the president could ignore or modify existing executive orders that he and other presidents have issued without disclosing the new interpretation."

In the past, even if you disagreed with the president's executive orders or the administration's interpretation of the laws, at least you'd know what they were — and perhaps challenge them in court, if you thought you had a case. Now, though, you can be potentially be arrested and tossed in jail without charges, without being allowed to contact your family, and for an indefinite period of time... all for violating an order or legal interpretation which you are completely unaware of. You'll be subjected to treatment which might cause you to lose your sanity, but you'll never be told why.

If you were allowed to consult a lawyer (which you wouldn't be), and if you were permitted to challenge your detention in court (not a chance), then not only would the evidence against you be so secret that your non-existent lawyer wouldn't be allowed to see it, but even the charges against you would be too secret for your non-existent lawyer to look at. To be fair, I guess there's no real point in allowing people to know what laws or rules they have broken when there aren't going to be allowed to defend themselves in a court of law. Wouldn't that just serve to make them even more insane?

Usually us librul hippie types are told to take off the tinfoil hat and that we're worried about nonsense. Whatever "secret laws" exist are there for our protection, after all, and we'll be damned happy they're in place when the time comes. Digby takes a look at this article in Radar Magazine which described what may happen when the time comes, particularly in the event of another terrorist attack.

Addressing the nation from the Oval Office in 2005 after the first disclosures of the NSA's warrantless electronic surveillance became public, Bush insisted that the spying program in question was reviewed "every 45 days" as part of planning to assess threats to "the continuity of our government."

Few Americans—professional journalists included—know anything about so-called Continuity of Government (COG) programs, so it's no surprise that the president's passing reference received almost no attention. COG resides in a nebulous legal realm, encompassing national emergency plans that would trigger the takeover of the country by extra-constitutional forces—and effectively suspend the republic. In short, it's a road map for martial law.

While Comey, who left the Department of Justice in 2005, has steadfastly refused to comment further on the matter, a number of former government employees and intelligence sources with independent knowledge of domestic surveillance operations claim the program that caused the flap between Comey and the White House was related to a database of Americans who might be considered potential threats in the event of a national emergency. Sources familiar with the program say that the government's data gathering has been overzealous and probably conducted in violation of federal law and the protection from unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.

According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, "There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived 'enemies of the state' almost instantaneously." He and other sources tell Radar that the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

It could be paranoid folly to worry about this, or not. We have no idea, and we're being kept intentionally in the dark. Secret laws like this have no business in a democracy, the legitimacy for which is derived from the consent of the governed. It's pretty clear that the technical apparatus is in place to spy on and detain those who government officials believe constitute an emerging threat to the United States. Whether or not it will be used is an open question, but it may be legal to do so without any of us citizens knowing it.

That is a scary place to be, and a Democratic Administration simply has to eradicate this with the fullest amount of sunshine. Obama can be a reformer just by governing outside the shadows. I'd like a massive bonfire of all that data being collected, perhaps out on the White House lawn.

A Disaster A Day

It certainly feels like it:

One of the worst earthquakes to hit China in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people Monday, trapped about 900 students under the rubble of their school and caused a toxic chemical leak, state media reported.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns in central China. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan province and more than 200 others were killed in three other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing.

Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Sichuan province's Beichuan county after the quake, raising fears that the overall death toll could increase sharply.

We're starting to see the impact of natural disasters on areas which have no infrastructure to manage natural disasters. The cyclone in Burma is causing a public health catastrophe. But Burma public health system was already in crisis, being one of the worst countries on Earth for water-borne diseases. Simliarly, China is experiencing a mass loss of life in this earthquake because massive development and substandard oversight has resulted in a bunch of buildings that weren't retrofitted for earthquakes in any way. There simply isn't enough money in the world for every nation on the planet to be fully prepared for a spate of disasters. And while this earthquake has little to do with global warming, the increased storm activity we've seen all over the world (including here at home) does have a link to an increasingly erratic climate, and so we're likely to see more mass-casualty events because the storms are hitting in unusual places or places where there's no way to cope with them.

