Harper's article on Guiliani

[Darth Wong]

Has anyone else read the Harper's article "A Fate Worse Than Bush", about Rudy Ghouliani? It paints a pretty horrendous picture; I haven't checked the FBI crime stats for myself yet to confirm this, but it claims that the FBI crime stats for New York started to decline rapidly before he took office, thanks to changes made by the previous mayor Dinkins. It goes on to claim that Guiliani did a lot of scaremongering during his campaign to discredit the previous mayor and exaggerate public perception of crime so that he could take credit for the decline once he took office (eerily familiar MO: build up bogeyman to discredit foes).

It also goes on to claim that despite the massive public relations bonus he got from 9/11, he bore part of the responsibility for the casualties on that day, by failing to heed safety inspectors' warnings and recommendations. And it also claims that it came at a very opportune moment for him because people were just starting to wise up to his bogeyman scare tactics, as he started looking for more and more mundane targets to attack, like strippers and even people who own ferrets (did he really do that?)

Does this sound accurate? I already despised him because of his relentless flogging of 9/11 as a rallying cry, but this makes the guy seem like Karl Rove's twin brother.

[MKSheppard]

It also goes on to claim that despite the massive public relations bonus he got from 9/11, he bore part of the responsibility for the casualties on that day, by failing to heed safety inspectors' warnings and recommendations.

Huh? How does that work? Care to elaborate some more?

[Darth Wong]

It also goes on to claim that despite the massive public relations bonus he got from 9/11, he bore part of the responsibility for the casualties on that day, by failing to heed safety inspectors' warnings and recommendations.

Huh? How does that work? Care to elaborate some more?

My high-speed typing skills are bit rusty, but I'll try transcribing some of it here:

Giuliani himself was fortunate to still be there. Against the advice of numerous security experts, he had insisted on situating a lavish, $61 million emergency "command bunker" on the 23rd floor of the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower. The tower contained no fewer than sixteen different emergency generators and sat over 109,000 gallons of oil in a Con Ed substation; the command bunker added another, unprotected, 6000-gallon fuel tank suspended above the mezzanine. When burning debris from the twin towers fell on 7 World Trade, it went up like "a blowtorch", in the words of investigative reporters Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins, who note in Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudi Giuliani and 9/11 that Giuliani's defenseless fuel tank acted as a giant fuse.

The Office of Emergency Management that Giuliani created failed utterly to coordinate rescue efforts between the city's Police and Fire Departments. Even worse, it also failed to ensure that the New York Fire Department had an effective system for communicating with itself - a deficiency that had been exposed by the original 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and one that led eight years later to hundreds of firefighters being cut off in the towers, without any way of receiving word that the buildings were about to collapse. Giuliani, on-site throughout the disaster, made no attempt to devise any other means to keep the firefighters informed. In 2004, as New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn made clear in their book 102 Minutes, Giuliani lied against the memory of these men, falsely testifying before a fawning 9/11 Commission that they had refused orders to evacuate.

[Stravo]

I've heard the claim before that Dinkins' anti-crime measures policies were only starting to take effect in the last part of his term and that Giuliani inherited a beefier police force thanks to Dinkins. Not sure how true that is but I can tell you the perception in NYC at the time was that Dinkins was probably the worst mayor in recent memory in terms of crime fighting and it was only after Guliani came into office that the poice implemented the "Broken Window" theory of community policing where you start with the small stuff ands work your way up. If a window is broken in a neighborhood it creates a perception of decay and vulnerability to crime. You respond to the small stuff like getting that window fixed, getting the squegee men off the street - anyone that grew up in NYC during the 70's and 80's remember that squegeemen were everywhere and no one seemed to be able to do anything about them. Since Guliani took office I have not seen a squegeeman in the streets ever. Subway graffiti? Nearly nonexistent and I was around during the height of the graffiti as art bullshit that created subway trains that were covered in spray painted crap.

Sounds trivial but it really makes an impact in terms of perception of neighborhoods and the city in general.

