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January 17, 2008Rudy & the Heroic Families of our LostEd Morrissey posted this moving video over at his place, remarking:
The Mayor, and the proud, admirable mother react with perfect dignity. It is easy to forget, particularly if you did not live in New York in the months following 9/11, that Rudy Giuliani went to the wakes or funerals of nearly every lost cop and firefighter in the city, sometimes going from one funeral to the next in a single day. He even walked a bride down the aisle, after she’d lost her firefighter father and brother. He was tremendous and authentic, and he showed courage, commitment and leadership. I know some folks on the right are forgetting about Rudy because he’s not much in the news, and some are writing him off because he’s not a good enough Christian for them, and some are fixated in the fact that he has dared to goof around in drag (which I thought was very funny, and which demonstrates to me that he has not been focusing on the White House his whole career). Some may have forgotten how strong, smart and commanding Rudy Giuliani is, but I haven’t forgotten. I look at Thompson and I like some of what I see, but also dislike some of what I see. I think Fred does a good job of articulating the general tenor of much of the GOP, but I don’t know how well he can actually govern. Cantankerousness may be fun, but a president needs to be more than an embodiment of a mood. And the truth is, I have no idea how he, or Romney, or Huckabee would turn around an economy, resolve a social problem or - God forbid - deal with a nation under attack and hurting. I know those things about Rudy, because, frankly - he’s done them! I lived and worked in NYC when it seemed lawless, economically distressed and ungovernable; I saw the man do the things that needed doing, despite the press misrepresenting him and the left assailing him and calling him a “fascist.” Rudy is a “known entity” to me, as opposed to the rest of the GOP stable - they may be good men, but I don’t know what they’d do under legislative fire, under public fire or under real fire - I don’t know how they’d handle it. I do know how Rudy would handle those things. I don’t have to guess or hope. I know. He frankly has the most fleshed-out resume. And yes, I trust him to appoint judges to the SCOTUS who would interpret the constitution strictly, because as a prosecutor Rudy proved himself to be a man who followed the law, who respected the law too much to dance with it or around it. The other day, I asked readers to check their guts about who they thought could best be trusted with the power and influence of the most important, most powerful job in the world. My own gut told me Romney wasn’t as bad as I was inclined to think, and that Fred was still a huge question mark. I don’t want to vote for a question mark, not these days. I’m still not fully decided. It’s too early to be decided, and I have no intention of doing so, yet. But after watching that tape, and thinking back to what I, as a New Yorker, know about Rudy Giuliani and his leadership abilities, I definitely lean Rudyward. http://theanchoressonline.com/2008/01/17/rudy-the-heroic-families-of-our-lost/trackback/ 13 Responses to “Rudy & the Heroic Families of our Lost” |
January 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Anchoress,
Glad to see that we are at least on the same general wavelength about which candidate should be the Republican nominee. My list is Thompson, Romney and Rudy, in that order; but I will be satisfied if any of them is the next President.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I like and respect Rudy. His religion is not a big deal to me. But he made the mistake of thinking that the campaign would not start without him. To be truthful I don’t think that Rudy’s big problem will be his religion. I think it will be the fact that he has remained honest about immigration. People want to hear about round ups and enforcement. Rudy just talks about the issue in an honest and intelligent way that does not involve pandering or promise making or anything else.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I’m with you, Anchoress.
I live in Staten Island. He made promises to us and HE KEPT THEM. He never forgot us even though every other politician in the world has forgotten us. He made sure the taxpayers of Staten Island got from their government what they were supposed to.
Even BEFORE 9/11, he would show up at the hospital of every last injured cop or firefighter, any time day or night.
He was a tower of strength and encouragement after 9/11.
He made NYC a good place to live again.
Yes, he is a known quantity. I have no doubt he would do the same from Washington DC.
It’s too bad my fellow conservatives don’t get it.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I heard that Thompson said there should be no economic stimulus plan. Just let nature take its course. Easy to say if you are rich actor.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Also Fred was saying that McCain was whining because he took exception with some people saying he corroborated with the enemy in the war. I thought that was tacky because while McCain spent years as a POW, Thompson spent years in grad school. I don’t think it is necessary for the President to have active military service, but if you are gonna call John McCain a whiner it might not hurt to have something other than a deferment to fall back on.
So while I used to like Thompson, I am cooling on him. I much prefer Rudy.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I am a Fred Thompson supporter, and that’s who’s getting my money at the moment, but I’m not persuaded Fred’s going to be in the race much longer.
I’m quite conservative — a right-winger, probably, on most issues — but a great admirer of what Giuliani did after 9/11. My reservations about him have little to do with whether I “get it” or not, and less to do with whether he’s a good enough Christian. I just think he’s wrong on a number of things that are critically important to me, and I also think that voting for pro-”choice” Republicans is the best way to ensure we get more of them.
That said, I agree that facing the threat of Islamic fascism is the most critical issue of our day. I just think Fred’s up to it, even if he doesn’t have Rudy’s credentials, and I prefer, since Thompson is still in the race, to support someone with whom I agree on other issues. And I think Thompson might even stand up to the global warmists — something I’m not sure Giuliani would ever do.
