Posted on 03/02/2007 8:40:17 AM PST by areafiftyone
All day today we are covering speakers and panels at the 34th Annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC. This morning, we'll hear from Republican presidential hopeful former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He will be followed by Reps. Scott Garrett (NJ), Tom Tancredo (CO), and others.
CLICK ON THE MAIN CSPAN PAGE HERE
That's not a draft dodger either! Thanks for the info.
There is a difference between having principles and living by those principles. It is my observation that as long as someone agrees with 100% of your litmus tests - they are free to be as much of a creep on this site as they care to...meaning they are not expected to live by their principles - just to taut them rabidly. Hence ideological purity trumps character. If that is not true - I'd like to know it.
And it is 100 to 1 that that "pro" lifer was hysterical at the thought of allowing Terri to go.
Some of these people are unhinged.
That's a fair point, and I understand where you're coming from. I just don't have the time to sift through the mountains of posts in order to find the ones in question.
How'd you guess?
I thought I would add this to the thread as Patrick Ruffini is blogging at CPAC and has the following up on his blog:
« CPAC 2007
Rudy: Live from the Room
by Patrick Ruffini :: March 2nd, 2007 3:31 pm
The CPAC bloggers are covering the Mayors speech admirably, so I wont belabor each point of the speech. But here are some initial impressions from the room.
Rudy packed em in. The doors closed 20 minutes before he began speaking and Im told the poor CPAC interns were locked arm to arm keeping more people from the capacity room. (Erick Erickson and Rob Bluey got the short stick in all this lets say that their 12:30 new media panel definitely didnt get the attendance it richly deserved.)
This final snippet from George Wills introduction captures the Mayors appeal perfectly:
Your next speakers conservatism is the flavor of Margaret Thatchers, of whom it was said she could not pass a government institution without swatting with her hand bag. Your next speaker grew up in Brooklyn when the Dodgets were still there, and nevertheless rooted for the Yankees. [This really got the crowd going.] Obviously your next speaker is someone who is spoiling for a fight. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a man for whom pugnacity is a political philosophy, Rudy Giuliani.
The initial reception to New York, New York was rousing and the speech thoughtful. The impression I was overwhelmingly left with was this was not a candidate with one-dimensional appeal. His lines on crime and education in New York got applause just his lines on terror did.
I should have more a bit later.
I'm glad I saw your post before I left.
When we get talking about what is happening on FR lately, I do comment, as do some others, that it is mostly the men who are pinging Jim and asking him to help them out because they don't like it that we're supporting Rudy.
It strikes our funny bones that grown men are so sensitive and needing to bring in the "big guy" because they just can't stand the thought that we support a Republican they don't like.
If that makes me sound bitter to some freepers (not you), I can live with that. It still strikes my funny bone and we get a good laugh out of it all.
My father, brother-in-law, brother and I all eached packed one suitcase for an entire month in Denmark. Actually my brother-in-law had a large duffel bag. My mom and sister each had three large suitcases. LOL
Not me; it was Hitman.
BTW, we are ALL conservatives here; just not the wrist slitter types you hang with.
Nice...which one?
My wife and I went down to St. Maarten and St. Barts a few years ago. That's a great area of the world to spend a couple weeks.
In a states rights issue, they got the president and Congress involved.
There is a much greater difference between having principles and abandoning them wholesale.
It is my observation that as long as someone agrees with 100% of your litmus tests - they are free to be as much of a creep on this site as they care to...
Oh, that's a hoot. The Rudy boosters have dished it out plenty during all this.
meaning they are not expected to live by their principles - just to taut them rabidly.
My principles are that I defend core conservative values - including efforts from within the GOP to sandbag them. But I also realize that I can't have everything. However, 20 percent doesn't cut it, either.
Hence ideological purity trumps character. If that is not true - I'd like to know it.
It only works through your convoluted logic that ignores key details - namely, you ain't got clean hands yourself with your "purity" nonsense.
