Posted on 05/17/2007 6:36:03 AM PDT by finnman69
Shades of the Old Rudy!
America's Mayor provided the most electrifying moment of Tuesday night's GOP presidential debate when he ripped into Rep. Ron Paul for suggesting that U.S. foreign policy invited the 9/11 attacks.
"That's an extraordinary statement," said a clearly indignant Rudy Giuliani, as he demanded that Paul retract the assertion. "I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11."
Good for him.
Most of Rudy's rivals doubtless thought it best just to ignore the Texas oddball's isolationist rant. But Giuliani decided otherwise - and he was right to do so.
Because the sad fact is that, Rudy's disclaimer notwithstanding, Paul's argument has been made before - indeed, it's still heard with disturbing frequency.
What was so jarring was to hear it from a self-styled Republican candidate instead of a left-wing Democrat.
Just how far gone the Democrats are on 9/11 can be seen in the results of a new Rasmussen Reports poll, which found that fully 35 percent of all Democrats believe President Bush had advance knowledge of the attacks - and another 26 percent say they're not sure.
How sad. But it gets worse.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05172007/postopinion/editorials/rudy_reads_the_riot_act_editorials_.htm
If Ron Paul had any delusion of winning the primary, I would have to guess this remark reminded him he is not.
Paul sounds like a nut.
His philosophy goes like this: “If you have a beef with someone, it’s ok to kill their wives and kids.”
The fact that Rudy was the one to stand up to this clown shows you just how unable to actually LEAD the rest of the field is.
Actually Rootie was just lucky to be next in line to be asked a question. Paul’s was an easy argument to slap down.


I thought I was watching Paul morph into Paulsen when he made his blame America for 9/11 comment.
NO..your logic is seriously flawed.
the fact the Rudy said something was because he was mayor of ground zero and because of that was the appropriate one to answer.
His ability to lead the country has been invalidated by his 2nd amendment bashing and by being an abortion booster(and the poor need to get their abortions FREE).
No Rudy is WRONG in so many ways.
Good for him.
Uh, if Rudy has never heard that before, it suggests that he's never read the 9-11 Commission Report. Ron Paul has served for years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, so he knows what he's talking about.
Either Rudy seized this as an opportunity to jump atop the WTC rubble and do a bit of posturing and grandstanding to remind people that he was there, or he really has no idea about the most important security issues of our age.
9-11 Commission Report, pp48-49:
It is the story of eccentric and violent ideas sprouting in the fertile ground of political and social turmoil. It is the story of an organization poised to seize its historical moment. How did Bin Ladinwith his call for the indiscriminate killing of Americanswin thousands of followers and some degree of approval from millions more?The history, culture, and body of beliefs from which Bin Ladin has shaped and spread his message are largely unknown to many Americans. Seizing on symbols of Islams past greatness, he promises to restore pride to people who consider themselves the victims of successive foreign masters. He uses cultural and religious allusions to the holy Quran and some of its interpreters. He appeals to people disoriented by cyclonic change as they confront modernity and globalization.His rhetoric selectively draws from multiple sourcesIslam, history, and the regions political and economic malaise. He also stresses grievances against the United States widely shared in the Muslim world. inveighed against the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islams holiest sites. He spoke of the suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions imposed after the Gulf War, and he protested U.S. support of Israel.
In effect, he delivered a 70 mph fastball right over the plate for Giuliani. ;)
Sorry, you don’t have to be Mayor of New York on 9/11 to tell call an a$$clown and a$$clown! If any of these men wants to lead, they should be showing they can stand up and lead, and not a damned one of em called this fool to task for his crap.
Lead, follow or get out of the way... only one guy stood up to this fool. If you aren’t willing to stand up to an idiot during a debate, you sure as hell have no business in the White House.
Did you actually watch the debate??
All who did watch the debate know, that although Rudy was first out of the gates at this - the others also wanted to immediately, themselves, reply to nut-case Ron Paul but, sadly, were not given that opportunity by the panel's questioner, who immediately moved on to another question.
Rudy didn’t wait for a moderator to OK him to challenge this nut! The others attempted to dog pile after Rudy had taken the lead....
Like I said, lead, follow or get out of the way.
The point Ron Paul fails to see in his âsippy strawâ assessment is that Osama Bin Ladin represents no sovereign nation, he is only one self centered megalomaniac hell bent on taking over the World for his own aggrandizement. The United States was asked to be in the middle east by the leaders of the host Countries. The leaders of these Countries are who make policy NOT some sociopathic miscreant that only knows violence as a means to resolve issues.
was in quotes. I was answering someone elses post
No..I won't watch the debats until Fred joins the frey. All others (with the exception of Hunter)are pretenders to the Reagan throne. I can watch a dog and pony show on Comedy Central if I need too. (I did hear a chunk of it on talk radio though)
but like I said, it was RUDY's responsibility to say something to that @$$wipe Paul about 9-11...the attack happened in his ballpark...
