We all watched the Mark Green/Fernando Ferrer Democratic primary with gusto, expecting September 11th to be the day a new Mayor of New York was selected. None of us knew, obviously, that day would have far bigger consequences for the future of the city, our country and our world.

But the horrors struck our nation in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC and things changed. Obviously, one of the major changes was that the primary for New York City Mayor was scuttled and had to be postponed.

Rudy Giuliani rose to the occasion that day. Even those of us who think he was a bully and lousy administrator admit that. Even those who think he is a terrible person for the way he has treated his family admit that. He was central casting hero standing in front of the cameras telling us that while we'd lived through a horror, we had lived and we would get our revenge.

But in the following days we got to see the real Giuliani. It's easier to be heroic in front of cameras while people are afraid. Strongmen for all time have been able to do that, gathering the fears of the people together into a small place and whipping them up into a frenzy of passion that lifts the strongman to greater power.

Giuliani knew that, and tried to benefit. On September 26, 2001 – two weeks after the worst attack on our mainland since the Civil War – Giuliani proposed that he be able to hold on to his office for three more months.

How to extend his term -- something the mayor and his advisers insist is needed to ensure a more rapid recovery for the city -- has been very much on the mayor's mind for at least part of the week. Mr. Giuliani and his aides have contacted lawmakers and business leaders to see if there is support for a challenge to the term-limits laws adopted twice by voters, and to see if legislators would accept an emergency extension of his term. Some argue that either move would require state legislation; lawmakers have responded coolly to altering the term-limits law.

There was no law that supported such an extension, no tradition that offered it, no constitutional power that allowed it. Giuliani simply thought that the law of his city, state and nation should be aborted for his own personal glory.

Let me say that again: Rudy Giuliani used the most horrific moment of the last fifty years to try to maintain power for himself..

For some reason, this attempted and rebuffed coup d'etat is a matter of non-history. It never happened, and has been conveniently forgotten by the bulk of not only American people but also the media and the political intelligentsia.

But it is a big freaking deal. In a time when we could be hit by terrorists at any moment Rudy Giuliani is seeking to be our leader. He wants to be the guy with the most power in our country, not only over the proverbial button but also able to suspend habeas corpus and arrest people and torture them without court review.

And when his city was touched, horribly, by terrorism he spent two weeks of considering his options. Even after democracy continued and the primary had been revoted in the face of a terrorist attack, Rudy Giuliani still thought the best thing to do was suspend the law of the land and give him the power for "just a little longer" until the crisis was averted.

That's bad enough in itself. But it was the courage of Democrat Fernando Ferrer to tell Rudy to stuff it that stopped this usurpation of democratic control of our country. Ferrer was the only primary candidate who opposed this plan. Democrat Mark Green said it was OK as long as he still got four years after Giuliani was done. Bloomberg was fine with it. Republicans Governor George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno were willing to let Giuliani do whatever he wanted.

But Ferrer stood in the way. A Democrat, one of those people Giuliani recently decried as unable to respond to terrorism, said that we should allow the democratic process to proceed in the face of terrorism. In essence, he said we cannot allow our ideals and our democratic way of life to be changed because some assholes attacked us. That was a tough stand to take, and it hurt his political career while helping our country.

Ferrer was right, and Giuliani was wrong.

And we know that because the normal American election happened on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. As a result of his courageous stand Ferrer lost the runoff to Mark Green, and as a result of Giuliani's fear mongering Mark Green lost the general election to Mike Bloomberg.

And on January 1, 2002, as scheduled and as determined by the rule of law, Mike Bloomberg took office as the Mayor of the City of New York, the state of New York, the United States of America.

In the face of terrorism, in the face of fear, in the face of the greatest national moment since Pearl Harbor the normal election process continued and the people peaceably and freely elected a new leader. And the transition went smoothly, and nothing was the worse for wear.

Fernando Ferrer was right, the American Way of democracy and the rule of law was proven right. Rudy Giuliani and the impulse to trash the rule of law was proven dead wrong.

Now he wants to be President, with even more power. If the country were to face another major attack on our soil, Giuliani is likely to once again seek a power grab that would make President Bush's look like nothing. He has already tried it once, but he didn't have the power to make it stick.

And he would do it again if he had the chance.