Rudy To Face 9/11 Emergency Radio Investigation

The New York City Council has responded to legitimate questions over emergency radios used on 9/11 that resulted in the unnecessary deaths of dozens of firefighters, and has vowed an investigation.



Eric Gioia is basically the Henry Waxman of New York City, the chair of the Oversight and Investigations Committee. Here's what he needs to investigate:

Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city award a contract to Motorola without a competitive bidding process?

Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
Why were these new radios never field tested?

These are serious questions about preparedness and emergency management that must be a part of a fuller picture of anyone who believes he should be President of the United States. Bottom line.

Media Taking A Break From Campaign Season To Actually Go To A Racetrack and Cover Horse Races

This is truly an indictment of what passes for political reporting in this country. Rudy Giuliani has made a habit of wild exaggerations, from claiming that he spent as much time at Ground Zero than any rescue worker, to saying that he's "studied Islamic terrorism for 30 years," to claiming that Hillary Clinton said "Capitalism is the most destructive force in modern America" when she actually quoted someone else calling capitalism a "disruptive" force. There are more exaggerations here, yet Giuliani continues to espouse the same bombast (others would call it "lies") because he is able to get away with them. But look how Washington Post reporter Lois Romano reacts to this persistent issue when confronted with the evidence at an online chat last week:

New York: Hi, Lois. In the GOP debate earlier this week, Rudy Giuliani said: "The leading Democratic candidate once said that the unfettered free market is the most destructive force in modern America. I mean, just get an idea of where that philosophy comes from." Rudy uses this line on Hillary frequently. But as has been conclusively proven, it's an almost comically dishonest distortion of what Hillary actually said in a 1996 interview with Brian Lamb. In that interview, Hillary quoted another author saying that the unfettered free market had been radically disruptive, not destructive, and actually went on to praise free markets.

My question, though, is this. If Al Gore can be painted as a serial liar and exaggerator by the media for things he didn't actually say, why has Giuliani so far gotten a pass on the lies he's actually spouting publicly?

Lois Romano: He hasn't been really challenged on every word yet. That will come. Right now, there are so many people in the race trying to get footing, and the media is trying to illuminate facts about all of them. As the field starts to winnow, you will see more and more scrutiny of what candidates say and do, and what they have done or said in the past....

"We'll get around to it," is the answer (it certainly wasn't the answer with Al Gore, who they pounced on mercilessly from day one). You know, for the betterment of Republican voters, even, I think it's time to get around to it.

We, The Undersigned, demand an investigation into the Giuliani administration's failure between 1994 and 2001 to equip firefighters with the radio equipment they needed to perform their duties on 9/11 with the highest likelihood of their own survival. We ask for an investigation to find answers to the following, unresolved questions:

Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?

Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
Why were these new radios never tested?

The families of the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11 deserve answers to these questions. We call on a full, public investigation to uncover the facts behind the Giuliani administration’s pre-9/11 emergency preparation.

Rudy's unpreparedness for the events of 9/11 led to the needless deaths of firefighters who never heard the evacuation call. That's relevant information that we shouldn't have to wait for until the field is "winnowed."

You can sit there and watch passively as the campaign runs its course, which would be fine if you were merely an observer of the political scene. But a JOURNALIST is charged with distilling information and providing the fullest possible context, in the interest of allowing for a more well-informed citizenry. This shirking of responsibility doesn't cut it, and it bodes ill for the general election as well.

UPDATE: The Real Rudy has a petition for you to sign.

The Turning Point For Rudy

I think this latest comment from Rudy Giuliani, where he showed his true narcissistic colors and equated his photo-ops at Ground Zero to being a rescue worker, is really going to hurt him. This would have been a bad weekend anyway, with Mitt Romney sucking up all the good press from the Straw Poll he bought. But now, Rudy's 9/11 bona fides are getting some scrutiny. And while this devastating article in the Village Voice won't get national press attention, enough people have seen it to give them a blueprint of Rudy's vulnerabilities on his self-created mythology.