He also stresses grievances against the United States widely shared in the Muslim world. inveighed against the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islams holiest sites. He spoke of the suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions imposed after the Gulf War, and he protested U.S. support of Israel.
We also supported Iraq in their invasion of Iran in 1980, which cost the lives of half a million Iranians over the course of the eight year war, in which Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran in violation of the Geneva Protocol to which they were a signatory.
Don't you think that might have a slight effect on how we are perceived in the region? That it might piss off a few folks here and there?
We was too busy making millions by "consulting" for the Mexican police.
We was too busy making millions by "consulting" for the Mexican police.
The Ron Pauls of the world do not have the DNA for survival. They are nothing but a babbling, convenient mouthpiece for the very persons who want to kill us all.
We had these types excusing away the slaughter of millions in the communist countries and now we have them excusing and rationalizing slaughter of millions by Islamist terrorists - and saying it’s all our fault. Ron Paul and his likes are not just neurotics - they are psychotics big-time.
Yawn, anti-war isolationist america deserved it mentally nutball got what he deserved... Thing about this stage or primaries is even the fruits and nuts get a bit of airtime... fortunately this won’t last much longer.
The Gulf War which was an action of the UN, not the actions of 3000 office workers in NYC.... Stop being an apologists for the enemies of America.
Leaders like King Hussein, King Fahd, King Abdullah, Emir al-Sabah, or good old authoritarian, terror-supporting Ba'athist President Bashar al-Assad, who presided for five years over the occupation and repression of Lebanon, etc.
Hereditary monarchies are the bane of liberty, and if we weren't so firmly latched on to the teat of Arabian oil, we'd be able to stand on principle in the Middle East, instead of expediency.
Who's the mouthpiece here?
He didn't assert justification, he just demonstrated that he understood the motivations and so-called reasoning of the America-haters better than Giuliani does.
Sun Tzu: "Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Rudy gets a soft pitch on his only conservative issue. Should that impress me? I dislike liberals. Rudy is a liberal. I won’t vote for him in the primary, in the general, etc. I dislike Rudy.
US foreign policy did invite the 9/11 attacks.
When Klinton let Osama slide on WTC attack #1, Marine Barracks, USS Cole, US Embassies in Kenya, and Mogudishu the US government pretty much said “Come over and kill us we won’t do anything, I’m too busy playing hide the cigar with this fat ho”.
Yes, it was brilliant leadership in happening to be the next person in line to answer a question after Ron Paul made his idiotic statement.
If it’s a lie, why was it in the bipartisan 9-11 Commission report?
DING DING DING!!! EXACTLY!
Yes, Ron Paul understands their pain.
Thank you, HamiltonJay, for saying that. He is a leader, and he will be a good president - an outstanding one. Again, thank you.
Saying our foreign policy gave rise to the attack and saying it is our fault are 2 VERY different things.
If you walk through South Central LA counting a wad of cash and you get mugged, it’s not your fault, it’s the fault of the people who mugged you. However, your behavior invited the attack. That’s obviously a more extreme example.
When the US conducts foreign policy, there are ramifications. The question is, was/is our involvement in the ME which is what agitates Islamic Extremists and motivated them to attack on 911 worth the benefit of reliable oil? The answer at this point is probably yes. So as that’s the case our only options are to try to destroy them (impossible to do but we can try to disrupt their plans) and look for ways to be less involved in the ME (less reliance on foreign oil), while providing strong homeland security.
Also note that we pulled our troops out of SA after 911. That was one of Bin Laden’s big beefs.
Yes yes.. we know you don’t like him VRWC... you’ve made that abundantly clear on every post where Rudy’s name shows up... but minimize all you want. Fact is, when it comes to this issue, not a damned candidate other than Rudy has been consistently blunt and forceful and unapologetic.
Thompson perhaps might be close, but that’s about it.
R’s even when in majority tapdanced around idiotics claims and allegations instead of calling out the lies for what they were. Pelosi is still out there lying as is Reid and others on these topics and what’s the response to them? Crickets chirping.
The rabid Paul-bashers don't seem to get that point, instead resorting to name-calling against a veteran member of the House Foreign Relations Committee.
There are certain times when, as a leader, a person does not sit quietly and wait his turn. This was one of those times - and the only one who jumped Paul was Giuliani. Good for him.
Wow! So Rudy, the cross-dresser, picked the weakest, nuttiest guy from the pack and whacked him upside the head. I’m supposed to be impressed? Too bad the other candidates don’t whack him over the head for his lifelong liberalism that stands in opposition to the majority of the Republican Party Platform.
Beating Ron Paul on a foreign policy question is like beating a three year old at chess.
