12 Year-Old's Anti-Obama Rant Goes Viral

Via Talking Points Memo:

The right may have found its next Jonathan Krohn in a Georgia teen who took to YouTube this weekend to accuse President Obama of not loving America. CJ Pearson, a middle-schooler who already has his own political organization called Young Georgians in Government, kicked off the video saying that he wanted to eschew political correctness and "applaud" New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) recent remarks about Obama. "President Obama, you don't love America," Pearson said in the video. "If you really did love America, you would call ISIS what it really is -- an assault on Christianity, an assault on America and a downright hate for the American values that our country holds." He added that if Obama truly loved America, the President "wouldn’t try to take away what hard working Americans have worked for their entire lives." Pearson's video was highlighted on a Fox News blog, The Blaze, and the Daily Mail.

The clip has 844K views at this writing.

(Tipped by JMG reader Greg)

Rudy Giuliani Doubles Down: Obama Has Been Influenced By Communists

From the New York Post:

Rudy Giuliani doubled down on his claims that President Obama doesn’t “love America” in an interview with The Post Friday — claiming the commander-in-chief has been influenced by communists since his youth. “From the time he was 9 years old, he was influenced by Frank Marshall Davis, who was a communist,” Giuliani said. The ex-mayor added that Obama’s grandfather introduced him to Davis, a writer and labor activist. Giuliani also said another bad influence on Obama was Saul Alinsky, a community organizer whom the ex-mayor called a “socialist.” The man once called “America’s mayor’’ also sharply criticized the president for having been a member of a church led by radical Chicago Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “He spent 17 years in the church of Jeremiah Wright, and this is the guy who said ‘God damn America, not God bless America,’" Giuliani said.

Last night Giuliani told CNN that he's been getting death threats since his initial comments. Meanwhile Republicans have been distancing themselves from Giuliani, with one GOP strategist saying that independent voters are looking that them saying, "These people are crazy."

UPDATE: The New York Daily News points out the Giuliani shouldn't be criticizing anybody's upbringing as his own father was a draft-dodging felon and reputed mafia enforcer.

Giuliani: Obama Doesn't Love America

"I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country. With all our flaws we’re the most exceptional country in the world. I’m looking for a presidential candidate who can express that, do that and carry it out. And if it’s you Scott, I’ll endorse you. And if it’s somebody else, I’ll support somebody else." - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speaking last night at a Manhattan fundraiser for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Protests Rock NYC Metropolitan Opera Over The Death Of Klinghoffer Production

Hundreds of protesters swarmed Lincoln Center on Monday night to rage against the Metropolitan Opera's debut of The Death Of Klinghoffer, which is based on the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro and which detractors say is anti-Semitic and glorifies terrorism. Opposition to the show was spurred by right wing sites with Ben Shapiro's Truth Revolt leading the charge. The Death Of Klinghoffer was first performed in Belgium in 1991 and the Met's production is winning rave reviews:

The opening moments establish tribal rivalries between Palestinians, with green flags, and Israelis, with olive trees, in separate scenarios filled with soaring choral work. It sets the stage for simmering tension that is only occasionally interrupted. Performed by a superb cast, the production is anchored by Paulo Szot, who plays the captain. He brings great emotion to the role, in trying unsuccessfully to reason with the terrorists. Sean Panikkar, Aubrey Allicock and Ryan Speedo Green sing the roles of the terrorists with great conviction. Jesse Kovarsky is truly terrifying as the terrorist who pulls the trigger. The roles of Klinghoffer and his wife, Marilyn, are played by Alan Opie, who has a meditative aria following his murder, and Michaela Martens, whose final aria is filled with anguish and loss. She has the last word, and rightly so.

The protest spawned some sharp words between Mayor De Blasio and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who joined the crowd outside Lincoln Center on Monday.

Mayor de Blasio defended the Metropolitan Opera's right to show "The Death of Klinghoffer," and criticized predecessor Rudy Giuliani's protest against the controversial work. "I really think we have to be very careful in a free society to respect that cultural institutions will portray works of art, put on operas, plays, that there will be art exhibits in museum," de Blasio said Monday at an unrelated press conference. "And in a free society we respect that. We don't have to agree with what's in the exhibit but we agree with the right of the artist and the cultural institution to put that forward to the public." De Blasio hit Giuliani's record of cracking down on art he didn't care for. As mayor, Giuliani famously threatened to yank funding for the Brooklyn Museum over its display of an image of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung. "The former mayor had a history of challenging cultural institutions when he disagreed with their content. I don't think that's the American way. The American way is to respect freedom of speech. Simple as that," de Blasio said.

