In an editorial endorsing John McCain's candidacy for the Republican nomination for president, the New York Times justified passing on former Mayor Rudy Giuliani thusly: "The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. ... [His] arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking." That's downright cheery compared to some of the other things that have been said about "America's Mayor" in the past year or so. A look back at our favorite quotes:
"He has this streak, Rudy, where he looks for unnecessary confrontations. Is he overcompensating? I sure as hell don't know. But I worked with men, I worked with real men, and they didn't have to do that. They knew where and when someone had to get knocked on their ass." —Louis Anemone, retired chief, NYPD, to GQ
"It took an event the size of 9/11 for this son of a gun to show the slightest bit of human compassion." —Anemone
"He couldn't have been elected dogcatcher on 9/10" —Former mayor Ed Koch, to GQ