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Real 9/11 Heroes Speak Out Against Rudy
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=real_911_heroes_speak_out_against_rudy
New York City firefighters are out to set the record straight on Rudy Giuliani's 9/11 legacy.
Ari Paul | July 10, 2007 | web only
It's been nearly six years since the 9/11
attacks and six months since former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has
decided to grace the race for the Republican presidential nomination
with his presence. Now unions representing New York's Bravest are
popping a tough question.
What on Earth did this man do on 9/11 and in its aftermath that was so breathtakingly heroic?
More accurately, they are campaigning to expose how Giuliani
short-changed and endangered the city's 11,000 firefighters over the
course of two terms, and then went on to exploit their heroism during
and after the 9/11 attacks for his own political advantage.
Martin Steadman, a spokesperson for New York's Uniformed Fire
Officers Association (UFOA), explains that the New York City Fire
Department issued a report on communication devices after the 1993
World Trade Center bombing showed that the department's hand-held radio
devices were wholly inadequate.
The report, which landed on Mayor Giuliani's desk his first day in
office, explained that department radios didn't work between floors in
high-rises or in deep subway tunnels.
The city eventually bought several thousand new Motorolas in 1999, according to the New York Times.
Chaos soon ensued, says Steadman, after firefighters complained that
there were strong echoes and voice delays on the new radios. But as the
9/11 Commission report shows, when the FDNY responded to the 9/11
attacks, it was using the analog radios that "performed poorly" during
the 1993 bombings.
As a result, more than 200 firefighters in the north tower did not receive an evacuation call on their radios.
"We're saying he had eight years to solve that problem," says Steadman.
The International Association of Firefighters, with which the UFOA
is affiliated, is in the process of producing a video outlining its
critique of Giuliani, hoping to inform the nation's firefighters of
Giuliani's record when he steps up his presidential campaigning.
Steve Cassidy, the president of the city's Uniformed Firefighters
Association (UFA), which represents firefighters below the rank of
lieutenant, also vowed to the New York Post that his union would wage a vigorous counter-campaign against Giuliani in the '08 election.
Cassidy's problem revolves around the fact that firefighters working
at the World Trade Center did not receive respirators as they should
have according to state labor law, leaving them exposed to serious and
sometimes fatal pathogens. In late June, Cassidy called on the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties to question Giuliani on the issue.
Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd
Whitman testified before the subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold
Nadler (D-NY), June 25. Worker's rights advocates had demanded she be
held accountable for responders, like firefighters, who are suffering
from illness and injuries as a result of their worker. Rep. Nadler has
so far made no plans to ask Giuliani to testify.
"The 9/11 Commission gave Rudy Giuliani a pass, not asking him tough
questions about what he knew, when he knew it or why he failed to
provide respirators to firefighters and other first responders," reads
Cassidy's public statement.
So far Giuliani appears publicly unfazed by the firefighters'
charges. Steve Malanga, a senior scholar at the right-wing Manhattan
Institute and a critic of public sector unions, scoffs at the
firefighters' political agenda.
"It's ludicrous for them to believe that a disagreement over a
technical issue like respirators is going make an impact on Giuliani's
presidential run," Malanga says. "Voters just don't focus on those
types of micro issues. It's not going to make any political difference
for Giuliani."
But the firefighters believe they have real political muscle to
flex, and their crusade to counteract Giuliani's heroic image stems
from genuine grievances about his eight years of governance. There's a
good chance the public will pay attention. For many Americans, 9/11
proved that firefighters and other emergency responders risk their
lives every day on the job and as result sympathize with their losses.
After the attacks, political cartoonist Mike Luckovich published a
cartoon depicting firefighters and police officers radioing to their
officers that they had "reached the top," as they approached the gates
of Heaven.
In addition, New York firefighters are anything but leftists looking
to pick an ideological fight. The UFA endorsed George W. Bush in the
last election. There is a strong military tradition within the
department, and within the unions as well. At this year's department
medal ceremony at City Hall, when one winner's family received his
award because he was serving in Iraq with the Marines, the thousands of
firefighters and their families rose to applaud.
Vocal opposition from the true heroes of 9/11 would be a politically
heavy blow to a candidate who hopes to use his 9/11 legacy to win over
voters of all partisan stripes.
Of course, there are firefighters who feel Giuliani did all he could
to serve the department, that no one is perfect, and that no grudges
should be held. But John Finucane, the founder of Advocates for a 9/11
Fallen Heroes Memorial and a retired fire lieutenant, said many
firefighters hold a particular grudge against Giuliani for speeding up
the cleaning process at Ground Zero in such a way that was
disrespectful to the bodies of the dead responders. It is a debatable
point, but Giuliani's action nonetheless left a bad taste in
firefighters' mouths.
Moreover, Finucane claims that firefighters are aware that although
Giuliani often publicly said he appreciated their work and stood by
their fellow department members on the rubble that once made up the
twin towers, he had also denied firefighters raises they thought they
were entitled to and was excessively thrifty when making resources
available for the department.
"Words are very easy to say, but it's the tangible things that
count," Finucane says. "What has he done for the firemen? He's no
friend of the firemen."
