Lame tales of temper

Not that this will be of much interest to most, but in the New York Daily News there's a gossipy piece on Rudy Giuliani's bad temper. I don't doubt for a second that he has one, but the anecdotes they use to illustrate it are almost unbelievably lame.

Former United Nations Assistant Secretary General Gillian Sorensen remembers being backstage with Giuliani in 1995 when the New York Philharmonic performed a concert marking the UN's 50th anniversary.

"Suddenly, the mayor saw Yasser Arafat in the audience," says Sorensen. "The mayor went ballistic. He totally exploded. He turned red in the face, he started waving his arms, he yelled at his trembling aide [Randy Mastro] as if he were a worm, he yelled at me. … He jumped up and down."

So Giuliani objected to having Yasser Arafat as an invited guest of the city of New York - can't say I blame him. He was a murderous corrupt old dictator, and this story redounds more to the discredit of the UN than it does to Giuliani. Next?

Former Mayor Ed Koch remembers, "I got a call from Giuliani during the gubernatorial election between Pataki and Cuomo. I had been on the radio criticizing [Giuliani's] administration for taking down Pataki's placards [but not those of Giuliani-backed Mario Cuomo's].… Rudy [calls and said]: 'Ed, you're all wrong about the placards. It's against the law' ... I said, 'Rudy, I know it's against the law. I'm the one who initiated that law.' ... He says, 'Don't interrupt me.' I thought, who does he think he is? So I took the phone and I put it in the crook of my arm, and I started to do other things that i needed to do."

So Ed Koch is an arrogant and rude dickhead. Rudy doesn't even lose his temper here, it's just an 'ooh aren't I great' story from Koch. Seriously, I don't doubt that there are loads of stories of Giuliani losing it in unnecessary and major ways - so concentrate on them rather than these. These just look rubbish.