Giuliani Spins Reasons For Quitting The Iraq Study Group, Says ‘It Was A Mistake To Join’
Giuliani Spins Reasons For Quitting The Iraq Study Group, Says ‘It Was A Mistake To Join’
On Monday, MoveOn.org launched a new TV ad slamming former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for quitting the Iraq Study Group last year, saying that even though he’s “a big fan of George Bush’s war in Iraq,” he went “AWOL” when he “had the chance to actually do something about the war.”
In an interview with CNN’s John King today, Giuliani responded to the ad, claiming that he quit because he didn’t want to “politicize” the report with his presidential ambitions:
I knew, that ultimately, I could very well be running for President of the United States. I wasn’t sure at the time. And had I stayed on that group, their report was put out just around the time I announced for President, and I would have totally politicized it. It was a mistake to join in the first place.
Watch it:
Giuliani already tried this line out in June after Newsday reported the details of his departure from the panel. But it was quickly debunked.
As TPM’s Greg Sargent noted at the time, Giuliani’s role on the Iraq Study Group was anounced in March 2006, but as early as October 2005, he was touting himself as a potential presidential candidate. “I will be considering it next year,” Giuliani told the AP.
Additionally, “several” members of the bipartisan commission told NBC’s Tim Russert in June “that presidential politics never entered the discussion, it was all about Giuliani’s schedule and commitments versus showing up for the Iraq Study Group”:
RUSSERT: The Giuliani campaign said part of the equation is he was considering to run for president at that time and his presence on the group may pose a potential conflict. Several commission members said to me that presidential politics never entered the discussion, it was all about Giuliani’s schedule and commitments versus showing up for the Iraq Study Group.
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Yeah , just like you’ve never tried to politicize 9/11 or tried to bury your incompetence and inability associated with it , right Fruity Rudy ?
September 19th, 2007 at 6:21 pmDance, Rudy, Dance!
September 19th, 2007 at 6:21 pmPoor RUDEE, he can’t decide what is the best political position to take here in spinning his decision. Gotta hurt to be so wishy washy that he can’t support one position for more that a week.
With him and Freddy Flintstone as the front-runners, the Dems will have to really work hard at screwing up the 08 elections.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:24 pmRudy’s house of self-aggrandizing lies, fabrications and delusions will come crashing down soon.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:24 pmDuck, weave, shuck and jive. Shimmy shimmy shake. Who knew such a white, white man could have those moves?
September 19th, 2007 at 6:26 pmAwwwww…such a damned shame that Ghouliani was too busy exploiting the 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11 to line his pockets to serve on the 9/11 Commission.
Maybe he should just say that “the dog ate his homework” and get it over with.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:38 pmFruity Rudy is spinning so much from all his various stances , he’s threatening to travel back in time…………
September 19th, 2007 at 6:40 pm# 3
September 19th, 2007 at 6:45 pmwith democrats granting bush even more spying abilities than he asked for ,playing ball on Iraq and taking impeachment off the table upon being elected, they seem to be doing a good job of just that .To all appearances they seem to be a full partner in this fiasco .
Both parties are bought and paid for by the corporations whose money gets them elected in the first place. What could be more obvious at this late date .
Ralph Nader is looking like a very viable candidate as far as I’m concerned . The democrats have the next year to exonerate themselves or I will NEVER vote democratic again !
Giuliani politicizes everything he touches.
Now with his feud with MoveOn, he is still politicizing the war.
Giuliani: I Am MoveOn’s Worst Nightmare
The difference this time is that he is doing it to raise campaign funds. What a sleazebag!
September 19th, 2007 at 6:55 pmGiuliani will make all those phony “conservatives” squirm and plug their noses as they cast aside their “morals” related to abortion and gay marriage to vote for a liberal like Rudy. I guess abortion and gay marriage really ain’t that much of a deal breaker, is it “conservatives?”
September 19th, 2007 at 7:02 pmNice try Rudy. It’s amazing that you think anyone will believe this convoluted bs. Let’s hear your next excuse.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:04 pmThe democrats have the next year to exonerate themselves or I will NEVER vote democratic again !