The story, by Giuliani biographer Wayne Barrett, details five big lies that Giuliani has been spreading on the campaign trail about his response to September 11. As John Kerry leaned on his Vietnam experience to provide a campaign narrative in 2004, so too is Giuliani leaning on his 9/11 story; it's told on practically every stop on the stump. There is no real policy apparatus to the Giuliani campaign, so his entire argument for being President seems to be "I protected you on 9/11, Democrats are bad, vote for me." But this theme is littered with inconsistencies and outright lies. Here's just one example.

1. 'I think the thing that distinguishes me on terrorism is, I have more experience dealing with it.' This pillar of the Giuliani campaign—asserted by pundits as often as it is by the man himself—is based on the idea that Rudy uniquely understands the terror threat because of his background as a prosecutor and as New York's mayor. In a July appearance at a Maryland synagogue, Giuliani sketched out his counterterrorism biography, a resume that happens to be rooted in falsehood.

"As United States Attorney, I investigated the Leon Klinghoffer murder by Yasir Arafat," he told the Jewish audience, referring to the infamous 1985 slaying of a wheelchair-bound, 69-year-old New York businessman aboard the Achille Lauro, an Italian ship hijacked off the coast of Egypt by Palestinian extremists. "It's honestly the reason why I knew so much about Arafat," says Giuliani. "I knew, in detail, the Americans he murdered. I went over their cases."

On the contrary, Victoria Toensing, the deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department in Washington who filed a criminal complaint in the Lauro investigation, says that no one in Giuliani's office "was involved at all." Jay Fischer, the Klinghoffer family attorney who spearheaded a 12-year lawsuit against the PLO, says he "never had any contact" with Giuliani or his office.

That's just a small example. Giuliani blew the only terrorism case he ever prosecuted (most of the charges were thrown out); he never really discussed terrorism in the 8 years leading up to 9/11; he waited 6 years to even create an Office of Emergency Management; he put the HQ in the World Trade Center complex instead of a secure site in Brooklyn, even though the WTC was hit in 1993 (mainly so he could walk to it easily); he didn't change the non-functional radio systems that caused hundreds of firefighters to never hear the evacuation order, or make them inter-operable with the police radios; he assured rescue workers that the air was safe at Ground Zero for cleanup; he hid the results of his own Administration's field studies showing dangerous levels of toxicity; and then there's this:

The mayor was so personally focused on the siting and construction of the bunker that the city administrator who oversaw it testified in a subsequent lawsuit that "very senior officials," specifically including Giuliani, "were involved," which he said was a major difference between this and other projects. Giuliani's office had a humidor for cigars and mementos from City Hall, including a fire horn, police hats and fire hats, as well as monogrammed towels in his bathroom. His suite was bulletproofed and he visited it often, even on weekends, bringing his girlfriend Judi Nathan there long before the relationship surfaced. He had his own elevator.

The emergency management center was a freakin' love nest!

The harm here is that this is the ultimate oppo research document, a story from which a thousand TV ads can be culled. And they have the added benefit of being true. Rudy has scrupulously created a hagiographic reading of his role on 9/11 through the years that simply doesn't match the facts. And this slip-up this week is the crack that was needed to call his entire story into question.

Giuliani Advisor Speaks Out

I'm openly hoping that the little authoritarians on the right buy Rudy Giuliani's tough guy shtick and pick him to lead the party because he'll "kick some terrorist ass." Because if this guy ever gets to a general election, the chorus of opposition from those who knew and worked with him will make the Swift Boat campaign look like a tea party.

Today in the New York Times, Jerome Hauer, a former member of Rudy's "inner circle" and the former emergency management director for New York City, slams Giuliani for his various distortions and poor judgment in protecting the city. Talk about attacking the opponent's strength, I think we have too much information to fit in one book here.

In recent days, Mr. Hauer has challenged Mr. Giuliani’s recollection that he had little role as mayor in placing the city’s emergency command center at the ill-fated World Trade Center.

Mr. Hauer has also disputed the claim by the Giuliani campaign that the mayor’s wife, Judith Giuliani, had coordinated a help center for families after the attack.

