I saw Michael Clayton last night. The issue of accountability, or the lack thereof, threads its way throughout the movie. Simply put, no one is willing to take responsibility for anything. And, depressingly true to life, there seems to be an inverse correlation between taking responsibility and the rich and powerful, as those with more power run away from it the fastest. There’s the Westchester big wig who calls in Clooney, the fixer, to clean up the mess he left behind at a hit and run. And Don Jeffries – the CEO of UNorth, the agrobusiness giant – who signs and then suppresses a report laying out the health hazards of their product. And don’t forget UNorth’s top lawyer who sweeps the problems under the rug by outsourcing wiretapping, surveillance, and eventually murder. Even the title figure Clooney portrays does not eagerly don his superhero cape. He is dragged in after his friend and colleague is murdered, and he himself barely survives a car bombing. While Clooney’s character sticks up for the little guys in the end, it’s only once he begins to question what has become of his life that his values start to shift and realign. These days, we are so desperate that we’ll take any hero we can get, even one who only inadvertently does the right thing. Machiavelli is the new American idol, everyone has a price, and whistleblowers are an endangered species. Look around. This is the poisonous atmosphere that the current administration has perfected.
The subtitle at the Michael Clayton website is “The truth can be adjusted.” This sentiment rings true with New York’s fire fighters, who feel that is exactly what Rudy Giuliani has done with 9/11. They are sickened by the spin machine that has skillfully transformed him into a larger-than-life, national hero. Like the blind men and the elephant, they see something and someone very different. They find Rudy to be murderously incompetent, and a headline-grabbing liar besides. With campaigning already underway, the timing of this short film couldn’t be better. Rudy wants to be your president. He’s the one who’s constantly touting his role on September 11 as proof of his fitness for the job. Let’s not take his word for it; let’s evaluate his case for ourselves.
The back-story
Motorola has apparently had a long-time exclusive with the City of New York. Warren Stogner, who manages all the government contracts in the NYC area, says that he has never seen such a tight (some would say unhealthy) relationship between vendor and client – “Overly close… far too close. It’s not a good thing.” Motorola supplied the radios that failed abysmally in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They also provided the replacement radios that were not bought until Spring 2001, and which were recalled only one week later. To add insult to injury, the city had failed to do any field-testing on the next round of radios. These are not actions likely to inspire confidence in local government.
Mayoral inaction
When Rudy became mayor in early 1994, a damning report had already been issued - the U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series - about the malfunctioning radios that were in use at the time of the 1993 WTC bombing. Giuliani had ample time to fix that problem. On his watch, there were seven years of inaction. After the very overdue purchase and immediate recall of new Motorola units in Spring 2001, the firefighters were forced to go back to using the exact same radios that had failed miserably at the same site eight years before. The problems were major and well documented. The radios had already been deemed inadequate for buildings of that size, as the signal was simply not strong enough. Even worse, the radios lacked “interoperability,” meaning that police and firefighters could not communicate with one another. This literally became an issue of life or death on 9/11. 10-15 minutes before the collapse of either of the WTC buildings, police helicopters saw them listing and issued a vacate order, correctly predicting at least a partial collapse of both structures. This order was picked up by police radios, and as a result, not a single member of the NYPD died in the North Tower. The same could not be said for the 121 firefighters who perished there, the message fatally unheard.
Giuliani worsened matters by making an incendiary statement at the 9/11 hearings. He claimed that the firefighters selflessly ignored orders to vacate and remained by choice in the Towers. His fallacious version of events outraged the dead firefighters’ families. Eileen Tallon, mother of fallen firefighter Sean, her only son, is livid over Giuliani’s distortions of the truth. She accuses Giuliani of implying “that our sons practically wanted to die.” Andy Ansbro, a firefighter who is a former police officer, asserts, “I didn’t take the job in order to commit suicide.”
Firefighters didn’t evacuate because they never received the order to do so. It is legitimate to say that the malfunctioning radios kept them from getting critical information that could have saved their lives. Spin can’t undo that fact, however inconvenient it may be. These families are still hurting, and they’re looking for accountability. Their sacrifice entitles them to the truth.
