Firefighters Unveil Giuliani Inspired "Rudy Rat" in Orlando

Posted by Trish , Pensito Review at 6:12 PM on January 23, 2008.

People refer frequently to the "rat" in Central Florida, but they usually mean Mickey Mouse. New York firefighters and the families of 9/11 victims are talking about another rodent: Rudy Guiliani.

Rudy is staking his campaign on Florida, home to millions of New York transplants either all or part of the year. Knowing this, those he betrayed on Sept. 11, 2001 are fighting him just as hard in the Sunshine State.

The firefighters' national labor union and a group of Sept. 11 families brought the rally to Florida because the state figures prominently in Giuliani's primary strategy. Firefighters and their families vowed to dog the former New York mayor at all of his Florida campaign stops.

The rally started at the Orlando union hall, where participants posed with a 16-foot inflatable rat meant to represent Giuliani, and continued in front of Orlando City Hall with a mix of local firefighters, New York firefighters and families that had lost loved ones.

"Firefighters hate Rudy's guts, and when you hear Rudy's name a four-letter word in a firehouse in New York City," said [Jim Riches, a deputy chief in the New York Fire Department], who recovered the remains of his own son, firefighter Jimmy Riches, from the rubble of Ground Zero.

Tagged as: 9/11, florida, giuliani, new york city, firefighters

Trish is a regular blogger for the Pensito Review.