I will not dispute statistics that I have no idea whether wrong or right but I will add that Guliani's defeat of David Dinkins was stinging to the Democratic machine - Republican white guy defeats black democrat in NYC of all places - so there has always been a whispering campaign about GUliani and just how successful he really was at elminiating crime, etc almost from day one. Just how much you can honestly say one guy's policy changes can impact a follow up administration whose crime stats continued to plummet for 8 years afterwards is up in the air. Also of interest is that Gullianni was not very popular with the Police during his term. He kept pay low to make the larger police force cheaper and he was a harsh disciplinarian. His keeping pay low push is finally reaching ahead here in the city where starting pay for rookies is 32K and the surrounding police forces in the tri-state area start at least 10k more making police recruiting a big issue now.

All I can say as a NYer is that the perception here is certainly that Gulliani for all his faults as a borderline fascist did the job and did what no other mayor has even attempted to do in generations - clean up the city. And as we all know perception in this society is everything.

Would I vote for this guy? Hell no. But I will not dispute that we're reaping the benefits of what he accomplished with a cleaner safer city. When I think of Dinkins I remember Crown Heights riots, Washington Heights riots, the "Dirty 30 Police Precinct", the city paying for the burial of a drug dealer killed by cops and his slanted "Gorgeous Mosaic" vision of the city that drove people and businesses away. It's hard to envision that mayor having any hand in the miracle that followed.

[Molyneux]

strippers and even people who own ferrets (did he really do that?)

I remember he wanted to ban ferrets within NYC limits, yes. The strippers I'm not so sure about...

[Darth Wong]

Oh, I'm quite aware of the perception you speak of. That's the whole question: is it reality or is it one of those political narrative "common knowledge" memes? According to the article, the most obvious correlating factor was the pre-Giuliani passage of an extra income tax in order to pay for adding 6000 extra police officers to the force, and it's hard to argue with the logic that a big infusion of extra police officers would have a significant impact on crime, even one lasting after that mayor leaves office.

In short, how do we actually know that the "broken window" theory works, as opposed to the "hire thousands more cops" theory?

[Stravo]

strippers and even people who own ferrets (did he really do that?)

I remember he wanted to ban ferrets within NYC limits, yes. The strippers I'm not so sure about...

The ferret thing is true. That was near the end of his term IIRC when he started to go over board with his "attack the small stuff" strategy and his numbers began to plummet. Right before 9/11 he was a lame duck mayor and people here were dissatisfied with him to say the least. He was widely unpopular near the end of his term and if not for 9/11 he would have gone out with a whimper despite all he had accomplished.

The stripper thing not sure what that refers to but he actively campaigned for rezoning strip joints and porn shops into industrial areas and out of residential/commercial districts. He went to court several times over that issue and finally settled for a weird 60/40 split in porno shops where a shop cannot be considered pornographic if 60% of its floor space is dedicated to non-porn merchandise so you see all these video shops now with these out of print weird movies in front and in the back is the treasure trove of porn.

[Stravo]

Oh, I'm quite aware of the perception you speak of. That's the whole question: is it reality or is it one of those political narrative "common knowledge" memes? According to the article, the most obvious correlating factor was the pre-Giuliani passage of an extra income tax in order to pay for adding 6000 extra police officers to the force, and it's hard to argue with the logic that a big infusion of extra police officers would have a significant impact on crime, even one lasting after that mayor leaves office.

In short, how do we actually know that the "broken window" theory works, as opposed to the "hire thousands more cops" theory?

Well, the "Broken Window" theory worked for the people in the neighborhoods because you could actually see and feel the difference in your neighborhood when before there were vagrants, squegeeguys clogging the intersections, grafftitit, abandoned cars, etc. When that all vanished your neighboirhood felt safer, cleaner. Could you have done that with less cops? Don't know.

Gullianni certainly spun it to be all on his shoulders and thanks to his decision making and after the disastrous previous administration who would argue? After all you had the big bad fascist-lite white guy taking over for a black guy who let his folks riot all over Crown Heights and was burdened with a corrupt police force and he had almost immediate results. There were more cops on the beat, they weren't driving by in their cruisers, they were walking on our streets.

Don't underestimate the racial component here. Many of the businesses and prominent people in the city were not thrilled with the black mayor and his gorgeous mosaic view of the city. In comes the white guy willing to go into the "bad" neighborhoods and clean up the mess while one of the defining moments of Dinkins' mayorship was to ignore the advice of his Police force and not go in and clear out the rioters in Crown Heights and let it burn itself out. Who were the majority of rioters? Black. That cemented forever the perception that Dinkins was "soft" on crime because he seemed to show favoritism to blacks and minorities in NYC.