But thanks, Anchoress, for making me feel better about it if I have to switch my support to Giuliani. And I do hope Rudy gets back in the hunt. I mean, Giuliani is not entirely satisfactory, but Huckabee’s ridiculous.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Rudy has my vote and support on Feb. 5th; I think the media is making more of his non-show in the early states. The GOP side is chaos unleashed, presently. I do believe the mainstream media wishes us to forget BOTH 9-11 and Rudy (who would be a formidable candidate in the general election). If he starts garnering wins in Florida and Super Tuesday, this would then be just another testament to his vision, creativity and leadership schools. While there are others I can stand behind, Rudy is still my first choice. Thanks for that reminder.
If the GOP selects “change the Constitution based on God’s word” Huckabee as its nominee, all I have to say (and I have been a Republican for some time) is: Viva Obama. Pigs will fly before I vote for Clinton.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
“I have no idea how he, or Romney, or Huckabee would turn around an economy, resolve a social problem or - God forbid - deal with a nation under attack and hurting.”
You’ve put the finger on the real problem for any voter, no matter which party. From my distance I see no reason to refute your evaluation of Guliani. But also from my distance, I am clueless as to how NYC is actually governed. Are relations with the Board of Aldermen really equivalent to relations with Congress?
If there is one thing that can be said about the current President it is that he has done everything in his power to destroy “separation of powers” and rule on his own rather than govern with the advice and consent of Congress. By any objective standard, this simply hasn’t worked, and our system of government has proven once again that it cannot be easily hijacked in this manner. You try to do it and nothing serious can get done.
So how did Guliani govern? In national politics it is much more than simply “doing the right thing”. Nationally, nothing will move without compromise and consensus–two words which were absent from the current President’s vocabulary, even when he only had to compromise with a Republican Congressional majority!
His stature in history will be massively diminished because
of it: the President who achieved little of permanence,despite the fact that his own party was
completely in control of Congress and was achieving growing control of the Federal Courts.
It seems to me that the real problem for any philosophically committed Republican is why government completely under the control of the Republican Party, with all other views totally ignored and unacknowledged [when not savagely attacked], simply failed.
Thank heavens it’s not my problem, but it seems to me that a philosophy of “less government” leads to governing badly
when you do have power, because your heart is not really in it. All you can do under those conditions is merely try to win elections. Hence the Karl Rove theory of citizenship and civics, and the Dick Cheney theory of arbitrary executive power.
Republicans have lost one election and lost it badly. Forty-nine % of American voters cast ballots for John Kerry in 2004. If you can articulate a reason why those voters would back any current Republican candidate in 2008, I would be interested to hear it. To win this election, the Republican candidate will have to win virtually every vote that George W. Bush won in 2004.
That’s a very tall order. What do you think Guliani would have to say and do to achieve that?
January 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Thanks, Anchoress, for posting this wonderful video, which I hadn’t seen. He does have an impressive record. I’m especially grateful for your considering his record and abilities in a balanced way. It seems like there are a lot of people who (apparently) make up the “Christian Right” who won’t even look twice at Giuliani. IMO, a very short-sighted view. We would get sound judges from Giuliani - the most important & direct influence a President can have- and from either Hillary or Obama we will get a court full of Ruth Bader Ginsbergs - and that court will having a lasting influence because there are three or four judges likely to retire in the next President’s term. I’m just hoping we all look at the long term.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Yeah, but there is another aspect to Rudy as well. He is not merely Christian — he is Catholic, and all of the scandal of the pro-abortion Catholic John Kerry applies equally to Rudy as well.
Rudy for mayor? Sure, why not. Rudy for Secretary of Homeland Security? Absolutely! Rudy for president, appointer of Supreme Court justices and decider of public policy that affects issues of life and family and marriage? No. Absolutely, positively not. If it comes down to Rudy as the nominee, then it will be a vote against the Democrat, but not a vote “for” Rudy.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I have no doubt Rudy will keep his promises, especially on judges. However, character counts. If it counted with The Big Creep, it counts with Rudy. His ex wives are human beings, and he treated at least one of them like dirt. Yeah, yeah, Roosevelt, I know….
January 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
What I have seen from the LLL dems with regard to Rudy is that they defer to the LLL dems from Manhattan who hate Rudy for shutting up all their fun. They still call him a fascist and try to give all his credit to others. They don’t mention what you do about Rudy being there for the families of the fallen. They don’t mention that he did all this in the face of a city council that was almost all democrats and he was able to get this done in spite of all that they did to stop him and in spite of the almost universal opposition of the media.
I have lived in NYC essentially since 1970 and I saw it on the way down and then after Rudy came into office I saw how he changed it. The man accomplished this in a city that all the newspapers said was ungovernable. Now the media is giving all the credit to Bloomberg and to the chief of police when Rudy took over. They are doing all they can to bring him down. Those of us who have lived here know how bad it was and how much it has changed but we need to let the rest of the country realize that it has indeed changed and changed because of this man and his policies and his steadfastness and with the assistance of the opposition even though they were kicking and screaming all the way.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I’m very interested to see what Rudy has up his sleeve in Florida. If he pulls it off, it will be a brilliant move. Rudy the Ready will become Rudy the Wiley.
A part of me wants to see Rudy go up against Hil. (I was disappointed when he had to pull out of the senate contest.) There would be a good fight! Rudy would start it by dawning a Yankees cap and flashing his knowing grin. Hil would probably counter with a Nationals hat.