An underrated reason to prosecute coup-plotters like Giuliani is that people of low character, if left unpunished, will continue to cause harm to innocent people, here getting a guy arrested by lying about being assaulted by him https://t.co/dk8JQ1TYun
— Michael Tae Sweeney (@mtsw) June 27, 2022
Talk about whiny snowflakes!
… The worker, Daniel Gill, had been charged with second-degree assault, a felony, in the immediate aftermath of the episode. Prosecutors later reduced the charges to third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, third-degree menacing and second-degree harassment.
After a day in custody, Mr. Gill, 39, was arraigned on the lesser charges in Staten Island Criminal Court on Monday. He was released by Judge Gerianne Abriano and ordered to return to court in August…
Mr. Giuliani, 78, fumed during the news conference about the lowering of the charges, saying, “What the hell is this D.A. doing letting him out of jail.” He claimed the video footage was “deceptive because it just shows the hand on my back.”
“I didn’t fall down, Mr. Giuliani said. “I could have. If I fell down, who knows.”
“This little punk isn’t going to hurt me,” he added. “The Mafia threatened to kill me twice.”
The Legal Aid Society, which represents Mr. Gill, said in a statement on Monday that the charges against him were “inconsistent with existing law.”
“Our client merely patted Mr. Giuliani, who sustained nothing remotely resembling physical injuries, without malice to simply get his attention, as the video footage clearly showed,” the statement continued.
IMO, Rudy just missed the attention from the Media Village Idiots…
Re-upping this tweet today. The scene below appeared in a book written by two Washington Post reporters. https://t.co/t5uprDgzs3
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) June 28, 2022
#EverythingTrumpTouches… was pretty moribund already:
Folks there's no downfall here the whole point of being a conservative with name recognition is so you can coast on selling potato flakes to Newsmax shut-ins. This is what's known as Easy Street over there. https://t.co/JMphQRneJZ
— zeddy (@Zeddary) July 1, 2022
SpaceUnit
Rudy is like a D&D character who’s dignity score is down to zero after a misadventure in a Middle Earth pie factory.
Redshift
Yeah, Rudy has gone downhill, but the key factor in his decline from “widely redirected mayor” is that the respect was undeserved in the first place.
He wasn’t popular before 9/11, and he was rescued by it because people were discouraged from questioning the new “heroes,” even though his corruption and bad personnel choices made it worse.
mrmoshpotato
The stupid – it still burns.
Good mocking by Gore Vidal Sassoon.
debbie
The ambulance chaser again chases his own ambulance.
Ruckus
@SpaceUnit:
@Redshift:
Rudy has been rolling downhill for decades. And when I say downhill I mean down an anthill. This is the real rudy tooty . What he had before was better staff. Think back 21 yrs to any response he gave to 9/11. He was younger, he had a little more of whatever than he does in his late 70s. But he is still the Rudy that he was then, just older and out of power and past the adulation for not pissing himself on live TV almost 21 yrs ago. Some might have similar characteristics when they reach older age. It happens, to many people, possibly most people to some degree. And yes to some it doesn’t happen till even older. A few never really show anywhere near this level of decline or start at a level that he was at then, at that age. It’s one reason we don’t live forever, functional decline of most parts of the body, including the brain. Sometimes especially the brain, and obviously quite possibly in this case.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: The booze probably doesn’t help.
mali muso
Brief hello to the late owls/early risers from the airport in Madrid. On my way back from a week in Portugal to check out the vibe and explore. Despite the dire warnings about travel chaos, I have been surprisingly lucky (knock on wood). But it’s definitely crowded out here!
Amir Khalid
If I were the judge, I’d consider dismissing the charges against Daniel Gill. I just don’t see enough in the incident to merit a court’s time.
Also too, US$50 for those cheap foam plastic flip-flops? That’s just crazy.
Ruckus
@ BillinGlendaleCA:
It never has.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
It’s $1.29 for the flip-flops. The $48.71 is for Rudys mental health care.
