Photo: MIKE BONNER
Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks to area first responders and interested citizens at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday afternoon.
Posted on 02/22/2007 6:16:20 AM PST by areafiftyone
Photo: MIKE BONNER
Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani speaks to area first responders and interested citizens at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday afternoon.
America must assume it will face a future terrorist attack akin to 9/11, and realize that police, fire and rescue workers are vital to this country’s domestic security, former New York Mayor and current Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday in Spartanburg.
“We have to assume that they will. That’s the only way we can be safe, is if we assume they will attack us and then we do everything we can as best we can as human beings and professionals to prepare for it,” Giuliani said.
“But when they do it again, it isn’t going to be the federal government, it isn’t going to be the military probably, that’s going to have to show up as the first people that arrive on the scene of the bombing, or the anthrax attack, or… you pick the attack. It’s going to be one of your brothers and sisters, or you that gets to do it. And your ability to do it well will once again determine if we’re able to save lives, save America. We’ll never do it perfectly, but we’ve got to do it as best we can.”
An estimated 300 people — mostly emergency responders from across the state, along with a gaggle of print and broadcast reporters — packed into the North Spartanburg Fire Department on Wednesday, where Giuliani spoke and answered questions for about an hour.
His speech was sandwiched between two fundraisers, one for U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis in Greenville and one for himself at Colonial Trust President Barry Wynn’s house in Spartanburg.
While the hero image Giuliani attained in many people’s minds following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has helped his popularity soar, two main challenges his campaign faces in the critical Republican primary state of South Carolina are his stance on social issues — considered “soft” or “liberal” by many social conservatives — and his identity outside of New York City.
Giuliani did not address abortion, gay marriage and gun control during his stop in Spartanburg, though County Council Chairman Jeff Horton, in endorsing Giuliani’s candidacy, played up the bond South Carolina shares with New York.
“It has been said that the business of America is business. If that is true, and I believe it is, then New York City is our city, too. And we all owe Mayor Rudy Giuliani for saving it for us,” Horton said.
“Mayor Giuliani was there when the twin towers were hit. He knew many of the police and firemen who rushed willingly, dutifully, into the flames and perished in the act. He lost friends in that attack. He has been tested and proven. He is the man to lead our country in 2008.”
Giuliani also was named a member of the South Carolina State Firefighters Association, and an honorary South Carolina fire chief.
“We watched you on the world stage in a very tough time for our nation,” said Joe Palmer, president of the Firefighters Association. “We know your heart. You are one of us.”
((((((RUDY PING))))
But if a Dem wins the WH we won't be attacked because we will not treat people with arrogance and we will all be friends. I don't know what he is talking about.
Oh yea I forgot everyone in the world will love us and send us flowers and candy if a Democrat wins the White House. LOL!
Yeah, well, he ain't one of us
Gun-grabbing, abortion-supporting RINO alert!
And we're all going to sing "Kumbaya."
Yea? And Who are You supposed to be? You say one of us- do you mean the Rinse and Repeat crowd. Yea Rudy is not one of you guys. Thank god!
If a Democrat gets in the White House We better learn the words to it. LOL!
If the Dems get their way on the pullout, I would highly recommend that those Freepers who live in large East/West Coast cities and any in Chicago, move somewhere far away and upwind of these cities.
We know where they come from, lets send em back to satans sand box.
Is it true that while in South Carolina, Giuliani personally put out fires in several cities simultaneously? He's such a super hero.
good post!!
Still not convinced he's gonna fly all that well in a state like South Carolina in the primary.
Listen - all the Mayors of NYC have the same problem its not just Rudy. Rudy was responsible for grouping the Transit police and Housing police together and threatened to fire them if they didn't. To group firemen and police together is a totally different story. It's a union thing and a battle of the ages.
In the end, it WAS the military that stopped the 'bleeding'... the first responders were overwhelmed and in many instances... they simply evaporated.
A cities response to a major attack lies in the fabric and character of its inhabitants... NOLA had little... and it showed.
"Giuliani did not address abortion, gay marriage and gun control during his stop in Spartanburg"
Nor did he allow any questions about them.
He knows the people in South Carolina would freak out with his answers. They will find out eventually, right now they are showing him Southern hospitality and being nice to him. When the gloves come off, he will suffer like McCain did in 2000.
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