And he has contradicted Mr. Giuliani’s assertions that the city’s emergency response was well coordinated that day, a point he made most notably to the authors of “Grand Illusion,” a book that depicts Mr. Giuliani’s antiterrorism efforts as deeply flawed.

"Grand Illusion" is a good name for it. Apparently the fallout between Giuliani and Hauer came when Hauer endorsed Mark Green for Mayor over Michael Bloomberg. Rudy went nuts, saying "If you do this, you’re done ... I’m going to end your career." The similarity in terms of valuing loyalty between Giuliani and Bush is apparent (Bush said something very similar to Al Hunt when Hunt touted Jack Kemp over his father for President in 1988).

Hauer describes how Giuliani drove the debate over where to house the emergency management control center shortly after he signed on as emergency management director in 1996.

One of Mr. Hauer’s first tasks was to find a home for an emergency command center to replace the inadequate facilities at police headquarters. Mr. Hauer suggested an office complex in downtown Brooklyn as a “good alternative” in a memorandum.

But Mr. Hauer said the mayor insisted instead on a site within walking distance of City Hall. Given that concern and others, Mr. Hauer said he decided that offices on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center, next to the twin towers and just a few blocks from City Hall, seemed the best choice.

The site was immediately controversial because it was part of the trade center, which had already been the location of a truck bomb attack in 1993. City officials, though, including Mr. Hauer, have long defended their decision, even after the command center had to be evacuated during the 2001 terror attack.

Last week, in an interview with Fox News, Mr. Giuliani again faced questions about the site. He put responsibility for selecting it on Mr. Hauer.

“Jerry Hauer recommended that as the prime site and the site that would make the most sense,” Mr. Giuliani said. “It was largely on his recommendation that that site was selected.”

Mr. Hauer took immediate exception to that account in interviews. “That’s Rudy’s own reality that he lives in,” he said. “It is not, in fact, the truth.”

Again, how typical, and how redolent of what we've lived with over the last six years. Blame somebody else for your own mistakes, attack your critics, find scapegoats. Incidentally, why in Jebus' name should the walking distance from City Hall play a role in where to house an emergency command center, especially when that forces the final site to be in a complex that has been targeted by terrorists in the past?

Giuliani has also lied about the role of his wife, who is caught up in his own hagiography:

Mr. Hauer left his city job in 2000. A year later, Mr. Giuliani called him back into service after the terror attacks. He was assigned to help prepare for possible biological or chemical attacks and to help set up an assistance center for victims’ families.

Mr. Giuliani’s wife, Judith, who was then his companion, also had a role in setting up the center. But last week Mr. Hauer told New York magazine that the campaign’s depiction of her role was “simply a lie.”

The campaign’s Web site said that Mrs. Giuliani had “coordinated the efforts at the Family Assistance Center on Pier 94.”

Indeed, others were at least equally involved in that effort. Rosemary O’Keefe, who was then director of the Community Assistance Unit, said Mrs. Giuliani had helped during the first two days at the pier.

The campaign has since taken down the language on the Web because they know it's wrong.

The image of Rudy Giuliani is gradually becoming tarnished by these continued revelations. The media is finally taking off the halo and taking a more sober and realistic look at the former Mayor's decisions, and their consequences:

As more and more workers who inhaled the dust at ground zero fall ill, it has become increasingly clear that much of the problem can be traced to the Giuliani administration’s failure to insist that all emergency personnel and construction workers at the site wear respirators.

The then-mayor and his agency heads put their emphasis on a speedy cleanup and return to normalcy. In that, they were remarkably successful, clearing the site in less than 10 months. Unfortunately, the price is now being paid by thousands of workers who have developed lung and other ailments.

Again, I can't help but note the similarities to the current Administration. Appearance is always favored to reality. It was more important that everybody "return to normal" and that the area is swept clean and made to look nice instead of ensuring worker safety. It's the President and his emergency generators in Jackson Square all over again.

I hope the Ron Paul exchange carries Rudy all the way to the nomination. The fact that he's considering skipping Iowa doesn't make me hopeful. But I'd love the opportunity to beat Giuliani in 2008. The evidence is overwhelming.