Gulliani's administration always had a whif of racism to it, a hint of barely concealed "hint hint, nudge nudge" quality to its crime fighting rhetoric. Is it a coincidence that when the cops that violated Abner Louima with a plunger said it was "Gulliani time"?

[MKSheppard]

Giuliani himself was fortunate to still be there. Against the advice of numerous security experts, he had insisted on situating a lavish, $61 million emergency "command bunker" on the 23rd floor of the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower.

What were the options for the uberbunker? The WTC may have been the cheapest site; and as a bonus, it was also easily co-locatble with the Port Authority Offices.

The tower contained no fewer than sixteen different emergency generators and sat over 109,000 gallons of oil in a Con Ed substation; the command bunker added another, unprotected, 6000-gallon fuel tank suspended above the mezzanine.

And? How do our intrepid authors expect the command bunker's generators to provide power? Unobtanium?

When burning debris from the twin towers fell on 7 World Trade, it went up like "a blowtorch", in the words of investigative reporters Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins, who note in Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudi Giuliani and 9/11 that Giuliani's defenseless fuel tank acted as a giant fuse.

And? Nobody expected that the World Trade Center to be hit by multiple airplanes in 2000 (which is when I imagine the plans for a emergency center were put down). A lot of this sounds like after the fact blame laying.

Even worse, it also failed to ensure that the New York Fire Department had an effective system for communicating with itself - a deficiency that had been exposed by the original 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and one that led eight years later to hundreds of firefighters being cut off in the towers, without any way of receiving word that the buildings were about to collapse.

And we all know that walkie-talkies will work perfectly without repeater stations in very large steel structures...

[SirNitram]

And? Nobody expected that the World Trade Center to be hit by multiple airplanes in 2000 (which is when I imagine the plans for a emergency center were put down). A lot of this sounds like after the fact blame laying.

No, but it was certainly known by then it was a favorite terrorist target. You are aware it had already been bombed once the previous decade, right? You're not totally stupid?

Only a total moron puts a command centre for emergencies in a position where, if an attack against the most popular target in the city is successful, it's roadkill. But you can pretend 'nobody expected it'. Maybe nobody in Bumfuck Maryland.

[Darth Wong]

What were the options for the uberbunker? The WTC may have been the cheapest site; and as a bonus, it was also easily co-locatble with the Port Authority Offices.

What makes you think I would know? I'm hardly an expert on New York City; I'm just quoting what the article said about the security experts.

And? Nobody expected that the World Trade Center to be hit by multiple airplanes in 2000 (which is when I imagine the plans for a emergency center were put down). A lot of this sounds like after the fact blame laying.

Uhhh, actually, everyone knew that the WTC complex was a potential terrorist attack target, because of the 1993 attack.

And we all know that walkie-talkies will work perfectly without repeater stations in very large steel structures...

How does that justify lying to the 9/11 commission and saying that the firefighters had been informed and were refusing orders to come back down? Doesn't something smell fishy about that?

[Darth Wong]

Well, the "Broken Window" theory worked for the people in the neighborhoods because you could actually see and feel the difference in your neighborhood when before there were vagrants, squegeeguys clogging the intersections, grafftitit, abandoned cars, etc. When that all vanished your neighboirhood felt safer, cleaner. Could you have done that with less cops? Don't know.

According to the article, the police cracked down on the squeegee guys before Giuliani took office, thanks to the infusion of extra manpower.

Gullianni certainly spun it to be all on his shoulders and thanks to his decision making and after the disastrous previous administration who would argue? After all you had the big bad fascist-lite white guy taking over for a black guy who let his folks riot all over Crown Heights and was burdened with a corrupt police force and he had almost immediate results. There were more cops on the beat, they weren't driving by in their cruisers, they were walking on our streets.

What the article argued was that Dinkins did indeed make some very bad decisions, but that he was unfairly maligned by Giuliani to be even worse than he actually was, and that Giuliani took credit for things he didn't actually do.

Don't underestimate the racial component here. Many of the businesses and prominent people in the city were not thrilled with the black mayor and his gorgeous mosaic view of the city. In comes the white guy willing to go into the "bad" neighborhoods and clean up the mess while one of the defining moments of Dinkins' mayorship was to ignore the advice of his Police force and not go in and clear out the rioters in Crown Heights and let it burn itself out. Who were the majority of rioters? Black. That cemented forever the perception that Dinkins was "soft" on crime because he seemed to show favoritism to blacks and minorities in NYC.

