Saturday, May 12, 2007

Walk Like a Dem: Giuliani


From the New York Times: Rudolph Giuliani directly challenged Republican orthodoxy on Friday, asserting that his support for abortion rights, gun control and gay rights should not disqualify him from winning the party’s presidential nomination.
***
You know, Rudy, some Dems aren't all that thrilled with our options for President -- ever think of switching teams?
I've taken a few hits on this blog for my contradictory view on major issues, but if I had to point to one person who personifies my political beliefs, it'd be Rudy Giuliani. In short, he gets the fact that politics is not a black and white business. Moreover, the business of running cities, and a country, should be dictated by common sense and not a "moral" agenda. For example:
-- Who wouldn't agree with the fact that guns are too easy to find? In fact, who besides law enforcement needs them? If you want recreation, get a dog. If you want protection, get a big dog.
-- It makes sense to take billions of dollars worth of real estate away from porn theaters and hookers and sell it to businesses (and turn it into another sort of Disney-fied eyesore, albeit one that generates money and jobs).
-- While no one likes the idea of pregnancies being cut short it's not up to the state to intervene in one of the most personal decisions of a woman's life.
-- Gays are people too. And they deserve the same rights as straight people -- the church cannot tell the state who it can and can't marry. Churches can refuse membership to anyone they want not the State. And before someone gives me the "what if I want to marry my sister" argument just know that gays are asking for the same rules that apply to straight couples who want a marriage certificate and state recognition to apply to them.
This unique, rational perspective is truly a New York thing. In this city you're forced to co-exist with "undesirables," your points of view are constantly challenged because instead of talking about issues and people you actually live them and see them right here. Rudy Giuliani is a product of this unique place and as such is beyond qualified for the office of the President.
See? I can swing right.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a New Yorker, I thought Guiliani did more for New York than the past 3 mayors combined. Dinkins and Koch really fowled things up and I remember how disgusting New York was when I was a kid and how bankrupt it was. That being said, let's not forget the other side of Guiliani pre-911. I voted for him the second time (even though, to much of your audience's chagrin, I swing liberal and vote democrat most of the time) because of how he cleaned things up, actually put him money where his mouth was and even took on the mafia and their hold on the Fulton Fish Market. HOWEVER, there is also Guiliani the censor. Remember how he threatened to cut money from the Brooklyn Museum because of the controversy around the black virgin Mary and the less than pleasant things surrounding it? This just makes me wonder what Guiliani will become when he doesn't just have New Yorkers to please. Will he still support Gay right? A woman's right to choose? Or will he fold under the pressure of the Republicans in Washington.

Rob said...

See? I can swing right.

I'll be damned if I can find any evidence of it.

Berdo said...

GCL -

I couldn't agree more with this post. But I think the most important thing for all of us, me and you included, is to figure out if we actually live up to the ideal of a nonpartisan who is driven by PRINCIPLE, not PARTY. More often than not, I have to say, you are among the worst offenders in this regard - being loyal to liberalism instead of your own compass. In fact, months ago, you replied to my post proudly admitting that you do this. What's caused this sudden change of heart, I don't know.

I like Giuliani for the same reasons you do. And I'd vote for anyone, Democrat or Republican, who espouses views that I agree with and does not do them in the service of being a Republican or a Democrat. If the work towards something better that moves our society forward, party affliation should be irrelevant.

Sad to say, GCL, you speak out of both sides of your mouth. From the first time I read this blog, you play by two sets of rules when it comes to the left and the right. You are 100% a partisan.

Rob said...

If the work towards something better that moves our society forward, party affliation should be irrelevant.

I'll be damned if I can find evidence in the last several decades where libs have moved society forward.

James Henry Bailey said...

Who wouldn't agree with the fact that guns are too easy to find?

Huh? I challenge you to try to get a gun easily!

In fact, who besides law enforcement needs them?

A little thing called the second amendment recognizes and protects our right to own guns. And, by the way, that right is not supposed to be abridged in any way.

It makes sense to take billions of dollars worth of real estate away from porn theaters and hookers and sell it to businesses

What? It makes sense for the government to confiscate private property? What if one of those undesirable places happened to be a gay bar, singled out for the strippers or the porn being projected on the monitors. Would that still be a valid reason to steal the property away from the owner and GIVE it to someone else?

Please tell me how this point jives with your insistence that government should not be dictated by a "moral" agenda.

Gays are people too. And they deserve the same rights as straight people

Believe it or not, you HAVE the same rights as straight people. A straight man can't marry another man either. A gay man can marry a woman.

GCL- you have no moral compass whatsoever. Every one of your posts contradicts itself and previous posts. It gets worse with every post.

Rob said...

And, by the way, that right is not supposed to be abridged in any way.

What's the one of the very first steps when a dictator takes power?