Posted on 03/17/2007 9:07:56 AM PDT by FairOpinion
After first misreading his intentions and then underestimating his strength, waves of pundits are continuing to view Rudy Giuliani's lead in Republican presidential polls as some kind of giant misunderstanding.
But the fact is that the former New York mayor is the front-runner in the race and a huge new force in American politics. The time has come to stop wondering whether he's for real and start asking a far more important question: What kind of president would he be?
Giuliani is an enormously gifted man, with extraordinary accomplishments to his credit.
He has a knack for inserting himself into the center of controversy, as he did when he had Yasser Arafat thrown out of Lincoln Center, sparking an international incident. Or when he waged a culture war by attempting to pull city funding from the Brooklyn Museum of Art over an exhibit he found offensive.
A Republican in a town of Democrats, he was determined to smash a status quo that had long accepted billion-dollar deficits, deteriorating services and exploding welfare rolls as the norm. The city by then had grown so filthy, crime-ridden and politically dysfunctional that even liberal Democrats were willing to look the other way for someone who could bang some heads. They found their man in the new mayor.
To Giuliani, it seemed, the goal of saving the city was worth all the trampled reputations at City Hall and public indignities suffered in the streets. He was that rare politician who didn't care what people thought of him. No amount of pressure from civil libertarians, unions, homeless advocates or street activists could sway the mayor from his mission to make New York into a more civilized society.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Such as the 2nd Amendment.
One big issue that has been overlooked with regard to both of these stories is the fact that they demonstrate how far off the charts New York City is compared to the rest of this country. The city is such a bastion of Marxism that it is one of the few places where a public official would even be in a position to have any say over what goes on in an art museum, or in a concert hall.
The article was written by a lefty for other lefties, so he seriously underestimates the positive impact some of Rudy's gestures will have on conservatives. How can we resist him throwing Arafat out, "nearly causing an international incident" when we know what kind of person Arafat was?
It does seem like a pity that we need extreme measures to fix problems like New York's, but the left had ample opportunities to try, and all they did was make things worse.
At least I think it was a fair article because it celebrated his achievements just as much as it questioned his methods.
D
Neither..get it yet........
If the GOP cannot nominate a Connservative they can fold as far as I am concerned. The GOP is becoming as usless as the Rat party and so far this round is proof of that.
Yes and no.
Rudy sold off NYC's public radio and TV stations. Meanwhile, the country still pays for PBS.
Looks like a case of our country being a bastion of Marxism and being off the charts compared to NYC.
Well, but note the way they avoided describing the "art" that Rudy objected to -- to try to show him in a bad light, and avoid people recognizing how justified he was.
New tagline...
Kirtzman must have an open mind... when it comes to feces. That's all his article is worth.
How many municipal governments in this country have ever owned radio and television stations in the first place?
IMO we have a very sick Country, and the symptoms are the type of politicians that are being elected, and re-elected.
On the other side, the rat party is an appalling mix of wierdos and marxists.
Strong leadership is what the spineless Republican Party needs.
To use the Stalin comparison is ludicrous.
There are strong leaders on both the good and bad sides of the coin.
We have had no 'strong leaders' since Reagan.
If you prefer weak leaders, you should have been more than happy with Jimmy Carter.
"(Duncan Hunter 08)"
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Republicans 2008: Giuliani 34%, McCain 18%
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1802210/posts
Duncan Hunter: Nov. 2006: 2%; Jan 2007: 1%; March 2007: *.
A Rat like Rudy.
How many municipal governments in this country have ever owned radio and television stations in the first place?
Don't know.
Back to addressing my point: I do know that NYC no longer has a publicly owned radio and TV station while the federal government does.
Where in the U.S. Constitution is the Federal Government empowered to own PBS? Where in the U. S. Constituion is the local government of NYC prohibited from owning a public radio and TV station?
Now tell me, in regard to government run radio and TV stations, who is more "Marxist", The local U.S. government who owns PBS or the government of NYC which sold of theirs?
As I said: Looks like a case of our country being a bastion of Marxism and being off the charts compared to NYC.
Fred Thompson 65.9%
Rudy Giuliani 19.3%
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=175;results=1
Sure and FR is really representative of the general voting population, sure.
Hunter has large numbers on FR and in Republican polls he is an *.
You hypocrite! You just finished posting a FR poll in post 35!
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