According to the article, Giuliani's election campaign was run on a slogan of "One City, One Standard": a very clever crypto-racist rallying cry if the racial resentment you describe was real.

Gulliani's administration always had a whif of racism to it, a hint of barely concealed "hint hint, nudge nudge" quality to its crime fighting rhetoric. Is it a coincidence that when the cops that violated Abner Louima with a plunger said it was "Gulliani time"?

The article does talk about that as well; the fact that Giuliani not-so-subtly played up the race angle.

[Flagg]

Giuliani himself was fortunate to still be there. Against the advice of numerous security experts, he had insisted on situating a lavish, $61 million emergency "command bunker" on the 23rd floor of the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower.

What were the options for the uberbunker? The WTC may have been the cheapest site; and as a bonus, it was also easily co-locatble with the Port Authority Offices.

Somewhere underground in Brooklyn that hadn't been the site of a major terrorist attack less than a decade prior.

The tower contained no fewer than sixteen different emergency generators and sat over 109,000 gallons of oil in a Con Ed substation; the command bunker added another, unprotected, 6000-gallon fuel tank suspended above the mezzanine.

And? How do our intrepid authors expect the command bunker's generators to provide power? Unobtanium?

Nice strawman. They have no problem with the fuel used, it's the whole unprotected fuel tank that caught fire when burning debris struck it thing they take issue with. You know, something that wouldn't have happened if the "bunker" itself hadn't been on the 23rd floor of a building directly adjacent to a prime fucking terrorist target that had already been hit less than a decade before.

When burning debris from the twin towers fell on 7 World Trade, it went up like "a blowtorch", in the words of investigative reporters Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins, who note in Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudi Giuliani and 9/11 that Giuliani's defenseless fuel tank acted as a giant fuse.

And? Nobody expected that the World Trade Center to be hit by multiple airplanes in 2000 (which is when I imagine the plans for a emergency center were put down). A lot of this sounds like after the fact blame laying.

Yes, how could anyone have guessed that terrorist would want to hit the WTC? I mean they had never hit it before!

Even worse, it also failed to ensure that the New York Fire Department had an effective system for communicating with itself - a deficiency that had been exposed by the original 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and one that led eight years later to hundreds of firefighters being cut off in the towers, without any way of receiving word that the buildings were about to collapse.

And we all know that walkie-talkies will work perfectly without repeater stations in very large steel structures...

Strawmanning again, I see. No one expects a perfect system, they just wanted a better one than the one that gave them the exact same problems less than a decade before at the exact same site.

[Coyote]

Shep, the problem is the World Trade Center itself. It is a symbol, a magnet, for an attack. If you're a terrorist with a one-shot attack, you want to make the target something everyone will know and see. The WTC was a giant bullseye.

The firefighters knew it too-- in the 9/11 report, it was revealed that the fire chiefs did not like the bunker location since the fuel tanks were poorly situated and the internal fire suppression systems of the building were unable to cope with the possibility of thousands of gallons of leaking fuel.

It's like putting your military headquarters right on the same grounds as your POL station (petroleum-oil & lubricants). An emergency command bunker is something you want hidden away in an obscure, non-obvious location. If something were to happen that required a command bunker situation, the streets of the WTC-- with literally thousands of panicked people clogging up the very roads you're trying to direct emergency services through-- is a bad idea.

Bear in mind the President's "Emergency Command Bunker" is a bloody airplane. He can direct the needs of the country from a portable, remote base that does not have to be even remotely near the source of trouble. A dedicated airplane is rather extravagant for the mayor of NYC, but the idea-- remote = safe, is still valid.

[Flagg]

Has anyone else read the Harper's article "A Fate Worse Than Bush", about Rudy Ghouliani? It paints a pretty horrendous picture; I haven't checked the FBI crime stats for myself yet to confirm this, but it claims that the FBI crime stats for New York started to decline rapidly before he took office, thanks to changes made by the previous mayor Dinkins. It goes on to claim that Guiliani did a lot of scaremongering during his campaign to discredit the previous mayor and exaggerate public perception of crime so that he could take credit for the decline once he took office (eerily familiar MO: build up bogeyman to discredit foes).

