by Mary Lyon, From The Left -- World News Trust
Dec. 4, 2007 -- The original "Star Trek" series had an episode, called "Spock's Brain," which boasts an exquisitely descriptive line that's stuck in my brain
for decades. The episode explored one of those male-versus-female
societal structures in which the men -- savage, near-Troglodyte types -- spoke of
the dominant opposite sex as "the givers of pain and delight." One of
those hapless men, lo these many years later, is Rudy Giuliani.
I've been thoroughly enjoying what many have now termed "Bootygate,"
"Sex on the City," and the business of the "Tryst Fund" and "Shag Fund."
How the worm has turned. The republi-CONS now have their very own St.
Monica of the Sex Scandal. You'd think after years of getting drunk on
Bill Clinton's Monica, they'd know how to handle this one. It's straight
down their alley anyway, because it's paved with other people's money.
The dynamic between Rudy and Judy (aha! Another Judith! The
conservative world sure can come up with these real-life "givers of pain and
delight" - Judith I'm- in- bed- with- the- WMD- liars Miller, Judith
I'm- in- bed- with- Bernie- Kerik Regan, and now Judith Nathan I'm- in- bed- with- Giuliani
Giuliani) is fascinating. I think it's also most revealing as to what
kind of undercurrents would rule Rudy himself if he were ever to reach
the presidency. Wife Number Three would cast a very long and expensive
shadow over his behavior and his policies.
{mosimage}
So since she is a factor, whether she or her man OR his campaign would
like to admit it or not, how 'bout let's take a moment and look at
this. And at her. After all, wives are fair game these days. Karl Rove
already said so. Besides, it'll be fun! I reserve the right to be catty.
And I won't be the only one. I predict this lady will inspire at least a
few books of her own by the time this is over (paging Judith Regan?).
What we have here, in my opinion, is the classic royal courtesan. She
latched onto a VERY good prospect, smart girl, and hung on for dear
life. It even meant First Lady status for a brief time, since Rudy dumped
his second wife, Donna Hanover, for the chic little brunette with the
champagne tastes while he was still New York City's mayor. Of course
Judith hopes for more because, once you get used to the luxury treatment,
especially sweet if it's on the public's dime and not your own, it's
hard to go back to a simpler, more humble, and less lavish lifestyle.
But as they say, uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. I might
start worrying if I were Her Ladyship. After all, Rudy now has an
established track record for throwing over a wife for a backstage girl. The
concubine may have scored, but would be ill-advised to rest on her
laurels. After all, what's to stop him from throwing HER over, eventually, for
some younger, cuter little honeybunny? And if he had the power and
weight of the federal government at his disposal to hush things up and
move money around to pay for secret little love shacks and on-demand
police escorts (for her, AND evidently her extended family also) and city
employees specially diverted to Milady's dog-walking duty, just imagine
how easy it could be to cheat on her when you've got the Secret Service
looking out for you?
I think we see evidence of that every time Rudy gets one of those
adorable, charming, "humanizing" cell phone interruptions from Lady Judith
when he's out in public without her on his arm. Oh, SO sweet! Look how
lovey-dovey they are! Kiss-kiss, smooch-smooch! I think it goes deeper
and perhaps a little stickier, and residual "worries" prompted by 9/11
are merely an excuse here. ANY "other woman" who stole her man from his
now ex-wife, newly suspicious about ANY signs or signals that it might
happen to HER, too, would do what any calculating person on alert would
do: check up on him. Thus we have those random cell phone calls she
places, butting in on whatever speaking engagement or personal appearance
Rudy's making. That tells you at least that she wasn't near a TV at
the time she felt it necessary to confirm where he was, what he was up
to, and with whom. Someone as shrewd as the former Mrs. Nathan would
understand instinctively how power is the ultimate aphrodesiac. Someone
such as she would also recognize that others feel the same way. She won't
be resting easy in her "sample size" designer duds, especially as her
ill-gotten gain grows in fame, stature, and political clout. She already
has been known to throw a hissyfit when she discovers seating
arrangements at formal affairs -- in which she and Rudy are placed at separate
tables.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/09/giuliani200709?currentPage=5
Let's further examine that penchant for royal trappings. Nancy Reagan
once tried to joke away her own Marie Antoinette image by saying she'd
never wear a crown - it messes up your hair. That evidently hasn't been
a problem for Rudy's Judy. The prominent diamond tiara she wore on her
wedding day and the fancy hats she sometimes models are among the
samples that betray her blueblood-wannabe complex.
