Giuliani: I Don't Need Michael Moore to Tell Me About 9/11

By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
July 30, 2004

The man who has been called "America's Mayor" slammed controversial filmmaker Michael Moore at a GOP press conference Thursday. When asked by a reporter if he had seen Moore's film, Rudy Giuliani said that he didn't need Michael Moore to tell him about September 11th.

Giuliani was also asked about a warning from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer who was quoted by the Associated Press saying, "I say this to the Republican Party: With all respect and all deference, do not dare use 9/11 for political purposes."

Spitzer made his remarks to New York delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

"Neither party should use this for politics, so I say to the Republicans, do not go there," Spitzer said. "It would not be fair or right, and we will not let you do it."

But he took a few shots at the president, saying that the Bush administration ignored a warning of terrorist threats to the United States and opposed the creation of the independent commission that investigated the attacks.

The first night of the Democratic convention featured a tribute to victims of the September 11th, but most speakers have avoided specifically mentioning the event.

The former mayor dismissed Spitzer's cautions and pointed out that Democrats have been politicizing September 11th all throughout the primary.

Giuliani said, "That is all I have heard was criticizing of President Bush's handling of September 11th, not only criticism but name calling and demonizing."

Giuliani believes that September 11th was the most important event to take place in the last fifty years. He said that examining what Bush or Kerry has done right or wrong is perfectly appropriate.

The former mayor stated, "That isn't politicizing it, that is discussing it honestly. Which is what we will do."

Republicans will hold their convention a week before the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks which destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people. Since Giuliani, who was mayor of New Your City at the time, will have a prominent role in the gathering, reminders of that fateful day will be inevitable.

Giuliani's remarks came during the daily press conference Republicans have held in Boston during the Democratic National Convention. Party leaders and Republican National Committee officials have formed a "truth squad" to draw attention to Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) "extreme makeover."

Former Massachusetts governor William Weld said that the Democrats' proceedings at the Fleet Center have been "long on entertainment but a little bit more all sizzle and no steak."

He recalled that in 1991 Kerry said, "I'm a liberal and I'm proud of it," something he would be unlikely to repeat during this convention.

Weld cited a poll that shows sixty-five percent of Massachusetts's voters believe that Kerry would raise taxes. The poll also revealed that a majority believes that as president, Kerry would cut defense spending. The former governor continued to rattle off statistics that a showed a majority of Bay state voters think Bush is more decisive than Kerry by a twenty percent margin.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) questioned Kerry's voting record that he says is not a good one, particularly when it comes to his role in intelligence oversight. He noted that the 9/11 commission said one of the problems with America's intelligence network was lack of adequate congressional oversight, but one year after the bombing of the World Trade Center, when al Qaeda first declared war against the United States of America, Kerry proposed $7.5 billion of budget cuts to our intelligence community.

Cornyn also suggested that the American people would be shocked to know that during the time that Kerry served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, he missed 38 out of 49 of the public meetings of the committee. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) later served on the same committee, showing up to only four of eight public meetings.

Cornyn called on Kerry and Edwards to publicly release their attendance records at the private, or classified, hearings on the intelligence committee so the American people can really know the truth.

"Where does the failure of oversight come from?" Cornyn asked. "Is it because they didn't bother to show up?"