The Met posted the below trailer on Sunday.

NEW YORK CITY: De Blasio Names Guiliani-Era Bill Bratton As NYPD Chief

New York City Mayor-Elect Bill De Blasio has named Bill Bratton as NYPD Commissioner. Bratton served under Rudy Giuliani for three years in the mid-90s and most recently spent seven years as the police chief for Los Angeles. This is a controversial selection for De Blasio, who campaigned heavily against the stop-and-frisk practices of the NYPD under outgoing chief Ray Kelly.

Via NBC New York:

While Bratton led the LAPD, the department's use of stop and frisk dramatically increased, according to the Daily News. In 2002, cops made 587,200 stops, and by 2008, they made 875,204 stops, an increase of 49 percent, the News said, citing a 2009 report from the Harvard Kennedy School. The majority of those stopped were black or Hispanic, the News said, but the number of stops that led to arrests was far higher than in New York. The NYCLU, which has been highly critical of the NYPD's use of stop and frisk, said in a statement that it looks forward to working with de Blasio and Bratton "to ensure that fundamental changes are made to the NYPD, including a top-to-bottom culture shift that ends racial profiling and the abuse of stop and frisk."

More from the New York Times:

The selection of Mr. Bratton, a well-known and generally well-regarded figure in law enforcement, appeared to reflect the tricky spot Mr. de Blasio finds himself in as he moves to reshape the Police Department’s street tactics, while sustaining the decline in serious crime. New York is much changed since Mr. Bratton first took the reins in 1994. Crime rates were much higher and the issue dominated mayoral politics. With his hard-charging, press-friendly style, Mr. Bratton managed to garner considerable acclaim for the drop in crime on his watch, even as crime was falling in many other big cities as well. Now, Mr. Bratton returns to a city where crime has continued to fall and where there is less acceptance of some of the most aggressive and confrontational policing tactics. He and Mr. de Blasio will most likely be judged on whether the city can continue to be kept safe from crime and terrorism while quieting criticism over the excesses of policing, especially in minority communities.

De Blasio is holding a press conference at this writing to formally announce the appointment.

Rudy Giuilani For Joe Lhota

Giuliani recorded this clip for Lhota a couple of months ago, but an apparently new ad buy now has his message appearing at the front of many YouTube clips.

Giuliani Backs MTA Chief For Mayor

Two weeks ago we learned that MTA head Joe Lhota, who has earned widespread praise for the response to Hurricane Sandy, was being touted in GOP circles as a candidate to succeed Mayor Bloomberg. Now he's got Giuliani in his corner. Via New York Times:

Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, under whom Mr. Lhota was a deputy mayor and with whom he still speaks frequently, is encouraging him to run and appears poised to take on an active role in any campaign. And Republican county leaders in the city have been contacted by a supporter, Jake Menges, an adviser to Mr. Giuliani, requesting that they hold off on endorsing a candidate. “He said, ‘I’ll have someone that you’ll like,’ ” Phil Ragusa, the Queens Republican chairman, recalled of his conversation with Mr. Menges. “I guess it was probably Joe.” In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 6 to 1, the specter of a run by Mr. Lhota, who declined to comment on his plans, has galvanized some who quietly expected the 2013 race to end a two-decade stretch without a Democratic mayor. “The M.T.A. happens to be one of the few things that was run well since Sandy,” State Senator Martin J. Golden of Brooklyn said. “I think he’d win.”

In a poll conducted last week, Lhota lost against a hypothetical and unnamed Democrat by a 6-1 margin. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continues to lead in most polls.

Romney Heckled As "Racist" In NYC

Flanked by former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, today Mitt Romney attempted to speak about the anniversary of Bin Laden's killing, but was interrupted by an unseen woman who repeatedly screamed, "Mitt Romney, you're a racist!" It's not yet known what prompted the heckling.

Giuliani: Gingrich Is Ignorant & Dumb

Giuliani Slams Mitt Romney

Somebody wants to be Newt's veep.

Asshat Of The Day - Rudy Giuliani

"I believe that Barack Obama owns the Occupy Wall Street movement. It would not have happened, it would not have happened but for his class warfare. And remember, as it gets worse and worse because it's going to get worse and worse, where it came from. Barack Obama. He praised it. He supported it. He agrees with it. He sympathizes with it. And as it gets worse and worse, I believe this will be the millstone around Barack Obama's neck that will take his presidency down. How about you occupy a job. How about working? Working. I know that's tough." - Rudy Giuliani, speaking at an event called Defending The American Dream.

