Giuliani. Thank God.

The New York Observer has a nice take on Bob Kerry’s thoughts about Rudy Giuliani.

“When he turned and said to Bernie Kerik, ‘Thank God George Bush is President,’” said Mr. Kerrey, echoing one of Mr. Giuliani’s favorite (but now retired) 9/11 anecdotes. “What he should have said was, ‘Why the fuck didn’t George Bush call us and tell us this was going to happen?’ That was a more appropriate response.”

Anyone who watches Chris Matthews on Hardball knows that he has a man-crush on Rudy Giuliani. It is going to be quite a challenge for him to keep it under wraps when he moderates the “Reagan Library GOP Debate,” as it is being billed. Here’s a telling moment to watch for.

Big Mitch predicts that amid the soft-balls that Matthews tosses to Rudy, there will be a question about one of his most famous whoppers. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Rudolph Giuliani told the audience that while standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center, he spontaneously grabbed Bernie Kerik’s arm and said, “Bernie, thank God George Bush is our President.”

That’s a powerful story and better than the one he told during a 2003 GOP fundraiser. In the earlier iteration, Kerik is missing: “I remember that day saying a little prayer of thank-you that George Bush was our president.” Well, you could see why that story needed a little punching up. But still, it is an improvement on the original rendering.

On December 23, 2001, Giuliani appeared on Meet the Press. He told of the days following the attack. According to this first edition of the story, Rudy did, indeed, utter the words to his police chief. But it was not on September 11th. Rather it was on September 14th, by which time George Bush had finished My Pet Goat and found his way to Ground Zero. It was in this context that Giuliani stated, “Thank God he [Bush] is here [i.e., in New York.]”

The ironic thing is that Giuliani embellished and prevaricated to show a fabricated devotion to President Shit-for-brains. It’s not like people needed another reason to not vote for the guy. But watch Chris Matthews give him a chance to clean it up.

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”