August 13, 2007

Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney know nothing about NAFTA Superhighway. Nothing!

On July 30, Michael Luo of the New York Times offered the blog post "Rumors of a Superhighway", refering to the NAFTA variety. Apparently the candidates for president are being asked about it, but, as with other questions they're being asked the questions are too general and allow the candidates to play semantic games. There's a video outtake at the link where Mitt Romney claims to know nothing about it and supports U.S. sovereignty. Then, McCain is asked about it and says he wants to calm the questioner's fears: "we will not be united with any of those two other countries."

That's a relief, but I'm a bit skeptical, especially since one of those trying to calm our fears is the NYT:

So, fact or fiction?

Federal officials say the latter. Elements of the concept have roots in ideas pushed by private and state-level entities promoting commerce across the continent, they said, adding the notion of a federal project for a behemoth highway bisecting the heart of the country and erasing America’s borders is an urban legend that has spread wildly on the Internet and talk radio. The candidates, though, still want you to know they are against it.

Gosh knows, we can always take unnamed "federal officials" at their word. That's some good reporting there, I tell you. And, here's another instance of good reporting:

A befuddled Rudolph W. Giuliani got the question recently in Concord, N.H., where he told a woman that he had never heard of the highway.

Apparently Michael Luo missed this:

...At the center of negotiations for multiple legs of the Superhighway Corridor throughout Texas, is none other than Rudolph Giuliani's law firm which landed the Comprehensive Development Agreement for a widening of Interstate-35, now referred to as the TTC-35, in addition to the Master Development Plans for State Highways 121 and 130 among other legs of the TTC. All negotiations for Cintra were and are presently handled by the law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP, of which Republican Presidential candidate, Rudolph Giuliani, has been a senior executive partner since March 2005. His law firm is the exclusive legal counsel for Cintra...

It's up to citizen journalists - and not the MSM - to find out where the candidates really stand. First, the questions need to be more specific, such as regarding Giuliani's links to the plan or asking people like McCain to assist in national anti-NAU legislation such as that proposed by various states, asking him to exercise more oversight, or asking him to assist with filing FOIA requests. And, the questions and answers need to be videotaped by someone other than the NYT and then uploaded to various video sharing sites.

Related:
The North American Union apologists entry has been updated.

Posted to NAU at August 13, 2007 02:24 PM