Real 9/11 Heroes Speak Out Against Rudy
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=real_911_heroes_speak_out_against_rudy
New York City firefighters are out to set the record straight on Rudy Giuliani's 9/11 legacy.
Ari Paul | July 10, 2007 | web only
It's been nearly six years since the 9/11
attacks and six months since former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has
decided to grace the race for the Republican presidential nomination
with his presence. Now unions representing New York's Bravest are
popping a tough question.
What on Earth did this man do on 9/11 and in its aftermath that was so breathtakingly heroic?
More accurately, they are campaigning to expose how Giuliani
short-changed and endangered the city's 11,000 firefighters over the
course of two terms, and then went on to exploit their heroism during
and after the 9/11 attacks for his own political advantage.
Martin Steadman, a spokesperson for New York's Uniformed Fire
Officers Association (UFOA), explains that the New York City Fire
Department issued a report on communication devices after the 1993
World Trade Center bombing showed that the department's hand-held radio
devices were wholly inadequate.
The report, which landed on Mayor Giuliani's desk his first day in
office, explained that department radios didn't work between floors in
high-rises or in deep subway tunnels.
The city eventually bought several thousand new Motorolas in 1999, according to the New York Times.
Chaos soon ensued, says Steadman, after firefighters complained that
there were strong echoes and voice delays on the new radios. But as the
9/11 Commission report shows, when the FDNY responded to the 9/11
attacks, it was using the analog radios that "performed poorly" during
the 1993 bombings.
As a result, more than 200 firefighters in the north tower did not receive an evacuation call on their radios.
"We're saying he had eight years to solve that problem," says Steadman.
The International Association of Firefighters, with which the UFOA
is affiliated, is in the process of producing a video outlining its
critique of Giuliani, hoping to inform the nation's firefighters of
Giuliani's record when he steps up his presidential campaigning.
Steve Cassidy, the president of the city's Uniformed Firefighters
Association (UFA), which represents firefighters below the rank of
lieutenant, also vowed to the New York Post that his union would wage a vigorous counter-campaign against Giuliani in the '08 election.
Cassidy's problem revolves around the fact that firefighters working
at the World Trade Center did not receive respirators as they should
have according to state labor law, leaving them exposed to serious and
sometimes fatal pathogens. In late June, Cassidy called on the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties to question Giuliani on the issue.
Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd
Whitman testified before the subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold
Nadler (D-NY), June 25. Worker's rights advocates had demanded she be
held accountable for responders, like firefighters, who are suffering
from illness and injuries as a result of their worker. Rep. Nadler has
so far made no plans to ask Giuliani to testify.
"The 9/11 Commission gave Rudy Giuliani a pass, not asking him tough
questions about what he knew, when he knew it or why he failed to
provide respirators to firefighters and other first responders," reads
Cassidy's public statement.
So far Giuliani appears publicly unfazed by the firefighters'
charges. Steve Malanga, a senior scholar at the right-wing Manhattan
Institute and a critic of public sector unions, scoffs at the
firefighters' political agenda.
"It's ludicrous for them to believe that a disagreement over a
technical issue like respirators is going make an impact on Giuliani's
presidential run," Malanga says. "Voters just don't focus on those
types of micro issues. It's not going to make any political difference
for Giuliani."
But the firefighters believe they have real political muscle to
flex, and their crusade to counteract Giuliani's heroic image stems
from genuine grievances about his eight years of governance. There's a
good chance the public will pay attention. For many Americans, 9/11
proved that firefighters and other emergency responders risk their
lives every day on the job and as result sympathize with their losses.
After the attacks, political cartoonist Mike Luckovich published a
cartoon depicting firefighters and police officers radioing to their
officers that they had "reached the top," as they approached the gates
of Heaven.
In addition, New York firefighters are anything but leftists looking
to pick an ideological fight. The UFA endorsed George W. Bush in the
last election. There is a strong military tradition within the
department, and within the unions as well. At this year's department
medal ceremony at City Hall, when one winner's family received his
award because he was serving in Iraq with the Marines, the thousands of
firefighters and their families rose to applaud.
Vocal opposition from the true heroes of 9/11 would be a politically
heavy blow to a candidate who hopes to use his 9/11 legacy to win over
voters of all partisan stripes.
Of course, there are firefighters who feel Giuliani did all he could
to serve the department, that no one is perfect, and that no grudges
should be held. But John Finucane, the founder of Advocates for a 9/11
Fallen Heroes Memorial and a retired fire lieutenant, said many
firefighters hold a particular grudge against Giuliani for speeding up
the cleaning process at Ground Zero in such a way that was
disrespectful to the bodies of the dead responders. It is a debatable
point, but Giuliani's action nonetheless left a bad taste in
firefighters' mouths.
Moreover, Finucane claims that firefighters are aware that although
Giuliani often publicly said he appreciated their work and stood by
their fellow department members on the rubble that once made up the
twin towers, he had also denied firefighters raises they thought they
were entitled to and was excessively thrifty when making resources
available for the department.
"Words are very easy to say, but it's the tangible things that
count," Finucane says. "What has he done for the firemen? He's no
friend of the firemen."
