Dear Producers And Reporters At MSNBC And Media-At-Large...

Dear Producers and Reporters at MSNBC and media-at-large...

This morning on "Morning Joe" Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews sang praises to the leadership qualities they believe Guiliani possesses and talked about him a strong leader, especially on the day of 9/11. This is a false, shallow and misleading image but one that unfortunately was created and now perpetuated by you, the media, after 9/11. Thus, it is you who have the responsibility of setting the record straight, his whole record.

His actual record is shockingly disgraceful, perhaps even criminal, and it falls upon you to be sure to investigate doggedly so that the whole truth is told to the American people, especially as he is the front runner for the Republicans.

1) Despite advice by expert to contrary, and after the buildings were bombed in '93, Giuliani placed the NYC emergency control bunker right under the towers at the WTC. Who knows how many people died as a result of this bunker's placement and the slow response to the crisis that resulted? The reason he was walking around dust-covered lower Manhattan on 9/11 was because he located his Command and Control bunker in WTC 7 which was damaged during the attack. His dust covered face shown leaving the area of the WTC as shown on television that morning is, in fact, an exhibit of his tragically poor judgment NOT his leadership.

2) He allowed Motorola off the hook when the radio system that was supposed to replace the one that didn't work in '93 didn't work. Scores of fireman died as a result of the fact the same non-functioning radio systems were used the morning of 9/11 as were in operation back in '93. Is this leadership?

3) Despite the attacks of '93, on the USS Cole and the US embassies in Africa, he was clueless about the possible threat from Al-Qeada, and didn't act to protect the City or airport, despite warnings he received in high level briefings. He claims he was well aware of this threat in speeches during the campaign even though he told the 9/11 Commission he was clueless about the threat before the attacks. Here Giuliani is a leading liar and master of deceit.

4) After 9/11, he presided over a clean up that failed to be sure the workers were protected from the toxic dust in the air. Now they are dying and suffering horribly as a result. On the morning of 9/11 Giuliani was warned of the collapse. Who warned him and why weren't others warned as well?

5) He disassembled the WTC crime scene by having all the steel from the collapsed towers shipped off to China and elsewhere. Each beam in the building had a number on it to help forensic investigators in the event of collapse. With over 90% shipped out of the country on order of the mayor's office, this was never done. And even today we don't have answers or explanations from the NIST investigators about what brought WTC 7 down into its own footprint in under 7 seconds.

6) He nominated and pushed for Bernard Kerik to be Homeland Security Secretary even after being told about his possible ties to organized crime.

7) He used taxpayer dollars to provide security and transportation for his mistress, now wife.

Is this a record that deserves the unqualified praise of your program hosts (excepting Mika Brzezinski) heaped on him this morning? No, absolutely not.

What is wrong with MSNBC and your hosts that they continue to heap praise on a man who could, and should, be held criminally negligent for his behavior, and lack of action, leading up to 9/11.

I watch MSNBC because of Keith Olbermann and Countdown, due to what I see as a generally unflinching approach to the news of the day and attention to the facts, and in this respect it is my network, out of all the cable networks, . This morning, knowing Guiliani's actual record as I do, I found this back and forth between Joe S. and Chris Matthews this morning truly disgraceful and grossly irresponsible journalism and it made me want to throw my television out the window. Shame on these hosts. They should do their jobs (as Mika attempted to do) and inform their audience of Rudy's whole record instead of pandering to his well deserved reputation as a thug and tough guy and confusing his dust covered walk in lower Manhattan as leadership. Where it mattered most prior to 9/11 he was anything but tough and afterwards he continue to let down first responders and the clean up crew by not being sure they were protected from the risks of exposure to toxic dust and fumes. These hosts, holding the mics as they do, must tell the whole story and stop propagandizing for a purported hero who is truly not.

Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews might be more suited for Fox News given this shocking performance this morning on Morning Joe. The viewing public which effectively grants networks rights to broadcast deserves an apology from these MSNBC hosts and should commit to setting the record straight on Giuliani (and in fact all the candidates). MSNBC is must raise their bar because the American desperately need unflinching examinations of the full record because we are about filling the highest office in the land.

Kyle F. Hence
http://www.911pressfortruth.com

12/12/2007

P.S. Chris Matthews has a history of heaping undeserved and twisted praise on Giuiani. Back on February 5th, Matthews actually suggested the country needed a little bit of fascism. He claimed that Giuliani "made you feel like you had a right to walk the street safely." He added, "I think the country wants a boss like that, you know? A little bit of fascism there. Just a little bit. Just a pinch of it."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200702070011?src=other