After Feehery's declaration of Giuliani's credibility, Wolf continued with his monotone drivel as though the guy had said "the sky is blue." Carville then pointed out that Giuliani "put the command center in the World Trade Center" and "has never had anything to do with the U.S. military."

Wolf continued: "John, is it a forgone conclusion that among registered Republicans, and those voters likely to vote Republican, this issue clearly helps Rudy Giuliani?"

To which Feehery replied, "... I think Rudy Giuliani because he has been most identified with THE WAR ON TERRORTM. This is his winning issue."

Wolf segued to the next segment about Laura Bush promoting faith- based aids prevention and abstinence, "It's going to be a busy weekend for the presidential candidates out on the campaign trail."

Un. Freaking. Believable.

Maybe Feehery was just pushing the Repug front-runner. The latest Fox News poll has Giuliani up 13 points over McCain. Still, how could he and Wolf think that Giuliani is "Tough on Terror" ... and why does Giuliani keep pushing that meme?

Giuliani has been chasing the "Conservative Evangelical" and "Social Conservative" vote, apparently without much success. That is no gteat surprise. According to On The Issues, Giuliani is pro-choice, supports embryonic stem cell research and supports gay rights. I am not being critical - I agree with him on those issues, but the "Pat Robertson Cult" does not. So is he trying to appear to be "Tough on Terror" because that's all he's got?

While speaking to "business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University," Giuliani said Bill Clinton's response to the 1993 attack the World Trade Center and later attacks by al-Quaida was weak and ineffectual:

... Maybe in hindsight, all of that is much clearer now. ... I think they (Democrats) are in denial. They can't face this threat. They couldn't in the 1990s ...

From this statement, one could properly infer that Rudy was on top of things in the 1990s. According to Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins that is not the case. In their book, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, they have a different take on "Giuliani's role before, during, and after 9/11." From the publisher's page:

... Grand Illusion reveals how Giuliani has revised his own history, casting himself as prescient terror hawk when in fact he ran his administration as if terrorist threats simply did not exist, too distracted by pet projects and turf wars to attend to vital precautions.

Publishers Weekly said in their review of the book:

... According to the authors, that memorable image-Rudy among the ruins-hides a multitude of sins: in the event of a terrorist attack, Giuliani should have been directing police, fire and emergency services from the city's high-tech underground emergency management center; unfortunately, Giuliani had insisted that that secure center be located at the World Trade Center. Political infighting between police and fire departments went unchecked, preventing coordination between first responders, and Giuliani's rush to return New York to business as usual (fearing that Wall Street might relocate) may have seriously impaired the health of returning workers and residents...

Jerome Hauer, the first emergency management director for New York City, confirms details of the book. He said Giuliani wanted the emergency command center to be within walking distance of City Hall, rather than the Office Complex in Brooklyn first suggested by Mr. Hauer. As a result, the command center was located at the World Trade Center and couldn't be used on 9/11 because the building collapsed. Giuliani said, "Jerry Hauer recommended that as the prime site and the site that would make the most sense ... It was largely on his recommendation that that site was selected." Hauer subsequently said, "That’s Rudy’s own reality that he lives in ... It is not, in fact, the truth."

As Giuliani said, things are clearer in hindsight. Wayne Barrett, co-author of "Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11" was a guest on the June 27 "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" show. Olbermann asked Barrett if Giuliani "ever mentioned the ‘93 bombing before? Did he often mention terrorism before 9/11?"

Barrett Replied:

... He mentioned the ‘93 bombing once in the eight years that he was mayor, and that was in his inaugural address in 1994. And he used it as a metaphor for self-help, for personal responsibility as part of his welfare program. He certainly never talked about the World Trade Center bombing. Not only publicly, but in the course of the book, we interviewed everybody who was considered to be his first police commissioner, and this is within months of the attack in ‘93. The question never came up in the interviews that he conducted or that were conducted by the transition committee that he established. Look, what does it say that he never even had a multiagency drill in the World Trade Center in the eight years in between the incident? Not only did he put the command center there, the firefighters were carrying the same radios that malfunctioned on the day of the ‘93 bombing. It was something he had no consciousness about. He was the United States attorney in the Southern District before he became mayor, and every assistant United States attorney who prosecuted any one of the terrorist attacks that he described in his speech yesterday, every single one of those assistants was hired by him in that office. We interviewed all of them, and he never discussed the ‘93 bombing or terrorism with any of them. The United States attorney for the Southern District had many meetings with him, but this question of terrorism never came up.

Then Olbermann repeated a quote from Giuliani, "Bin Laden declared war on us. We didn‘t hear it. I thought it was pretty clear at the time, but a lot of people didn‘t see it."

Olbermann added, "I lived not far outside New York City for five years of his mayorship. I lived inside it for two years. This is the first time I‘m hearing any of this. Did St. Rudy of 9/11 figure out the threat from bin Laden before 9/11 and decide to keep it a secret from the American people, say nothing of the people in New York?"