The Murdoch media, and the Noo Yawk media in general, should be dumped into a reopened Fresh Kills.
Wait a minute, you forgot to call him a homo-lover as well. You’re slipping Spiffy.
Bin Laden has claimed grievences ranging from the full spectrum of racism all the way to the occupation of Andalusia. It's quite entertaining, if you follow his diatribes throughout the years, to watch him blame those darn crusaders for every hot topic in the news, and from the last 600 years.
In truth, none of that is why he is a terrorist. Taking him at his word is to fundamentally misunderstand who he is, and what his goals are. If you think he was up late one night, worrying about poor Iraqi children suffering under the embargo, when he resolved to attack the U.S., you're quite mistaken.
Althought, technically, you are correct. UBL did say some things that the 9/11 Commission reported that would squarely back up Ron Paul's statement. All well and good, but actually believing that would be a superficial and naiive position.
35 percent of all Democrats believe President Bush had advance knowledge of the attacks - and another 26 percent say they’re not sure.
This is proof alone that liberals are dumber than a bag of hammers, and deserve nothing but disrespect and scorn to the highest degree...
BULL$HIT.
If they didn’t blame us for buying their oil, they’d blame us for supporting Israel... fact is simple these people aren’t attacking us for politics, they are attacking us because they are humiliated little turds who cannot come to terms with the reality that its their own leaders and lifestyle and belief system that keep them down!
Their leaders, both political and religious foster hatred to the successful nations and people of the globe because its easier to keep the populations controlled by deflecting hate at a foreign enemy than have them looking right at them and their corruption for their fates.
NO AREA OF THE WORLD HAS HAD MORE CASH IMPORTED INTO IT!!! NONE!! TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS HAVE FLOODED THESE NATIONS FOR DECADES! All because of the fact they sit on top of a natural resource... every one of these nations should be awash in success and prosperity! But they aren’t, and it has NOTHING to do with the United States!!!
To blame US foreign policy in the ME for the abject hatred of us over there is pure ignorance, of the culture, politics and realities of the area! Muslims are humiliated in the eyes of the world because of the actions of other MULSIMS!!!! And until Arabs come to terms with their own failings, (and there is ZERO political gain for any leadership over there to even admit such a thing) they will not reform their nations and world views, and until they do that they will be nothing more than 3rd rate jokes on the world stage. So, blame the great satan across the sea, and little satan on the med, rather than the true satan within their own house.
That’s the entire ME issue in a nutshell, and anyone who claims the US brought these attacks on ourselves or even implies it are idiots. Even if we had zero troops htere, they would still hate and attack, because its not about sovereignty or anything else that you can “give up” for peace. Its about killing simply because you can.. no amount of capitulation will change these peoples actions. THose that believe in a Islamic Calaphate will not be appeased... you are either going to convert or DIE... just as Mohammed himself offered when he founded the horrible “religion” that keeps them down.
It is hard to have a serious debate on something when people can’t or won’t address all the facts...
I say that in regard to the candidates. They don’t have unlimited time, but Ron Paul ignored some details. You are always going to have disgruntled folks who won’t like something that a whole country does. So how do you defend yourself when these disgruntled ones do not represent a government?
Leadership does not mean crawling under a rock or hiding your head in the sand because someone doesn’t like something you do. [Regarding our government and its actions.]
Most of the complaints from freepers involve that idea that they don’t have unlimited time in a debate, don’t address ALL the issues, don’t use what the freeper thinks is the most important point the first thing out of the candidate’s mouth.
It is hard to have a serious debate on a complex issue in sound bites.
My, my, my.
One candidate stands on constitutional principle and has the integrity to speak truths that the GOP machine doesn’t want to hear. What does he reap on FR for his trouble? Pubbie true believers hooting like baboons and tossing trite platitudes like a bunch of brainless children.
How far Free Republic has fallen.
Texas oddball. Yep.
“Again, from the 9-11 Commission Report, discussing Bin Ladin’s motivations: “
You have apparently become deranged by hanging around the “Blame America First” crowd too long. Why would anyone care about the motivations of a megalomaniac sociopath? If your next door neighbor slaughtered your family because your dog barked one night, would you blame yourself for not controlling the dog enough?
What an unbelievable nincompoop!
The fact that Rudy grabbed at the chance to "grand stand" at an opportune moment does NOT put him in the position of "being able lead" at all.
We he to have been in that position, he would have challenged Hillary for the Senate in NY; he might also gone for the Gov. of NY but know, he lays aside knowing how bruising the politics of NY are and how smarmy his background is and hopes to be crowned Republican candidate for President in '08. This man will never become President!
Yawn.
You don’t like Rudy, so be it. But claiming his decisions on when and what positions to run for are proof of his inability to lead?????????? Wow, you are reaching.
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