{mosimage}
The women of British royalty and aristocracy wear hats. It denotes
their station in society and serves, I suppose, as a more understated
substitute for a flat-out crown or jeweled tiara - when you're out in public
in regular business attire and the BIG baubles might seem, well, a
little, um, unseemly. But even those hats can be a bit over the top -
making statements of their own. A recent photo of Judith Giuliani in one of
those rather large and overpowering bonnets screamed this to me. It
reminded me of something you might see on Camilla or the ladies arriving
at Ascot wearing Rose Parade floats on their heads. Then again,
sometimes Judy's designer objets don't even have to be worn to enjoy their own
private high life. Just ask the "Baby Louis" Vuitton bag that merits
its own seat in first class next to Milady in flight. Judy Bachrach
writing in "Vanity Fair" recently observed that Mme. Giuliani's spending
and big-ticket demands were driving Rudy crazy. But then again, such is
the nature of a "giver of pain and delight."
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/09/giuliani200709?currentPage=6
Perception is everything, everywhere -- particularly including
presidential politics. We females entering the job market on the cusp of the
women's movement a few decades ago were often advised to dress for
success. Dress for the job you want, not the job you may have at present.
Observers say you can see it in Judith Giuliani as she attempts to expand
from her already-established princess image into flat-out queendom. And
what better way to graduate from Her Highness to Her Majesty -- as the
title First Lady of the United States of America would subtly confer
upon her? She's quite accustomed by now to the royal treatment, thanks to
the people of the City of New York. Imagine what's in store when
taxpayers of the entire country are there to foot the bill! As it turns
out, Mistress Judith won't be merely a golddigger in Rudy Giuliani's life
-- she'll be OURS, too: the Great American Golddigger.
I suppose if we can afford extravagant expenditures for private armies
and security details, un-supervised billion-dollar crony contracts and
wars-of-whim that have been charged to our account by the current
Dauphin, we can be expected to be able to pick up the tab for the
Rudy-and-Judy show. The "Punch" is understood. What's also understood in the
"Bootygate" scandal is hubby's willingness to go along with it, moving the
money around to obscure little city cashiers and prepaid credit cards
so that the public need never know. It's not just her entitlement
attitude. It's clearly his also.
Which brings me to those fun photos of Mr. Giuliani himself, dressed in
drag, whether it's leading a line of long-legged chorus girls or
tapping into his own inner Dame Edna. The once and future under-slogan for
the Clintons was (and is) "buy one, get one free." With the Giulianis,
perhaps that means the purchase of two diffrent and, without question,
full-priced kinds of "givers of pain and delight" (no freebies here,
folks, and only the "delight" part comes cheap). Buyer beware.
Mary Lyon spent the first 25 years of her adult
life as a broadcast journalist, at Los Angeles radio stations
KRTH-FM,KFWB-AM, KHJ-AM and KLOS-FM, the NBC, ABC, RKO Radio
Networks,and KTLA-TV. She retired from day-to-day broadcasting in
1996, after covering Hollywood for nine years in radio, TV, and print,
for the Associated Press. She wrote and illustrated "The Frazzled
Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood," and is presently at
work on a new craft book for kids and friends. A lifelong Democrat who
began her political involvement in the Student Coalition for
Humphrey-Muskie, and Tom Bradley's first L.A. Mayoral campaign, Mary
currently is a weekly columnist for www.democrats.us -- from the Left.