Rudy’s a No-Go

National Review ^ | 2/6/2007 | Terence P. Jeffrey

[ElkGroveDan]

“Murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes,” Rudy Giuliani once said. “But they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.”

Good point, Rudy.

Now, what about a climate — not to mention a Republican presidential candidate — that not only tolerates, but allows unelected judges to legalize the practice of delivering a child until only its head remains within its mothers womb so the child can be killed by sucking out its brains?

What about a climate where same-sex couples are given the same legal status as married couples, whether the resulting arrangements are candidly called “same-sex marriages,” or are semantically papered-over with terms such as “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships”?

Apply the Giuliani Continuum to fundamental issues such as marriage and the right to life, and where does it lead?

Not where conservatives want America to be.

Rudy Giuliani’s observation about the “continuum” running from graffiti to murder was quoted in a piece in the winter edition of City Journal by Steven Malanga. The title of Malanga’s piece neatly encapsulates his argument: “Yes, Rudy is a Conservative — and an electable one at that.”

I believe Malanga is wrong on both counts. Rudy is neither conservative, nor electable — at least, not as a Republican presidential candidate.

As Malanga seems to define it, a politician dedicated to good police work and free-market economics qualifies as a conservative. “Far from being a liberal,” Malanga writes of Giuliani, “he ran New York with a conservative’s priorities: government exists above all to keep people safe in their homes and in the streets, he said, not to redistribute income, run a welfare state, or perform social engineering. The private economy, not government, creates opportunity, he argued; government should just deliver basic services well and then get out of the private sector’s way.”

But that’s not enough. While advocating law and order, self-reliance, and capitalism is laudable, it does not entitle a politician to a free pass for advocating other causes that are deeply destructive of American society.

While it is always wrong to take an innocent human life — whether on a New York sidewalk or in a mother’s womb — Giuliani is highly selective in applying this principle. In 1999, when he was pondering a run for the U.S. Senate, he was asked whether he supported banning partial-birth abortion. “No, I have not supported that,” he said, “and I don’t see my position on that changing.”

“I'm pro-gay rights,” he also said. Indeed, his position is so radical in this area that as New York City mayor he promoted a city ordinance that removed the distinctions in municipal law between married and unmarried couples, regardless of their gender.

“What it really is doing is preventing discrimination against people who have different sexual orientations, or make different preferences in which they want to lead their lives,” Giuliani said, explaining the ordinance to the New York Times. “Domestic partnerships not only affect gays and lesbians, but they also affect heterosexuals who choose to lead their lives in different ways.”

In other words, preserving a legal order that prefers traditional marriage and traditional families is “discrimination.”

Giuliani’s positions on abortion and marriage disqualify him as a conservative because they annihilate the link between the natural law and man-made laws. Indeed, they use man-made law to promote and protect acts that violate the natural law.

Given his argument that there is a “continuum” between graffiti and murder, you would think that Giuliani would understand the importance of the link between the natural law and the laws of New York City, let alone the laws of the United States. At the heart of Rudy’s “continuum” argument, is the realization that when society refuses to enforce a just law it teaches people to disrespect the moral principles underlying just laws.

The late Russell Kirk argued in The Conservative Mind that the first canon of conservatism is “[b]elief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience. Political problems, at bottom, are religious and moral problems. … True politics is the art of apprehending and applying the Justice which ought to prevail in a community of souls.”

It is simply not justice to take the life of an unborn child. Nor is it justice to codify same-sex relationships so that, by design of the state itself, a child can be denied a mother or a father from birth, which is one thing legalized same-sex unions would do.

By advocating abortion on demand and same-sex unions, Rudy is doing something far more egregious than, say, defacing a New York subway train. He is defacing the institution that forms the foundation of human civilization.

That is not conservative.

Rudy will not win the Republican nomination because enough of the people who vote in Republican caucuses and primaries still respect life and marriage, and are not ready to give up on them — or on the Republican party as an agent for protecting them.

[hosepipe]

If confusion about Giuliani is this confused on Free Republic..
Then it must be much much worse in the general population..

The MsM loves Rudy Giuliani vs Hillary, why IS THAT?...
And NO RED FLAGS ARE GOING UP...

Are republicans autistic?..

[Tokra]

Immigration and gay marriage would have been stopped him from winning anyway.

When has he said he favors gay marriage?

