HERE’S a news flash for those who’ve lived in a cave for eight years: Rudy Giuliani does not mince words.
Our mayor is direct. Abrasive, even. Admit it, New Yorkers. That’s why we like him.
While much of this country dwells in shades of gray, my city-brewed blood runs black and white. And I find it endlessly fascinating to watch the manner in which Rudy’s latest foe, his long-estranged wife, conducts her dirty work without risking her nails.
Donna Hanover-Not-Giuliani is not the type to tell you what she thinks. Where Rudy looks you in the face, Donna avoids eye contact.
Where Rudy calls things by their names, Donna speaks in euphemisms.
Where Rudy wants you to hear the truth as he sees it, Donna drops loud hints, then instructs others to finish the job.
Where I come from – that’s Queens – we have names for this kind of behavior. The most polite phrase among them is passive-aggressive.
Much has been made these last few days about the mayor’s authorized leaks – his impotence, Donna’s cruelty – concerning the divorce case still officially known by the hilarious title “Anonymous vs. Anonymous.”
You should know that as recently as late last week, Donna’s side was playing a game of divorce hit-and-run.
In court, Donna is fighting to have Judith Nathan, Rudy’s girlfriend of two years, banned from Gracie Mansion.
So Friday afternoon, one of those “sources close to Donna” was burning the phone lines, referring to Nathan not only as Rudy’s “paramour,” but as his “current paramour.”
Rudy is a “serial adulterer,” said the source. And if Nathan is allowed in Gracie, floozies will line up at the door.
When I pressed, the source said the word “serial” referred to one other woman. When I asked if Donna’s side would be providing proof of a previous affair, the source backed off.
“Well, you should be able to track this down yourself.”
Not a nice way to talk about the father of Donna’s children.
Rudy, for his part, has laid his cards on the table. You may not like his hand. But it is what it is.
And the truth is, these two have lived separate lives for five years. Long ago, Donna dropped the last name Giuliani, and resumed using the surname of her previous husband, Stanley Hanover.
Four years ago, she did not participate in Rudy’s re-election campaign. When reporters asked for whom she voted, she said, “No comment.”
And when Rudy was to face Hillary Clinton in a Senate race, Donna signed up for a role in “The Vagina Monologues,” a play written by a close Hillary pal. After years of public estrangement – and private strangeness – Rudy finally went public last year, admitting he was involved with Nathan.
This was not some boss and his intern catting around in the shadows, but two adults engaged in a serious relationship. Most New Yorkers admired the honesty.
This turn of events enraged Donna. She had been in control – forcing Rudy to sleep in a tiny den during a time when his cancer treatment kept him up nights, vomiting. At 5 a.m., she’d jolt him awake with sounds of exercise equipment. It was time to ratchet up the wounded act.
On April 27, Donna enlisted her daughter in a plan to confront Nathan during a Gracie Mansion function. The attempted cat fight was thwarted when Rudy spirited Nathan out a side door.
Rudy has been put on the defensive by a master of passive-aggression. The spectacle has been unfortunate.
But it is Donna who dealt the hand. Rudy has played it the only way he knows how.