He hopes to sell a metric ton of flip-flops. He’s hoping that will be enough. I don’t think it will.
Fester Addams
Charges reduced? To what, aggravated patting?
opiejeanne
@Fester Addams: I’m surprised the charges weren’t completely dropped when the video surfaced.
mrmoshpotato
@mali muso: Safe trip back to home.
mrmoshpotato
@Fester Addams: Aggravated poking – with a vengeance!
Argiope
@mali muso: Welcome back! Customs coming in via Chicago last week was cray cray. HUGE lines in one big room with maybe 1 out of 20 travelers masked. A superspreader situation if ever there was one. We were masked and lucky; so far so good. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!
raven
@Argiope: My friends are in Spain and are helping feed Ukrainian refugees with the World Central Kitchen.
David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch
What always burned me is how after 9/11 the supine media anointed him an expert on terrorism.
An expert in what, letting it happen?
Baud
@Ruckus:
Then why am I still alive?
Baud
@David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch:
You could say the same thing about Bush.
evodevo
@Baud: Exactly. He wasn’t a mental giant when he was Prez, but the mental decline over the intervening years has been obvious…
germy shoemangler
My local media is frustrating sometimes. Here they are reporting on some important gun control legislation passed by the Democratic governor of NY:
https://wnyt.com/top-stories/republicans-express-frustration-over-long-special-session-2/
The story is told from the point of view of … wait for it…. Republicans frustrated by the process.
The reporter then interviews a college professor who says this gun control legislation will help Republicans, because they will “use it as a way to criticize the Governor.”
It ends with the reporter asking a Democratic legislator why Republicans were so unhappy with the process.
WereBear
I read the books about the big RICO trials. Rudy was waltzing in at the end to take the credit.
Argiope
@raven: that’s great! Are they retired? I think that would be a cool volunteer gig for people with the time who like to cook or just work as part of a team. I wonder if they accept short term helpers.
Baud
@WereBear:
That’s what bosses do.
Central Planning
@Baud: that’s called “managing up”
satby
@Argiope: They do, I checked into it too. Go to the WCK website to volunteer.
You have to cover all of your own costs, travel and lodging; which is holding me up from going to volunteer in Poland. I’m already on the WCK volunteer roster. Haven’t been any good airfare sales to Poland
Geminid
@germy shoemangler: I don’t think process arguments of this kind matter to many voters. Anyway, it was the Supreme Court that forced Hochul and Albany Democrats to pass a new concealed carry bill so quickly.
Mimi
Someone needs to say the word ferret to Rudy. Then run like hell.
Argiope
@satby: Good to know! My mom did multiple volunteer trips with Habitat starting in her 60s—same deal there re covering your own costs, but she loved it as a way to travel and really connect with people and not just places.
Geminid
@evodevo: In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attack, Bush’s shining moment was when he addressed a crowd at the site of the attack. Someone shouted, “We can’t hear you!” Bush responded, “I can hear you, the American people can hear you” etc.
These might have been the most articulate extemporaneous remarks Bush ever made, except that the anonymous shout was a setup, I believe. The exchange probably was devised in advance, and I would not be surprised if the guy who shouted “we can’t hear you” was Bernard Kerik.
RedDirtGirl
@David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch: and he looked so “take charge” walking the streets that day. Only happened because he overruled the experts after the first WTC bombing and had the Command Center built there again instead of in downtown Brooklyn, where it could have actually, you know, survived the next attack.
SFAW
@Geminid:
You’re probably one of those libtards who think Roe ending will not be Biden’s legacy
Tony G
@opiejeanne: NYC Mayor Eric Adams (a former cop) strongly suggested the other day that Rudy should be charged with the crime of initiation a false arrest. It won’t happen, of course, but it might mean that a lot of New Yorkers are finally sick and tired of Rudy.
O. Felix Culpa
@Tony G:
One of the smarter things Adams has said. He may not have been NYC’s best choice either.
