Rudy’s virtues swallowed up by his vices

Julia Gorin, writing at FrontPage Magazine, recalls Rudolph Giuliani’s instinctively correct reactions against Muslim enemies of America: his spontaneous ejection of Yasser Arafat from Lincoln Center, his turning down the offer of $10 million to New York City from the Saudi prince who offered the gift on the condition that America recognize its supposed responsibility for provoking the 9/11 attack. I agree that those incidents say something very positive about Giuliani, something that may be lacking in, say, the cerebral and somewhat self-manufactured Mitt Romney (who I think is by far the best choice for the GOP nomination). I would like to see a president who had the gut understanding of who our enemies are that Giuliani displayed on those occasions. Unfortunately, that’s not all that Giuliani is, and not all that a president must be. As I wrote about Giuliani in April 2007:

Whether he’s doing something upright or something despicable, whether he’s refusing to meet with Al Sharpton, or declining to spend time with his own son (because that would interfere with his quality time with Judi); whether he’s kicking Arafat out of Lincoln Center, or trying to kick his second wife and his children out of Gracie Mansion, he’s equally hard-nosed, brutal, and unapologetic. Someone like that could be the mayor of a city. As the President of the United States, he would be a disaster.

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Richard O. writes:

On the other hand, it would be refreshing to have a smart mamser as president. President Carter, commendable for his desire to avoid bloodshed and war, extended the national humiliation and helped set in stone the present Iranian Islamic catastrophe. I sure as heck like Rudi’s pugnacious instincts over the fact-checked, archbishop-vetted “thinking” of the competition. Instincts I trust more than spin. I would love for the Iranians to come face to face with a real hard-nosed, brutal American. For a change.

I am uncomfortable about Rudy for another reason—his publicly wearing elaborate female outfits—which is not germane to this issue of whether his being hard-nosed, brutal, and unapologetic would make him a disaster as president. Even tho I don’t think he would be a disaster, I think he might not be taken seriously. Would Vladimir Putin ever wear a dress to a party? To ask is to answer. But Rudi did. The lapse of judgment is extraordinary. And this is from someone who values the unconventional, the maverick, the absurd, and the light hearted. With the military forces of the U.S. at his command, however, maybe our enemies would think it wise not to bring up Rudi’s taste in party dresses.

LA replies:

“Instincts I trust more than spin. I would love for the Iranians to come face to face with a real hard-nosed, brutal American. For a change.”

I don’t know. Because Giuliani was tough as mayor doesn’t mean that that is going to carry over to his conduct of foreign policy. It’s purely a hope. He hasn’t said anthing laying out a good policy. What he says adds up to Bushism on steroids And what is Bushism? Endless preachy utopian rhetoric, combined with endless compromise with our enemies. So under Giuliani, we’ll get even more rhetoric, and more compromise.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 24, 2008 01:58 AM | Send