It also goes on to claim that despite the massive public relations bonus he got from 9/11, he bore part of the responsibility for the casualties on that day, by failing to heed safety inspectors' warnings and recommendations. And it also claims that it came at a very opportune moment for him because people were just starting to wise up to his bogeyman scare tactics, as he started looking for more and more mundane targets to attack, like strippers and even people who own ferrets (did he really do that?)

Does this sound accurate? I already despised him because of his relentless flogging of 9/11 as a rallying cry, but this makes the guy seem like Karl Rove's twin brother.

I saw the magazine in a Borders the other day and almost picked it up just for that awesome charicature on the cover. I may have to buy a copy if I see it again.

[Pablo Sanchez]

As a loyal Harper's subscriber for years, I've read that article. My summary of it's take on Guiliani would be that he is an egomaniac who specializes in style over substance. Another thing that I'm sure that it mentions, either, is that Guiliani's miracle crime-busting term coincided with a sharp downward trend in crime (especially violent crime) throughout the entire USA.

[MKSheppard]

Found the Memo in Question referring to the Brooklyn Location:

Here's the Memo on the Brooklyn Location proposed for the OEM bunker

As Donna Lynne discussed with you, we have been looking into various options for the location of the Command Center. There is space potentially available at 11 Metro Tech, which could meet our needs. I estimate that we will need 15,00 -17,000 square feet. This includes a private office for the Mayor, a press briefing room that keeps the press out of the Command Center, small private offices for 10 agencies and room for up to 40 agencies in the Command Center proper.

Below are listed the pros and cons of going to 11 Metro Tech

PROS

1 Space could be available within six months.

2. Some money is available in the Metro Tech budget to accomplish the renovations

3. The building is secure and not as visible a target as buildings in lower Manhattan.

4 The building has all the backup and redundancy necessary in the event of a utility failure (power, water, phone).

5 The Mayor could continue to conduct normal business from his office in the Command Center while overseeing the emergency He could do regular press briefings and return to lus office without leaving the building or the area

6 If necessary he could fly to the facility by helicopter and land on Fiatbush Avenue or take a Police Department harbor unit which could be available within 30 minutes

7. With E911 already residing at 11 Metro Tech and the Fire/EMS communications systems scheduled to move there, Î1 Metro Tech serves as a focal point for public safety activity.

8. We have the opportunity to use video conferencing from Ciry Hau to Metro Tech should the Mayor not be able to travel across the river. While not ideal, it provides an alternative method of briefing the Mayor without him being at the facility. The conferencing capability would have to be installed in City Hall.

CONS

1. Traveling to Metro Tech will consume more of the Mayor's time

2 Access to the facility may be difficult in a blizzard or during a major terrorist threat or incident.

3. The facility is vulnerable to a truck bomb on three (3) sides, but PD monitors cars that are parked next to the building, and we can block off two (2) streets during a threat without causing traffic problems.

4 During a blizzard or hurricane the Mayor would have to move with ground transport, possibly limiting his ability to get to the facility. Flying would be difficult and wave heights preclude a PD Launch. Subway access would be possible and may have a positive public relations spin, but the Mayor would have to be willing to do this.

5. Parking for staff would be difficult unless we had a certain area designated for OEM vehicles outside or space made available in the basement parking lot.

6. The Fire Department has designs on 40,000 square feet. We run the risk of hurting our relationship by acquiring half of their space

In summary Metro Tech has as many pros as cons. I believe the cons are not insurmountable. The real issue is whether or not the Mayor wants to go across the river to manage an incident. If he is willing to do this, Metro Tech is a good alternative to the current Police Command Center and Ralph Balzano certainly appears willing to work with us Locating and refurbishing a comparable site could take 18 months or longer.
cc: Donna Lynne

[MKSheppard]

Overhead view of it.

[MKSheppard]

Somewhere underground in Brooklyn that hadn't been the site of a major terrorist attack less than a decade prior.

Actually, it was to be rented space in 11 Metrotech Plaza (an office building).

You know, something that wouldn't have happened if the "bunker" itself hadn't been on the 23rd floor of a building directly adjacent to a prime fucking terrorist target that had already been hit less than a decade before.

And what was the threat matrix at the time? Why yes, large truck bombs, which have an ENTIRELY different threat profile than what happened.

