Few of those who lived in New York City during the Mussolini reign of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani would have pictured him playing out his sallow years as a dwarfish punch line—a cheap laugh. It is near impossible to think of any once respected figure who has subjected himself to such dunks of dank humiliation.
Other politicians reaching for the ring of power have taken slapstick spills or made memorable gaffes (Rick Perry, with his celebrated ‘Oops’ during a Republican presidential candidate debate, Dan Quayle misspelling ‘potato’), providing comic relief before receding into the ranks of also-rans, but Rudy—as he is familiarly, and not affectionately, known—has exerted true staying power. Despite not having held elective office in two decades or making any useful contribution to the commonweal as a citizen, Giuliani has managed to remain a political burlesque act, clinging to the slim consolation that tawdry fame is better than no fame at all.
