2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is basing his campaign around the idea that due to his being mayor of New York City during 9/11, he is a national security expert. However details about his business dealings are starting to contradict the notion that Giuliani knows, or cares that much about national security. On April 19, Democratic New York governor Elliot Spitzer once again called for the eventual closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant. Spitzer said that the power plant, which is only 24 miles from NYC, is “not in a smart location†and could be vulnerable to a terrorist attack.
Now you might think that a “security expert†like Giuliani would agree with assessment, but he doesn’t.
Despite the fact that Indian Point has had eight emergency shutdowns since 2005, and on April 15 flunked a Nuclear Regulatory Commission siren test, Giuliani has backed a 20 year extension of the plant owner’s license. Here is what Giuliani predicted for Indian Point at a news conference, “They are going to be found – as they have in the past – not only to meet the minimum standards, but the highest standards,” said Giuliani. His comments are even worse you consider that his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners LLC, was hired to evaluate the safety and security concerns at the plant.
Speaking about the security in the plant before it flunked the siren test, Giuliani said, “Our view is that Indian Point is as safe as a facility can be, and a pretty good model, if not an excellent model, for not only other nuclear power plants but other industries that in many ways are just as sensitive [to security threats].” Are we to assume that Giuliani knows nothing about national security, or is it that under the disguise of a security consultant, Rudy Giuliani is really nothing more than a lobbyist, who in this case was trying to muster up political and public support for his client? The truth is that Rudy Giuliani is a fraud. He has no expertise in the area of security. What he does have expertise in is in the areas of criminal prosecution and politics.
Calling Giuliani a security expert because of what happened on 9/11 is about as misleading as me claiming to be an expert on automobile safety because I wrecked my car. Since 9/11, Giuliani has turned his name into a lucrative cottage industry. When some one wants to build a pipeline, or keep a dangerous power plant open, they call Giuliani’s consulting company to help assure the public that their intentions are safe.
It doesn’t really matter if it is safe, the purpose here is to use Giuliani’s post-9/11 credibility to reassure politicians and decision makers that it is. Rudy Giuliani is nothing more than your typical garden variety ambitious politician whose gimmick is 9/11. What is even more alarming is that Rudy seems to have no concerns about selling himself out to whatever special interest is willing to pay him. We will have already been through a president who sold himself out to the oil industry, and anybody else willing to pay. Do we really want to vote for more of the same in 2008?
Jason Easley is the editor of the politics zone at 411mania.com. Â His news column The Political Universe appears on Tuesdays and Fridays at www.411mania.com/politics
Jason can also be heard every Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm (ET) as the host of The Political Universe Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse
Loading ...
3 users commented in " Rudy Giuliani, Indian Point, and national security "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackvery astute. It’s totally true: calling Rudy an expert on terrorism just because he happened to be there and do a good job of responding to a crisis (he was very fatherly), IS just like saying because I was in an accident I’m an expert who should talk about it. Yes, very astute . . .
But that doesn’t make me an expert on accident prevention. Just like his response to 9-11 doesn’t make Rudy an expert on terrorism prevention or extinction . . .
These dismissals of Giuliani appear simplistic and possibly based on political bias. Giuliani’s single most valuable asset may not be terrorism prevention, but he does have experience in Leadership and Management skills in this area. No one seriously singled him out as the sole anti-terrorism expert in NYC during his stint as mayor, but he did assemble a team of experts in this area and kept them focused on this objective while mayor. He had to deal with and face the possibility of known terrorist threats such as placing cyanide gas in the subways, or attempting to blow up bridges, and most certainly several unkown threats which were never made public. He had to face, and deal with problems such as those in order to protect the citizens of NYC. I believe he took that responsibility very seriously. I doubt if he’s ever claimed to have done that job all by himself, but he may have rightfully claimed that he was responsible to ensure that steps were taken, and procedures and policies were in place to protect the public. And he’s taken that experience, and several of his experienced team members into his private venture. He’s dealt with significant issues such as terrorist threats and protecting the public as paramount issues in the past, and appears to be continuing in that vein in the present. Dismissing his analysis of terror threats out of hand and without reviewing the report generated by his team of experts doesn’t appear to be astute to me.
Giuliani’s connections with Indian Point say reams about his ability to protect a large asset when called upon to do so. We may be called upon , nationally, to relinquish Guantanamo, or a host of other indefensible offshore assets ….. should we accede? A more dovish, compliant “Euro-Candidate” may give up too much, too easily. A candidate who at the very least, considers protecting American interests, can be a hero when called upon to do so. Doves may have only defeat and compliance to offer the world community, and we would all suffer.
Indian Point’s new sirens are unnecessary, are an addition to a perfectly functional existing siren system, and their handling says nothing about the core competencies of those who run Indian Point. Entergy handed the sirens off to a contractor, because they considered a political sham to be just that, a political sham. The chances of two, count ‘em, (2) siren systems being needed are less likely than the proverbial meteor strike— but not to those who seek “dirt” (real or unreal) to attach to Giuliani.
More to the point, Indian Point is on line, well defended, prospering mightily, and has , at this time two (2) functioning siren sysyems, to sound an alert that will never occur in our lifetimes.
No dirt here.
Sorry.
Leave A Reply