A Stitch in Haste

America's Lecher Mayor responds:

Rudy Giuliani dismissed a report Wednesday that he expensed the cost of his security detail to obscure city offices for trips to a Long Island resort as the then-mayor began an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan.

"First of all, it's not true," he said during a GOP debate hours after the story broke. "I had 24-hour security for the eight years that I was mayor. They followed me everyplace I went. It was because there were, you know, threats, threats that I don't generally talk about. Some have become public recently; most of them haven't.

Note the Slick Willy style word play: It is "not true" that he -- active voice -- wrongly allocated expenses to city agencies totally unconnected to mayoral security.

But that was never really the allegation. The Politico report -- which is based on government records and is ironclad and indisputable -- was passive voice: the expenses were wrongly allocated (i.e., by someone). It was not explicitly suggested that Giuliani personally crafted or approved the practice.

And in any case: So what?

Isn't Giuliani emphasizing his "executive experience," especially relative to Hillary Clinton? Well, "executives" deal with issues like this. At least the good ones do.

Also, even if Giuliani were not disingenuous in his wordsmithy denial of the undeniable -- again, so what? Regardless of how the expenses were allocated (or misallocated), since when is it a proper use of taxpayer funds to shuttle a mayor to an adulterous rendezvous? Someone living under 24-hour "threats" might, in the name of wizened "executive" prudence, not only keep his fly zipped but also keep it at home.