Barbara
@Tony G: It also sends a clear signal to police and prosecutors, who apparently are still a bit too inclined to do the former mayor’s bidding. If it had been any other “victim” the police would have defused the situation and moved on.
satby
@Argiope: I wasn’t really clear there. Most volunteer vacations you cover all your own costs and arrange your own transportation, but normally there’s some direction on where to stay, an airport pickup or best way to get to the worksite, translators, etc. WCK prefers local volunteers when possible, so they aren’t discouraging volunteers from far away, but they aren’t spending resource time on helping them get there either. Not a deterrence to experienced international volunteers, but it can be harder for people who aren’t accustomed to handling all of that themselves.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: With 32% of 1st choice votes, Brooklyn Borough President Adams had a good lead over second place Sanitation Commissioner Garcia. By the time all of the ranked-choice votes were allocated, Adams edged out Garcia by only 8,000 votes. Under the system the city had before adopting RCV, there would have been a runoff because Adams did not break 40%.
brantl
Whiny little Rudy; I’d be happy to show him how knocking him down really works out, if he would request the demonstration in writing, before a notary.
Skepticat
I thought the same. Thank goodness there is video. Perhaps we should do a GoFundMe to get cotton batting to protect poor Rudy and his delicate fee-fees. But nah, let’s let brantl show him what true assault is.
JML
Rudy is staggeringly awful. He was “respected” by a national audience post-9/11 because his media appearances were good and he did well as a unifying figure for the city who really didn’t have all that significant a role in actually doing anything. But he was always pretty terrible any time you scratched the surface, which is one of the reasons his senate campaign imploded, his presidential campaign imploded, etc. Olbermann did a segment where he explained how useless Rudy was, when Hizzoner couldn’t remember his name long enough to actually introduce him correctly at an event, even with his staff reminding him multiple times.
He’s a bad guy, an incompetent drunk, a corrupt and lying fool who survived for a long time by having competent staff that kept him out of trouble and positioned him to look better than he ever was. Now he really has nothing other than a tattered reputation, name recognition, and an ego. If he doesn’t end up in prison, he’s going to end up bankrupt (possibly both). It’s a fairly sad end, but it’s also one that’s entirely earned.
Mike in NC
Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani were two of the filthiest rats to ever crawl out of the sewers of New York City. I hope some day to piss on their graves.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: The exception that proves the rule?
Baud ’24! We have the MEAT!
Liminal Owl
@Redshift: Giuliani was never “widely respected “ in NYC.
different-church-lady
NARRATOR VOICE: “They did.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Because he wanted to use it as a place near the office to bang the now third ex-Mrs-Giuliani (among others?) whilst still married to the second ex-Mrs-Giuliani, no? or is that a political urban legend?
and wasn’t Rudi a washed-up joke on 9/10/01?
Tony G
@David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch: On 9/11/2001 Bush was flying around the country like a frightened squirrel, not even publicly communicating — so I guess in comparison, Rudy was anointed by the media as a “hero”. It was pointed out shortly after the attack that Giuliani (who had been mayor for more than 7 years at the point) had failed to upgrade the FDNY radios following a glaring problem that came to light in the 1993 attack on the towers — and that therefore Giuliani deserved some the blame for the deaths on 9/11. But, by then, Rudy had already been anointed as a “hero”.
Ella in New Mexico
Fixed
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Sure, but no was accusing Rudy of really being an escapee from a Circus Side Show like he is today.
Another Scott
@Redshift: Plus, he showed the world his fascist tendencies when he tried to stay on as mayor after his term was over: (from September 28, 2001):
(Bloomberg won with 50.3% of the vote and took office on time on January 1, 2002.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Anotherlurker
I recommend “The Grand Illusion: The Truth About Rudy Gulliani and 9/11” by Barrett and Collins.
The do a great job describing Rudy’s ineptitude in matters leading up to 9/11.
Matt McIrvin
A message to you, Rudy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntvEDbagAw
Captain C
Perhaps Mayor Adams is right that Rudy deserves the legal equivalent of a yellow card for simulation.