Barrett Replied:

Keith, he wrote in his own book, "Leadership," that after 9/11, he calls up Henry Kissinger and says, What should I read about this guy Osama bin Laden? And Henry Kissinger recommends a book written by a guy named Bodansky in 1998 and 1999. In Bodansky‘s book, Osama bin Laden predicts a spectacular attack on the United States. It was a little late reading. He told us how well prepared he was, because he underlined this book many times after 9/11. He—why is it, I mean, couldn‘t—could there be anything more partisan than saying, Osama bin Laden declared war on us and nobody heard it in ‘93, and not say anything about George W. Bush, who, after 9/11, hasn‘t done a thing to capture him? ... Has he ever said one critical word about the failure of this administration to go after the guy who attacked this city and killed his good friends? Not one word.

Rudy is right, things are clearer in hindsight. I tried to find some reference to Rudy Giuliani's "Tough on Terror" reputation prior to September 11, 2001. On The Issues had one reference to Rudy Giuliani on War & Peace and Homeland Security prior to 9/11. In February 2000, Giuliani apparently advocated more inspections in Iraq.

Since 9/11, Giuliani has had a few things to say about National Security issues. From "On The Issues," his position in October 2001 was "No need to understand reasons for terrorism-just stop them." OK ... you got a plan for that Rudy? In October 2002 he said, "We're right and terrorists are wrong--as simple as that." OK ... problem solved. Next problem.

Other "Giuliani positions" reported by "On The Issues" :

Aug 2004 - Removing Saddam needed to be accomplished.

Aug 2004 - Liberating the Iraqis is something we should be proud of.

Aug 2004 - The terrorists have heard from us. Dec 2005 - Fervently supported reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Nov 2006 - Democrats don't support military the way Republicans do.

Nov 2006 - Withdrawal from Iraq encourages future terror attacks. May 2007 - Use every method you can think of to interrogate terrorists.

May 2007 - Only thing worse than invading Iran is Iran having nukes.

May 2007 - Democrat timetable for retreat "fundamentally irresponsible".

"On The Issues" reported that in May 2007 Giuliani said that the "GOP is fundamentally irresponsible on war." Giuliani clarified that during the 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina. When asked about that statement, he said:

I was talking about the timetable for retreat that the Democrats passed, in which they did something I've never heard of in the history of war, which is to give your enemy a schedule of how a retreating army is going to retreat. That was highly irresponsible. What the Republicans suggested isn't the right approach either.

OK ... that clears that up - the GOP is NOT fundamentally irresponsible on war. Right, Rudy?

When Giuliani was asked if "he had an 'open-ended' commitment to Iraq," he refused to answer the question by talking about 'fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here.' He said "These people do want to follow us here and they have followed us here. Fort Dix happened a week ago." The problem with Giuliani's reply is that all of the people involved with the Fort Dix "plot" had lived here for years - some for more than 23 years. When confronted with this convoluted logic, he said, "This whole thing is a tremendous danger for us, abroad and here."

The ThinkProgress article cited above included another Giuliani quote:

... These people (al Qaeda terrorists) came here and killed us because of our freedom of religion, because of our freedom for women, because they hate us ... The reality is, if you are confused about this, I think you put our country in much greater jeopardy.

All of these positions and statements are REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTSTM.

Rudy has his 12 Commitments talking points posted on his "joinrudy2008" website:

I will keep America on offense in the Terrorist's War on us

I will end illegal immigration, secure our borders, and identify every non-citizen in our nation.

I will restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending.

I will cut taxes and reform the tax code.

I will impose accountability on Washington.

I will lead America towards energy independence.

I will give Americans more control over and access to health care with affordable and portable free-market solutions.

I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children.

I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges.

I will ensure that every community in America is prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

I will provide access to a quality education to every child in America by giving real school choice to parents.

I will expand America's involvement in the global economy and strengthen our reputation around the world

Unfortunately, Rudy doesn't think that the Occupation of Iraq is in the top 12 problems he will have to face as President. The Democratic National Committee has a webpage that details how Rudy Giuliani's So-Called "Commitments" are based on a poor mayoral record and empty rhetoric, so I won't addesss any of them.

Omitting Iraq in the "12 Commitments" apparently wasn't an oversight on Rudy's part. It seems that he really doesn't give a damn about ending the occupation of Iraq. Giuliani was a member of the Iraq Study Group, but resigned after failing to show for any meetings, saying, "my previous time commitments do not permit me the full and active participation that the Iraq Study Group deserves." His "previous time commitments" included giving motivational speeches and fundraising.

As far as I can tell, Giuliani repeats REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTSTM, and offers Empty Rhetoric as reasons for why he should be President.

We need to debunk the myth of Giuliani being "Tough on Terror."