Yes, how could anyone have guessed that terrorist would want to hit the WTC? I mean they had never hit it before!

Nice strawman. Nobody ever expected deliberate use of fully fuelled aircraft as giant cruise missiles; they all expected the enemy to use their modus operandi; large truck bombs, like in 1993, and the African Embassies, or suicide vehicles like the USMC barracks in Lebanon or USS Cole.

Strawmanning again, I see. No one expects a perfect system, they just wanted a better one than the one that gave them the exact same problems less than a decade before at the exact same site.

Actually, the new radios began arriving in early 2001; but they proved to be susceptible to the same problems as the earlier radios; they work good for smallish structures, but don't work very well in skyscrapers, due to interference. Normally, this isn't a problem for firefighters, as they can use the buildings internal emergency communications system (comm boxes placed near stairwells or elevators), but the planes severed the connections IIRC when they sliced across many of the columns and inflicted severe damage to the inner core.

[MKSheppard]

Only a total moron puts a command centre for emergencies in a position where, if an attack against the most popular target in the city is successful, it's roadkill.

Seeing as a large truck bomb only inflicted minor damage on the WTC complex in 1993; and that truck bombs were the primary attack vector of terrorists in the 1990s, it's hard to envision the WTC being severely damaged by a repeat truck bomb, which was the primary threat.

[MKSheppard]

It's like putting your military headquarters right on the same grounds as your POL station (petroleum-oil & lubricants).

The problem is, you need said POL to keep your HQ running, as you cannot rely on having utilities 100% of the time; and that requirement is always going to be a vunerability; whether it's a fuel tank, or a fuel line that runs through the building, and sprays fuel when it's cracked.

If something were to happen that required a command bunker situation, the streets of the WTC-- with literally thousands of panicked people clogging up the very roads you're trying to direct emergency services through-- is a bad idea.

The Brooklyn location was very inconvient to get to, especially in an emergency. It was a mile and a half away from City Hall and One Police Plaza, and you had to cross a bridge to get to it. Meanwhile, the WTC was only 0.38 miles away, a distance easily crosseable on foot, even in bad weather conditions.

[SirNitram]

Only a total moron puts a command centre for emergencies in a position where, if an attack against the most popular target in the city is successful, it's roadkill.

Seeing as a large truck bomb only inflicted minor damage on the WTC complex in 1993; and that truck bombs were the primary attack vector of terrorists in the 1990s, it's hard to envision the WTC being severely damaged by a repeat truck bomb, which was the primary threat.

Once again proving why you're incompetent. There's an old maxim about trying to fight the last war, and you show you apply this very failure to envisioning all threats. It was a target, a known target, and a favored target. It doesn't matter if the first attack failed; only the utterly brain-damaged plan their contingencies based off of the enemy failing.

[Elfdart]

Benito Ghouliani (AKA Il Douchebag) is nothing more than a preening racist thug with a kind of opportunism that would make the typical jackal or vulture look respectfull of the dead. The 9/11 part of Ghouliani's resume has been pretty well debunked. Like Numbnuts, when the cameras were gone, he was gone.

The "tough-on-crime" bit is phonier than John O'Neil's toupee, multiplied by a Sean Hannity "Freedom Concert". Crime dropped in almost every major city across the country. Yet Il Douchebag was not mayor of those cities. Hmmmmmm, could it be that condoning the harassment, murder and torture of unarmed black men (Ghouliani's only real contribution to the city) isn't the reason crime went down?

Benito Ghouliani's success was in race-baiting and egging on racist thugs in a way that no redneck Mississippi mayor of the last twenty years would ever dare to. Pitchfork Tillman would be proud.

[SCRawl]

Most of us have already read this elsewhere, but there's credible evidence that, in addition to the significant increase in the size of the police force, the availability of legal abortions played a large role in lowering the violent crime rate. (See "Freakonomics" and its accompanying citations for more information.) That would be a tough banner for a Republican, especially, to use for his campaign, so I agree with Giuliani that it's better to go with "I was tough on crime, and it worked". Never let facts get in the way of a good story.

[Darth Wong]

Ummm, is Shep seriously arguing that it's easier to manage a disaster and co-ordinate rescue efforts if your "emergency command bunker" is located right in the middle of the disaster itself?