Fear's rule

As "America's Mayor" waits and waits for the presidential primary in Florida to demonstrate he's the decider type, The New York Times carried a scathing article today on Giuliani's Machiavellian management style.

Here's the gist of it:

Mr. Giuliani was a pugilist in a city of political brawlers. But far more than his predecessors, historians and politicians say, his toughness edged toward ruthlessness and became a defining aspect of his mayoralty. One result: New York City spent at least $7 million in settling civil rights lawsuits and paying retaliatory damages during the Giuliani years.

As you read the article, notice all the former city officials who comment but won't give their name for fear that Giuliani will retaliate against them in the now unlikely chance he becomes president.

Also notice the insane pettiness and vindictiveness Giuliani displayed while running New York City. Here's a classic example:

Mr. Giuliani paid careful attention to the art of political payback. When former Mayors Edward I. Koch and David N. Dinkins spoke publicly of Mr. Giuliani's foibles, mayoral aides removed their official portraits from the ceremonial Blue Room at City Hall.

How did Mayor Giuliani respond to less influential dissent? Characteristically disproportionately as Joel Berger, a lawyer who represented victims of police brutality, found out. After writing a critical op-ed for the Times on the mayor's record on police brutality, Giuliani tried to have Berger removed from teaching a course at NYU's School of Law.

In a new international political climate demanding subtle and nuanced diplomacy and leadership to fight international terrorism, contain Iran, and respond to Chinese militarization, who wouldn't want Czar Giuliani at the helm of history's most awesomely armed superpower?