As an aside, you are willing to let a nuke go off in NYC if abortion was declared illegal in the US? That's Taliban thinking. Most people who can afford abortion will go to Canada or Mexico. What are you going to do with them? Heck, it would be brisk business in Neuvo Laredo, Tornoto, and Vancouver.
No notes?? I love the President, but there are few worse than he at speaking...ok, well, Hillary.
why is it your last post?
Are you from "Romancing the Stone" fame?
Oh. I could have sworn you instantly followed up his post with a graphic of the cover of a book about mental illness. In other words, I thought for sure you gave him a big "AMEN!" Silly me...
I love this post. It's a classic. If we are pro-life and opposed to Rudy, we therefore must not care if a nuke goes off in this country.
And that makes us Taliban as well.
What a load of crap. The guy I support, Hunter, has national security bona fides that DWARF Rudy's. And he manages to be pro-life and pro-gun as well. Some folks can do conservative multitasking instead of being able to handle only one conservative issue.
But we're still the single-issue voters. BWHAHAHA!
Here is another blog entry on Rudy's speech:
Here's a blog entry from "Captains Quarters" that sums up Rudy's performance nicely, I thought.
Source: http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/009304.php
CPAC: Giuliani Speaks
Rudy Giuliani is speaking now at the CPAC conference, and he is drawing huge crowds -- not only in the Regency Ballroom where he is appearing, but also around every monitor in the exhibition hall. He's keeping the CPAC attendees riveted, and the place is otherwise as quiet as I've seen it since my early morning arrival.
George Will introduced him to the CPAC audience by noting that only three Presidents have served as mayors previous to their national election: Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, and Calvin Coolidge, the latter being the last President with whom Will completely agreed. Will noted that the mayoralty of New York City carries specific challenges, calling it "liberalism's laboratory" and a center for "learned dependency". He spoke about Giuliani's conservative instincts -- such as when he declared fatherhood the best social program, or raising taxes a "dumb, stupid, idiotic, and moronic idea". Will assured the CPAC activists that Giuliani's conservatism is the same flavor as Lady Thatcher's, and that pugnacity is his political philosophy.
Rudy spoke afterwards, and he hit some familiar themes. He started by talking about the non-binding resolutions on the war, which he acknowledged Congress had every right of debating. However, Giuliani used this to show the general bankruptcy of leadership in American politics. America does not elect people to Congress to be commentators, but to make decisions. Let George Will do commentary, he said, as Will knows what he's doing. Congress should make decisions and live with the consequences, not abdicate their responsibilities or use the process of legislation to make meaningless, useless gestures.
Giuliani returned often to the theme of leadership. He talked about how Ronald Reagan defied public opinion to do the right thing so often, and becoming a great President in the process. He staged Pershings in Europe even though he got roundly excoriated for it. He refused to sign a bad deal at Rekjavik, and people claimed he would bring the end of the world.
He also alluded to his differences with CPAC activists. Giuliani said that he understands that we will have some differences, but told people to beware making your 80% ally a 20% enemy. He joked that he might have just described some marriages. Giuliani urged CPAC to focus on areas of agreement and to determine who will most effectively carry those points of agreement to the White House.
Afterwards, he spoke at length on national security. He says that the Democrats want to go back to the way we handled national security in the 1990s, allowing the US to remain paralyzed waiting for international approval. He drew great applause with this line: "We don't have to be ashamed of acting in our own interests."
Rudy ends by invoking Ronald Reagan a final time, saying we need peace through strength. He's getting a huge ovation as he leaves the stage, and it was a stirring speech, no doubt -- and no surprise.
If you want a clue as to his impact here at CPAC, I'll give you this description. Mitt Romney has turned out a fabulous response, with scores of young people acting as barkers for Mitt in the hallways. Campaign activists have prowled the hallways both days. Exhibitors have tried buttonholing passers-by to make their own special pleas. Everyone of these people gathered around television monitors, enraptured until the final word.
Very impressive, and tough to follow. Mitt Romney will be on at 2:45 pm ET today, and he'd better be bringing his A-game.
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