Comment by freeman
Absolutely! If the Dems cannot do what they were elected to do, then I am gone…Somebody in congress needs to grow a spine and get it done. America will never be the same. Not ever. Unfortunately, the Dems are partly guilty for this situation. I was so hopeful in November, now I am just depressed.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:09 pmrudy: Is this dwarf the best the g.o.p. has?
September 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pmAs bushie would say . . .BIO
StratRat: Regarding the taking back of our government. 2006 was the down payment; 2008 we close the deal.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:13 pmrudy: “I am 3.2 million people’s worst nightmare.” What a dufus.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:15 pmI just want Rudy to continue using that bug eyed thing he does when answering a question. I’m sure the women just dig it.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:16 pmRudy is trying hard to be the next Liar in Chief……
man, I am laughing so hard at this idiot
September 19th, 2007 at 7:25 pmThe problem is that this kind of b.s. will work with Republican voters. He needs to just tell them a plausible lie. They don’t want to know the truth, they just need a response that will not force them to reconsider their allegiance to the GOP. So he’s doing them a favor by lying.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:29 pmRudy knows that he attended the meetings he’d learn the Truth and then couldn’t spin a pack of lies at the same time. He’s one slick sucker whose expertise seems to be centered around being a mayor of New York and nothing more. Sufferin’Succotash Rudy doesn’t have a chance at the nomination with this cavalier attitude about his position on the Iraq Study Group. This is sure to tank him even further now.
Sufferin’Succotash, what does a man have to do to get some respect, Buggs??
September 19th, 2007 at 7:30 pmI find it quite comical to see Rudy floundering when he was set up by Bush and promised to be the “golden boy” and Bush successor by his absolutely amazing position of charge on 9/11. Why was his command post set up two days before the attack? Inquiring minds want to know, Rudy.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:32 pmRudy, Bush and the GOP thought Rudy’s be a “shoe in”. Maybe it was those five inch spikes he was wearing in that ridiculous photo that they really meant. They thought it was all sewn up but what they didn’t consider was the change of position provided by the midterms where whistleblowers outed Rudy’s sheer incompetence in the handling of the clean-up, the men who were told the air was fine to work in and are now dying by droves. Amazing for one who touts his accomplishments in the city of NY that 9 out of 10 New Yorkers when asked who is the better mayor – Guiliani or Bloomberg – give Michael the rave reviews well over that of Guiliani. Ask New Yorkers – they’ll always give you the truth.
Now if we can only get Bloomerg into the race next Spring to “clean house in 08″ as an Independent! Whahoo!
September 19th, 2007 at 7:35 pmfirst of all – i cam across this thread when it was new, over an hour ago, but haven’t been able to read it… now i sit, and dread the refresh, knowing i’d see over 100 trooll invested comments… ugh…
hooray!!! as i write, i see veritas at #20! … su-prise, su-prise!
Thank You, TP !!!
September 19th, 2007 at 7:35 pm…and not i shall read, and learn…
…
hillbilly is back, cracking more jokes.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:44 pmDonald Duck could beat any of the gop dwarves, without a sweat.
Here’s the picture folks and if your a republic, it ain’t pretty. Looks like we stay in Iraq, losing more soldiers and treasure, while all the gop dwarves (except Paul) “stay the course.” Problem is, 65 % of the voting public will be so fed up, that the Democratic nominee (take your pick) will do an FDR v. Hoover, while the Dems pick up 6 to 10 senate seats.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:49 pmBest thing Republics can do is fall into a coma and hope that after 40 years of Democratic rule, they wake up.
Hey Hillbilly, you can always dream. If you want some reality, however, check the polls. They show that people plan to vote for the Dem regardless of who the nominee is by anywhere between a 12 and 25 point margin. Face it, hayseed. Your cult leader has ruined your party, your movement and any chance you had for political gain in 2008. You’ll be lucky to see any Repub majority in congress by maybe the 2020’s if the Repub party still even exists at all.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:50 pmCol. Jack: Like minds and all that. Keep pushing back.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:51 pmLike minds! Here, here!
