Bloomberg, Giuliani & Reporters with Chutzpah

Does Michael Bloomberg want to be Mayor of New York for life?

Daniel Menaker seems to be suggesting that archly in the Huffington Post.

Certainly there's something eerily reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani in this mayor's effort to stay in City Hall for another four years. In the 2001 mayoral election, held right after the attack on the World Trade Center, Giuliani toyed with the idea of getting the three candidates who wanted to succeed him to agree to an extension of his term for two to three months -- this to "maintain the unity that exists in the city."

Rudy couldn't sell the idea. He didn't extend his term and the city survived.

I think there’s some truth to the idea that Bloomberg also thinks he is an indispensable man. Although the people twice voted in referendums to have a two-term limit, he did an end-run around the voters and twisted enough arms to get the Council to enable him to run for a third term.

Certainly, his denunciation of a reporter as "a disgrace" for challenging the Mayor’s rationale for running for a third term indicates that Bloomberg may be having some trouble convincing himself. He refused to apologize to that reporter for losing his temper.

As I suggested a couple of weeks ago, the mayor could perhaps use a little therapy.

His confusing policy towards the press is certainly an indication of his imperial attitude. At most news conferences over the last seven and a half years, he has rationed reporters to one question apiece -- no follow-ups. In the case of some reporters, he refuses to take any questions at all. That's certainly his right, but it also illuminates his troubling imperial mindset.

It may well be that the unspoken questions in the Mayor's mind are: Who does this guy think he is? Where does he get the chutzpah to ask me such a nasty question?

Times reporter Michael Barbaro described a recent Bloomberg confrontation with the press. When asked whether he was sorry about the "disgrace" remark, Bloomberg replied, "We are beyond that. The bottom line is: I am going to be judged on what I do and who I am."

Also, when asked if he worries whether his flashes of temper will affect the campaign, Bloomberg said, "I am 67 years old. I am who I am. I think most people know me. They are going to judge me on, I think, what gets done and who I am."

It reminds me of my childhood when we went to the movies and often saw, before the main feature, an episode of Popeye the Sailor Man.

The cartoon sailor, with bulging biceps and a corncob pipe jammed in his mouth would sing: "I'm Popeye the sailor man/I yam what I yam/And that’s all what I yam/I'm Popeye the sailor man."

Imagine Michael Bloomberg gobbling down his spinach as he gets ready to take on his opponent in the election. It's the "I yam what I yam" that conjures up this image.

The Mayor can afford a lot of spinach -- and his opponent will have to have a lot of confidence and chutzpah to take him on.

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