In light of Rudy Giuliani's claim to be the ablest in the whole wide world to protect us from evil should he become the ::shudder:: Commander in Chief, I thought it might be interesting to look back at one facet of his esteemed record:

On September 11th, 2001, this was heard from a police helicopter hovering over the World Trade Center:

''About 15 floors down from the top, it looks like it's glowing red,'' the pilot of one helicopter, Aviation 14, radioed at 10:07 a.m. ''It's inevitable.''

Orders were given to evacuate. There was just one hitch. One fatal hitch:

Yet most firefighters never heard those warnings, or earlier orders to get out. Their radio system failed frequently that morning. Even if the radio network had been reliable, it was not linked to the police system. And the police and fire commanders guiding the rescue efforts did not talk to one another during the crisis.

At least 121 firefighters died as a result. 

Now, after months of grief, both the Fire and Police Departments are approaching the end of delicate internal reviews of their responses to the attack. Those reviews have concluded that major changes are needed in how the agencies go about their work and prepare for the next disaster, senior officials say.

So, let's see...how could this have happened? Where do we begin?  Got it!  At the top. The management, maybe?

A six-month examination by The Times found that the rescuers' ability to save themselves and others was hobbled by technical difficulties, a history of tribal feuding and management lapses that have been part of the emergency response culture in New York City and other regions for years.

And who was in charge? Why, it's as if it were almost yesterday...

Although Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani created the Office of Emergency Management in 1996 and spent nearly $25 million to coordinate emergency response, trade center officials said the agency had not conducted an emergency exercise there that included the Fire Department, the police and the Port Authority's emergency staff.

How's that whole wrapping-yourself-in-9/11-thing working out for you, Rudy?

Sally Regenhart, whose firefighter son died at the World Trade Center, contended that one of the reasons so many firefighters died on 9/11 was the inadequacy of the radios they carried – a situation for which she blamed Giuliani. [...] "He died because of the failures of the Giuliani administration – numerous failures but the most glaring one that contributed to his death was no radios . The radios they was given, he had no idea that they didn't work. He had no idea that they were the same ones that didn't work in 1993. He had no idea that he couldn't communicate with anyone in the World Trade Center."

Thomas Von Essen, the city's fire commissioner from 1996 through 2001, and a former president of the main fire union:

''But you have to start thinking about the reality of the world that we live in today. And that demands better leadership, more accountable leadership, a better-trained leadership, a more disciplined leadership that then filters down to a better-trained and more disciplined set of troops.''

See, Rudy, just being in a city that gets hit by terrorists doesn't qualify you to lead the city...let alone an entire country.  The father of another fallen firefighter:

"One hundred and twenty one firefighters in the north tower died that day. Giuliani now says he was a hero. But, all he did was run, that day."

Rudy was on the streets because he put the Office of Emergency Management's command center at 7 World Trade Center .  He had nowhere to go. Now there's the kind of judgment I want to see in a world leader, don't you?

On Friday, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said the city intended to create a radio channel that could be shared by police officers and firefighters, among other changes. ''There is no question there were communications problems at this catastrophic incident,' ' he said.

Bernard B. Kerik, the police commissioner at the time, said he did not believe that any communication problems between the agencies had significantly affected their performance. ' 'I was not made aware that day that we were having any difficulty coordinating,'' he said.

This is the same Bernie Kerik who had ties to organized crime , been sued for sexual harrassment and had employed an undocumented alien as a domestic servant. The very same one who Rudy recommended for the job of Secretary of Homeland Security. Yeah, he's credible. About as credible as Giuliani taking a "spontaneous" phone call from his wife.

Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer was the first chief to reach the north tower after the first plane crashed. He sent fire companies, including one led by his brother, Lt. Kevin Pfeifer, up the stairs of the building,  but when he went to use his two-way radio to communicate with them, guess what failed to work?  His brother didn't survive.

After both planes had struck, Assistant Chief Joseph Callan called an order in to clear the building.

Virtually no one answered his call. It seemed that few people, apart from those standing near him, heard it. Chief Peter Hayden, who was at the scene, said: ''We had ordered the firefighters down, but we weren't getting acknowledgments. We were very concerned about it.''

Let's recap: The radios the firefighters used that day were identical to the ones they used at the trade center eight years earlier. 

''It's a disgrace,'' he said. ''The police are talking to each other. It's a no-brainer: Get us what they're using. We send people to the moon, and you mean to tell me a firefighter can't talk to a guy two floors above him?''

No, a firefighter can't.  But America's Player Mayor can talk to his third wife during a political speech. It's obvious that to Rudy, the only kind of communication that's important is the self-serving kind.