I see pickups of possibly 12 Senate seats and maybe as many as 15 more House seats. I see an extended period of new progressive policies and legislation that the vast majority of Americans will support. I see repub attempts to set up a “permanent majority” blowing up in their fat faces and creating the opposite result because of their arrogance and incompetence.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:57 pmROFLMAO
Funny, in every head to head match-up, the top-three Dem candidates all clean the clocks of EVERY Republican’t candidate, many by healthy double digit margins.
Keep telling yourself that the GOP will win. Just make sure not to have any loaded firearms or sharp objects near you come election night.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:06 pmthat bug eyed thing he does when answering a question. I’m sure the women just dig it.
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper — September 19, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
yeth, that and the way he talkths…
September 19th, 2007 at 8:08 pmoooooh, rudy…
.
Nice try Julieanni – but we’re not buying it. This guy is a real creep. I shutter to think what will happen to this country if he is ever President.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:48 pmRudy has never served in the US Military when needed then he backs out of helping with the Iraq Study group. But he did bring back a true criminal who tricked the Church and lied and stolen money with Jack Abramoff. Yes Rudy is working closely with Ralph Reed the true criminal. Ralph has been laying low after he was outed with the crimes he’d done to Bush’s base. But he’s back with Rudy to go to the White House and continue the crime wave. Rudy’s good friend Michael is even been nominated as Attorney General as to push those criminal laws. Our country has been invaded and the criminals just keep on coming. Mitt has child molesters on his team and McCain has the perverts. Fred is just plan clue less and in this for the money he can get for his young wife. If he’s broke she’s gone.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:55 pmThanks for the roll-call link upthread.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:58 pmOpps… posted that thanks in the wrong thread.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:59 pmRalph has been laying low after he was outed with the crimes he’d done to Bush’s base. -Jackie
Indeedly do, Reed had direct emails with Abramoff and the Christian base has rightfully thrown him under the bus. Reed is not going to be much help to get votes or money for Rudy and people. Rudys’ ties to Kerik aren’t helpful either.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:17 pmI know it’s not right to get cocky about the 2008 Presidential election, and as a coach, I have to remind myself of the speeches I gave to my extremely talented teams not to get overconfident and take their opponents lightly. . .But geez, this batch of incompetent Republican candidates is so bad that this egomaniac from New York City is the top of the heap. He expects people either to have no memory or swallow his absurd comments as facts. I just get all giggly thinking about him or any of these guys running against a solid Democratic candidate. Their only hope is a set of “fixed” voting machines.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:33 pmRG made a mistake in his joining, not his leaving.
Comment by Toliver — September 20, 2007 @ 12:18 am
RG made a bigger mistake letting someone take his picture when he was trying out for the Rockettes. NO POTUS candidate should ever appear in public in DRAG. Somebody stick a fork in Rudi… see if he’s done yet.
NEXT!!!!!
September 20th, 2007 at 1:08 amYou are an open-minded liberal, no?
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Comment by Toliver — September 20, 2007 @ 1:40 am
After the last 6&1/2 yrs of Republican incompetence, I want ya’ll to rot in Hell…
September 20th, 2007 at 2:28 am“Honestly folks, you believe me….don’t you?”
September 20th, 2007 at 2:44 amRudy, Rudy, Rudy — you just don’t get how it works, do you? Yeah, if you felt the ISG would present a conflict of interest, you probably shouldn’t have joined in the first place. But since you did (and I might point out that your brief tenure there is the ONLY thing that even barely resembles foreign policy experience on your resume), you should have stayed to finish the job, OR left while making a very clear statement that you did so because you planned to run for president and you felt it would be a conflict of interest.
When you try to spin that line much later, you not only reveal yourself to be a fool, but you show contempt for the intelligence of the American people as well. And that doesn’t sit well with us.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:42 amLeftside Annie, It was the Iraq Study Group, not the 9/11 Commission. Get your facts straight.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:58 amWhat!? Waste my time on a job that doesn’t pay anything??!!!!
September 20th, 2007 at 12:05 pmExlax – it doesn’t matter. Iraq Study Group or 9/11 Commission – it’s irrelevant.
Ghouliani still made his fortune dancing in the blood of the 3,000 Americans who died on 9/11.
Are you going to quibble with THAT fact…?
I thought not.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:24 pm