Quote Of The Day - Paul Krugman

"What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons. A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity? The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it." - Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, writing for the New York Times.

RELATED: Krugman's column has already caused furor in the rightwing blogosphere, with GOProud's Chris Barron tweeting that Krugman "may be the most despicable human being to ever wander the planet."

Giuliani: Noun, Verb, 9/11

Quote Of The Day - Rudy Giuliani

'I think the Republican Party would be well advised to get the heck out of people's bedrooms and let these things get decided by states. We'd be a much more successful political party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots. I think it's wrong [gay marriage], but there are other things that I think are wrong that get decided by democratic vote. I see more harm, however, by dwelling so much on this subject of gays and lesbians and whether it's right or wrong in politics." - Rudy Giuliani, speaking today to CNN.

Giuliani: I'm Still Thinking About It

The completely useless Rudy Giuliani is keeping himself in the news by playing cat-and-mouse with reporters over his potential run for president.

Mr Giuliani, who acknowledged the flaws of his 2008 campaign, said he was not convinced that any of the declared Republican contenders could defeat Barack Obama. "These are a lot of qualified people," he said. "Do they have a good chance of winning? I don't know the answer to that." Mr Giuliani backed away from an aide's recent comment that he would decide "very soon" whether to join the presidential field. He ruled out any decision before the end of July and said his timeline is late August or early September. He argued that he still has the drive to extend his political career. "I have a tremendous fire for more public service," Mr Giuliani, 67, said. "That's something that I feel sort of incomplete about."

Giuliani Won't Marry Gay Pals?

Remember when former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani fled to the home of his gay best friends during his divorce? And how he promised to personally marry them once it became legal? Not so much.

"I asked if he would marry us," recalled Howard Koeppel, the unlikely provider of an emergency Midtown crash pad to Giuliani for six months when his marriage to Donna Hanover was crumbling and Gracie Mansion was a war zone. "He said, 'Howard, I don't ever do anything that's not legal. If it becomes legal in New York, you'll be one of the first ones I would marry.'Ten years later, Koeppel is distressed that his former house guest hasn't returned the many calls he began making before the legislation was passed last week. "It seems like a lot of people he was close to become persona non grata," Koeppel observed.

One political wag observed: "[Presiding at the wedding] would be a sign he's no longer interested in running [as a Republican] for president -- ever."

Giuliani To Run For President?

According to wingnut Rep. Steve King (R-NY), former NYC Mayor Rudy "9/11" Giuliani is set to announce a run for the GOP 2012 presidential nomination.

"If he were to make the decision today, he would run," says King. Speaking at a dinner with reporters in Washington, King, who was an enthusiastic Giuliani supporter in 2008, said the former mayor has been quietly lining up support and exploring strategy. Giuliani has also examined the mistakes his campaign made in '08, when he did not seriously compete in a contest until the Florida primary, by which time he was hopelessly behind in the race. It's unclear what effect a Giuliani candidacy would have on the primary campaign. There is an ongoing conversation among Republican political insiders about supposed voter unhappiness with the GOP field, and after Indiana governor Mitch Daniels' decision not to run, pundits and strategists have focused on hopes that New Jersey governor Chris Christie or House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan might be coaxed into running. Others have mentioned the name of former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Few observers have looked to Giuliani as a possible savior of the Republican Party.

In a poll of New Hampshire Republicans released two days ago, Giuliani tied for third in the field of potential GOP candidates.

Tweet Of The Day - Piers Morgan

Giuliani Reverses On DADT

Rudy Giuliani says that since we're no longer "at the height of the Iraq War," maybe it's time for the GOP "to ease up on DADT" and approve its repeal.

Giuliani's Daughter Busted Shoplifting

Rudy Giuliani's 20 year-old daughter Caroline was busted on NYC's Upper East Side yesterday when she tried to shoplift cosmetics from a Sephora.

She was allegedly caught by a store security camera shoplifting five cosmetics items worth more than $100 -- including Aqua Cream, Dior Skinflash Primer, Bliss hydroderm cream, a rollerball funnel and a hairnet -- and escorted out of the store in handcuffs, according to police sources. Giuliani is currently being held by police. Charges have yet to be filed, but police sources told ABC News that she is expected to be charged with petit larceny and released. She will be required to appear before a judge at a later date, sources said.

Caroline lives in an UES townhouse with her mother Donna Hanover, who divorced "sanctity of marriage" Rudy in 2002 shortly after she caught him fucking the shit out of his secretary in the basement of City Hall.