Rudy, We Hardly Knew Ye

Admittedly I never knew much about “America’s Mayor.” I’ve never lived in NYC. But Giuliani was always a Trumpian figured who enjoyed the attention he could gather. I understand he invented the “perp walk” so he could parade accused persons in handcuffs into the courtroom, establishing their guilt and his authority before the TeeVee cameras.

And he parlayed 9/11 (which, like Shrub, he didn’t stumble over or piss on, and this was credited to them both as “leadership “) and his success prosecuting street criminals, into a name on the masthead of Bracewell and Patterson (briefly thereafter Giuliani and Patterson), a national law firm that I guess has recovered from the association.

I wasn’t sure about Giuliani’s record as a prosecutor, but I did remember his embrace of the “broken windows” nonsense:

The theory was first propounded by political scientist James Q. Wilson, who noted that a broken window in a poor community, left unattended, signals that no one cares if windows are broken there. 

Because nobody is concerned enough to enforce the norm against breaking windows, the broken window becomes a kind of invitation to throw more stones and break more windows. As more windows shatter, other aspects of community life also start unraveling. 

The unspoken norm becomes: Do whatever you want here, because everyone else is doing it.

That’s the kind of schlock sociology theory you expect from somebody unburdened by actual knowledge. The theory was popular with people who imagine the poor would all live like the middle class if just given the chance, and they are stuck in desperate poverty and dreadful conditions only because somebody won’t fix that window.

It’s a soothing mythology for the middle class that if we just use the state to keep windows from being broken, poverty wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Oh, and the “real crime” is that committed by poor people.

As crime rates fell steeply in New York City, well ahead of the national average pace, Giuliani was widely credited. But the picayune law enforcement also harassed the city’s poor. Notably, Giuliani’s “broken windows” policy was highly selective. It did not include white collar crime.

Punching down, in other words, was always Giuliani’s forte. It’s just unfortunate for him that Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman weren’t caught breaking windows.🪟 

Giuliani made his reputation by standing on the backs of the poor and the non-white. It was an ugly reputation, and that ugliness finally became undeniable. Rudy didn’t change. We were just finally forced to see him for what he always was, thanks to the court system and two very brave, very strong women. Rudy, on the other hand, still won’t accept that he did anything wrong:

Rudy is blaming the judge for his defeat tonight. He says she has Trump Derangement Syndrome. pic.twitter.com/LZeh0npdJF

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 16, 2023

Rudy tonight says he doesn’t care if he lost all his money because money is the root of all evil and he is proud that he stood on principle and his dad and Jesus Christ are proud of him. pic.twitter.com/ytuw2CCBmP

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 16, 2023

Pretty sure Jesus would be more impressed by humility than self-justification. Now the question is, can we accept that we were wrong all along about Rudy?

For those not familiar with the 2001 race to succeed the term-limited Giuliani, Axelrod was a top adviser to the candidate who appeared likely to win on the original primary date - Sept 11, 2001. https://t.co/ONSnUFopKa

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 15, 2023

Signs do not point to “Yes.”