Where’s the press?
For the most part, this brouhaha has been met with media yawns. Surprised? I guess it’s not as sexy as the antics of Paris Hilton or Britney’s custody woes. At the rate we’re going, journalists will soon be as respected as used car salesmen, and the judgment will, sadly, be a fair one (no offense to used car salesmen). Honest journalism is becoming an oxymoron. As one who has been noting the silence of the non-web media on election fraud issues for the last several years, this is old news. Nevertheless, as far as I’m concerned, it’s still unacceptable.
Precisely because Giuliani hitched his star to 9/11, his actions deserve to be scrutinized. After all, if it were up to him and his supporters, he will be the next president. But, even if he had not wrapped himself in the flag, his past actions are likely good indications of his future performance. It behooves every American to look closely at each candidate. In this case, investigating the claims made by the firefighters’ families is not too much to ask. These heroes died while attempting to save their fellow New Yorkers. If their lives were cut short partially because of bad decisions made in the years leading up to September 11, we need to know that too. We can’t put the past to rest until we’ve got the whole story.
This documentary from Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films is less than seven minutes long. Within that small package, the case against Rudy is efficiently and effectively laid out using interviews with firefighters’ families, an associate professor of Fire Science with more than ten years working in fire and building code enforcement procedures, an investigative journalist, and an expert in “emergency management and health and medical response.” Remarkably free of hysteria considering that the grieving families are among those interviewed, the film poses questions that need answers.
• 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?
Wayne Barrett, investigative journalist, senior editor for Village Voice, and author of two books on Giuliani sums it up nicely. “Not only did they take forever to deal with the radio problem. They made all the wrong decisions up the line in picking the radio that would be used.” Those decisions had devastating consequences for dozens of firefighters and their families.
What you can do
Watch this video: http://therealrudy.org/radios The Brave New Films website supplies further documentation of the claims made in the film. Weigh the evidence and decide for yourself.
Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which exists for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. We aim to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Electronic (computerized) voting systems are simply antithetical to democratic principles.
CER set up a lending library to achieve the widespread distribution of the DVD Invisible Ballots: A temptation for electronic vote fraud. Within eighteen months, the project had distributed over 3200 copies across the country and beyond. CER now concentrates on group showings, OpEd pieces, articles, reviews, interviews, discussion sessions, networking, conferences, anything that promotes awareness of this critical problem. Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005.
This is a very insightful review, Joan. Thank you very much. I'll send this around for others to see. Really appreciate your attention to our video and the issues it addresses.
Leighton Woodhouse, Brave New Foundation
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 9:05:14 PM
I'm glad to see you writing on this. I've posted about Giuliani twice, http://gailjonas.blogspot.com/2007/09/giuliani-worse-president-than-bush.html, which included this paragraph, “Most of 9-11 was actually a debacle for the city government," Baker told me in an interview, and "Giuliani bears a great deal of the responsibility." The World Trade Center had been attacked in 1993, but Giuliani had "learned none of the lessons that could have been learned. There was no serious attempt to coordinate the radios between the police and fire departments, or even to insure that the fire department had its own communications that would work inside buildings. The consequences? Probably hundreds of unnecessary deaths that day.'' [emphasis mine]. Second post, http://gailjonas.blogspot.com/2007/10/neocons-flock-to-giulianis-foreign.html re his foreign policy team. More on Giuliania vis a vis Iran in today's Washington Post article by Richard Cohen,
Great piece, Joan! Can't WAIT to see Michael Clayton! (Last night I made the sad mistake of taking in Julie Taymor's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE instead, and as a die-hard Beatles fan all I can say is --"oooOOoops". That's my one word review. And I LOVE Julie Taymor, what a let-down!)
Wanted to say thanks, also, for writing about the MOTOROLA/ RUDY connection, as it is one that is very close to my heart. I served as a liason for the State Senate for the PBA and the UFA in the months just after the attacks, and this radio story was all we could talk about at the time. Great to see it FINALLY gettting some play... thanks to you and Mr. Greenwald. Keep up the great work! Mad respect,
JD
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 10:07:23 PM
you are quite correct. the document is from the US Fire Administration/Technical Report Series. The stamp at the bottom says homeland security, not the department of homeland security. thanks for spotting my error. my brain made an unwarranted jump.
the reference has been amended. again, thank you.
