His marital infidelity doesn’t interest me since it has nothing to do with what makes a president great. If Rudy has the brains and talent to turn the present mess around, why should we care if he had a bad marriage and cheated on his wife? It’s not relevant. We’re not electing a pastor, we’re electing a political leader—someone with proven executive abilities. Few candidates are morally flawless—and those who seem so may be worst of all as leaders. That’s just the way the real world operates.
The truth is we should watch out we don’t nominate another gentleman like McCain who was reluctant to bring up embarrassing issues like the radicals who surrounded his opponent. He ran a lousy but polite campaign—so now we’re stuck with Obama.
Nor should we elect another gentleman like Bush. Don’t get me wrong—I voted for Bush, I liked him as a person. But his presidency faltered because he was too nice for these times, stubbornly refusing to fight fire with fire. He needed to clean up the CIA and its legion of back-stabbers—and wouldn’t. He needed to prosecute the publisher and editor of the NYTimes when that newspaper betrayed the nation by publishing official secrets compromising the war. Bush had the authority to legally do so but wouldn’t. Regarding Katrina he willingly took the rap rather than put the blame where it rightfully belonged, on the state governor and city mayor who failed their Louisianna constituents.
I realize Bush is beloved by many for his gentlemanly ways—but to me he failed his party and his base because he failed to realize we’re in a cold civil war and that what is most urgently needed at this time are WARRIORS. We need people willing to fight fire with fire—not gentlemen like McCain or Romney or Pawlenty or a host of other nice guys who finish last because they don’t know how to go for the jugular when it’s absolutely necessary. That’s not fighting dirty—that’s just the art of self-defense.
I want a scrapper at the top—and I don’t give a damn how bad a marriage he has or has had. His marital life is not relevant to me and mine because it has nothing to do with turning this country away from the brink of socialism. Only someone tough, someone with a record of achieving the impossible, someone like Rudy who can bang heads together and make things happen, can do this. All the rest are politicians-as-usual.
While I understand you put no value on honor and integrity in political leadership, continually puling they have nothing to do with great leadership is not only counter-intuitive, it's doctrinaire.
I'm reminded of the vast hords of myopic liberals who only discover the fruits of their disdain for traditional values AFTER their families are irrevocably shattered.
If Rudy has the brains and talent to turn the present mess around, why should we care if he had a bad marriage and cheated on his wife?
Because many are convinced one of the many requirements to "turn this mess around" is a degree of moral authority Rudy does not, and no longer can, possess.
You don't have to agree, but continually asserting "it's not relevant" does nothing but demean those you wish to pursuade.
We’re not electing a pastor, we’re electing a political leader—someone with proven executive abilities. Few candidates are morally flawless—and those who seem so may be worst of all as leaders. That’s just the way the real world operates.
Look, I understand, alright.I get your point. What you don't understand is you are affected by what I call "smoker's myopia."
Yes, there are thousands of smokers "in the real world," and they are utterly inured to the fact their very presence makes many want to retch! It's not because people are haughty, or self-righteous, or goldilockean: it's because smokers smell nasty.
So again, while I understand you put no great value on integrity, do not be so conceited as to think those of us who do lack "real world" experience.
I realize Bush is beloved by many for his gentlemanly ways—but to me he failed his party and his base because he failed to realize we’re in a cold civil war and that what is most urgently needed at this time are WARRIORS. We need people willing to fight fire with fire—...
In this we agree, which is why I support Palin as the ONLY leader on the horizon who has publically claimed to be a student of Horowitz.
Human history is full of tough-minded leaders ready to break heads. What's uniquely American are leaders who will do so "on the side of the angels" as Dinesh D'sousa wrote in "What's So Great About America."