Yesterday I was in the airport with naught but my Blackberry to read. Sure, I had a book, but I didn't have any sort of newspaper and that's what I was really wanting. I went to the New York Times' website and they had a great article on Rudy Giuliani. In the end, it has got me to rethink my support of him somewhat. I'm quite conflicted on who to support. On one hand, I still love what Rudy did with New York. I think that he was one of the greatest mayors in the history of that great city, but there are some things that make me uneasy. One is that, just as the Times says, he is Colonel Jessop. Do I want him on that wall? Do I need him on that wall? I would say that he is just the kind of person that I'd want there. At the same time, I wouldn't want to see our civil liberties curtailed in the way that I could see it happening. This is such a conflicted election for me. I love the strength that Giuliani portrays. I think that he could prosecute the war on terror and win it. I think he's got that Reaganesque streak in him. At the same time, would it involve the kind of compromises that I'm not willing to make in order to have him do it? September 11 to a large degree erased the worst of Rudy's last years in office. He did take things perhaps a bit too far, cracking down on jaywalkers (let's face it, if you're arresting jaywalkers in New York City, you might as well turn the whole place into a walled island because there is an unwritten rule in NYC - if there's no car coming, you've got the right of way. If something is coming, get out of the way or you're a hood ornament) and curtailing perhaps a few too many civil liberties in the process. Fortunately the primaries are still a ways off, so I can change my mind here and there. During peacetime, I don't think there would be anyone better than Mitt Romney, but right now? If it's not Rudy, then who? McCain's not exactly my cup of tea and I certainly wouldn't ever choose one of the Democratic candidates (although if I had to, it'd be Barak Obama in a heartbeat). That leaves me with Fred Thompson. I don't know enough about him, other than that he was the head Order in Law and Order, as well as Admiral Painter in The Hunt for Red October and the head airport guy in Die Hard 2. Those are good and all, but what about his politics? I may very well end up still going with Rudy, because I still like his positions and his ideas in a lot of areas. I'm just a bit concerned that the compromise I'd make to get those ideas in there might be a bit more than I bargained for.
1 comment:
The perception that Reagan was so great for us may be justified in some areas, but his work in the Middle East (and lack thereof in the Palestinian problem) has had serious reprecussions for us today, including much of the misery in Iraq and from Iran, not to mention South America. Similarly, I think the idea of curtailing our liberties because of fear will prove to be even more short-sighted and detrimental in the future.
Kucinich (who I'm sure you love) made a good point recently. He pointed out that FDR said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself", while Bush and people like Guiliani have basically said "We have everything to fear". I definitely don't agree with any of the quoted parties completely, but I would take FDR's as being closer to the right way.
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