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 10:41:05 PM
Your transition from the Clayton film to the 9-11 one is muddy. I couldn't tell that the firefighters were NOT in the Clayton film. Then I was distracted trying to figure out where the first film stopped and the second one started.
So, while accountability links the two, there needs to be a more clear demarcation between the two films.
Or, something at the outset that says you'll be commenting on two films.
Ok? My two cents, anyway.
PA
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Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 10:45:04 PM
This criminal removed and wiped out and destroyed and made disappear all forensic evidence from 9/11 scene that could have helped an honest investigation into what really happenend. Where in the world they destroy evidence before a police investigation? He is part of the crime team. He is one of the masterminds of the massmurder. His fearmongering today as slogan for his election is another proof of his culpability. He is the worst bloodsucker in human history. Worst than Cheney even.
by
ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 412 comments)
on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 4:16:07 AM
Your so very well written and so reasonably passionate article(s) is an inspiration for anyone refusing to despair of the possibility of making important change. Thanks for this gift of tireless hope.
LL
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 6:14:24 AM
I thought I would share this since we are discussing Rudy
On the PA Libertarian mailing list, there has been a debate... A couple of people like Rudy using the old argument "he is the lesser of two evils" To which, after I was violently sick, had to respond...
____________________________________
"I am the Anti-Hillary!" he says...
I would sooner vote for Mickey Mouse than Rudy! Closer to ours? Really? Closer does not mean ours, reality is that he will do whatever it takes to be a "yes" president for corporate America, as will Hillary...
Evidence...
Guliani backed Mario Cuomo in 1994 in his bid for NY Governorship against Pitaki I dare say Cuomo is NOT Libertarian...
Guliani fired William Bratton despite the fact that Bratton was achieving results and hired Bernard Kerik who pled guilt to ethics violations.....
Giuliani started arresting peoplel, such as those who wandered about drunk on the street or jumped the subway turnstiles or begged aggressively.
HOWEVER, Giuliani ordered city employees NOT to contact the INS whenever they discovered illegal immigrants.
Guliani took credit for cutting taxes 23 times, but 9 of those times were not initiated by him, and one, he fought against until it was clear he was on the losing side of that issue (Mayor Giuliani sued the republican governor to keep in place the commuter tax. )
In 1995, an army equipped with assault rifles and a tank invaded East 13th Street to evict squatters from three buildings there, even though they had a lawsuit to keep the buildings pending. (One of his contributors was the contractor now renovating those buildings for the city.)
Of course who could forget this Rudy Quote:
'Freedom Is About Authority'Sort of reminds me of George Orwell, don't you think??? "Freedom is slavery" This stuff is not hard to find, Rudy is a POLITICIAN, NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE to a Libertarian.
..
You say he is better than Hillary, I say NO, he really isn't....
____________________________________
Ciao, CZ
by
steve scheetz (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 509 comments)
on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 8:50:11 AM
Hopefully this will clear up for any doubters that this is a legitimate document. The reason it says "Dept of Homeland Security" on it is that it was re-published by that agency post-9/11. It was originally drafted, however, in 1993.
Here is the explanation from the document's foreword:
"Under unusual circumstances the Fire Administration is sometimes not able to conduct an investigation after a major fire. Such was the case with the tragic, massive emergency of the World Trade Center explosion and subsequent fire and evacuation in New York City in February of 1993 because of the criminal investigation following the incident and involvement of other Federal as well as State and local agencies in that investigation.
"Fortunately Fire Engineering magazine subsequently published an entire issue containing over 24 articles describing all the major aspects of the incident, fire and EMS operations, building construction features, lessons learned in each area, and actions that have been taken to improve the facility since the incident. The Fire Administration requested permission from Fire Engineering's Editor William A. Manning to publish the entire issue, which is how this report came about. Only a few of the photographs from the original issue of Fire Engineering were used here; their selection was based on suitability for the xerox-type reproduction used for FEMA/USFA publications."
Leighton Woodhouse, Brave New Foundation
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 8:32:19 PM
<<As one who has been noting the silence of the non-web media on election fraud issues for the last several years, this is old news. Nevertheless, as far as I'm concerned, it's still unacceptable.
........... It behooves every American to look closely at each candidate. In this case, investigating the claims made by the firefighters' families is not too much to ask.>>
These two points of yours are a neat juxtaposition on the question of culpability for the current mess in America which we briefly discussed prior to entry to the anti-war rally in Northbrook. We both agree that politicians, the media, and the big corporations are much to blame. We seem to disagree on the responsibility of the American public. When you state " It behooves every American to look closely at each candidate", of course, you are right. But will it happen (web access or not - and nearly all Americans have web access, if only at local libraries)? In 2004, Bush voters misunderstood Bush's policies far more than Kerry supporter's misunderstood Kerry's positions - and Bush had been prez for 4 years. Political, geographic, historical, economic ignorance is rampant - just ask about Myanmar, Belarus (even where they are), then ask about the most basic economic facts e.g. size of trade and federal deficits, new jobs needed each month just to keep up with population growth (how else could dingbat Bush get away with saying there has been a 48 month job expansion when most of those months the economy grew less than the 150,000 new jobs per month needed just to keep up, or how Clinton had 23 million jobs in 8 years as opposed to Bushmendacity's 7 million in 6 years). As the Buddhists state "Stupidity is a sin" and we Americans, collectively, are culpable. Frank Rich, in his regularly brilliant NY Times Sunday article, castigating all aspects of this abysmal administration, finally expressed some frustration with the American people, after years of weekly castigations of Republicans, the media, and big business. In response, the NY Times published letters that could, I suppose, have come from you and me. These stated that "I have demonstrated, organized, spoke, campaigned, argued, debated against this admin, against the war....".etc. All true, but missing Frank's point that no matter how many individuals speak up and out against the daily filth and sewage spilling over this once-great country, most Americans are oblivious to being showered with moral sewage.
Sorry, Joni, for this dumping because I really respect and admire what you do, but quite frankly, were I 30 years younger and did not have kids firmly integrated into American society, I would consider returning to Europe. There they have built societies with a shorter work week, longer vacations, universal health care, better social welfare e.g. maternity and paternity leave. no capital punishment, control of guns, a small prison population, higher, privacy standards, have given up on imperialism, have more equal societies, believe in international cooperation not Texan gun-totin' diplomacy, accept evolution, accept global warming, and are building for the first time in human history a genuine voluntary transnational society.
No, Joni, we are a backward and ignorant society. Collectively, we deserve what we get, although, of course, as with all things in this god-intoxicated, god-forsaken, GINI index perverse society, the punishment of the poor vastly exceeds that of the rich.
MJ
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 7:10:21 AM
part of me agrees with you 100%, the rest of me agrees almost 50%. but what can I do? i'm just not ready to throw in the towel. that would be too debilitating.
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 7:11:49 AM
I'm sorry if you this became your focus unintentionally. I just try to watch things critically, because if I see something that to me it out of place, or doesn't make sense, then I doubt the rest of the information too. Thanks for sending the explanation.
Rudy is scary, and I'm hoping that this, and other information about his record will gradually come to light. Certainly you will be a big help in that regard.
Best regards,
NP
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at 7:19:23 AM
After Dubya of course and Cheney, Rudy is right at the head of the line who has milked the tragedy of 911 for their own personal profit in which case if I'm to honk if I want him for Pres., I'm going to pull the damn honk out of the damn car so that's impossible.
K
by
Joan Brunwasser (133 articles, 3335 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 589 comments)
on Friday, October 26, 2007 at 4:29:36 PM
Joan Brunwasser of OpEdNews.com helps uncover Giuliani
click here the video. Read Joan’s review. She ends with this P.S. “Since 2001, we have witnessed both Rudy and W co-opt the events of 9/11. For another link between the two, read Ari Berman’s "Rudy Giuliani's Dirty Campaign Money," which appeared in the October issue of The Nation.