In fact, he has said the opposite - he has said that he believes marriage is ONLY for a man and a woman.

What's the problem with that?

[upsdriver]

Not enough, sorry!!

[James Ewell Brown Stuart]

I will vote for Rudy for two reasons. I believe he will fight the war on terror and be as dogged in the face of opposition as President Bush has been. Second, I like him. I can't help it. I just do.

[rhc2000]

Great...teach us all a lesson by punishing the GOP. Do you have any clue as to the damage a Hillary type can do to the country with a majority in the House and Senate? By the time you guys actually are done "teaching the GOP a lesson", you'll be paying huge taxes, there will be 2-3 liberal judges on the Supreme Court, and we might all be praying to Allah and/or speaking Spanish. Hey, at least you'll have stuck to your core values and taught the GOP a very important lesson.

[Pistolshot]

What does a candidate who believes in all the "core values" get you in the general election? 40-44% of the vote and that ain't gonna cut it in 2008. Pick your battles my friend as losing in 2008 is not a pleasant thought.

The 'battle' as you put it, is not about whether Rudy can beat Hillary. Hillary will self-destruct, she can't help it. Her temper like Howard Deans mouth will expose her as 'damaged goods'. Hopefully later AFTER she wins the nomination rather than sooner.
If Rudy was a Democrat, he would be the best candidate they have. As a Republican candidate, he is what the Democrats want, Pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-gay marriage.

Once you have decided to give up or set aside your core values for gaining the White House, you have fallen into the hands of the RINO's.
And we have enough of those to go around now.

[flashbunny]

pretty much it.

I've seen people who claimed they'd never vote for a RINO say it HAS to be either rudy or romney, because if we run a conservative, they're going to lose and put hillary in office.

And if you don't either support a rino NOW or declare who your candidate is 22 months before the election, and tell how in the hell they could beat the unstoppable hillary, well, you just don't love america and apple pie and you want the terrorists to win.

[Past Your Eyes]

I have been voting since 1968. I think the only primaries I ever voted in where I actually voted for the winner were 1980, '84 and '04. Other than that, my votes went to non-winners. But in the general election, I've voted for the winner in '68, '72, '80, '84, '88, '00 and '04. Seven outta ten ain't bad.

[thepresidentsbestfriend]

God Bless poor Pat Robertson!! He is getting old. Jesus does not support Rudy!!! Ask me how I know ? I asked him and he clearly told me ,"No Rudy"

[upsdriver]

Yes, the Rudy people are very unappeasable, aren't they?

[CyberAnt]

Well .. Rudy's opinion is about where Cheney is .. so saying Rudy's against marriage is grossly wrong. He still believes "marriage" is between a man and a woman .. but he's not opposed to civil unions (which he believes is the job of each state to decide).

My how the anti-Rudy people are so eager to distort everything Rudy says .. it even sounds a little like what the Hillary campaign will be saying about him ..??

[jdm]

Someone posted this yesterday. I don't know how accurate it is. I only put it on my "about" page since I'm trying to learn more about posting HTML. :O)

Giuliani/Clinton/Dem vs. GOP Platform Comparison
Issue	Giuliani	Clinton	Dem Platform	GOP Platform
Abortion on Demand	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Partial Birth Abortion	Supports Opposed NY ban	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Roe v. Wade	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Taxpayer Funded Abortions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Embryonic Stem Cell Research	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Federal Marriage Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Defined at state level	Supports
Gay Domestic Partnership/ Civil Unions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Openly Gay Military	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Defense of Marriage Act	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Special Path to Citizenship for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Tough Penalties for Employers of Illegal Aliens	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Sanctuary Cities/ Ignoring Immigration Law	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Protecting 2nd Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Supports bans	Supports
Confiscating Guns	Supports Confiscated as mayor. Even bragged.	Supports	Supports Supports bans	Opposes
'Assault' Weapons Ban	Supports	Supports	Supports
Frivolous Lawsuits Against Gun Makers	Supports Filed One Himself	Supports		Opposes
Gun Registration/Licenses	Supports	Supports		Opposes
War in Afghanistan	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports	Supports
War in Iraq	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports Weak support	Supports
Patriot Act	Supports	Supports Voted for it 2001 & 2006	Opposes	Supports

"Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." - Rudy Giuliani

[Spiff]

Right on! Thank you for posting this. This shows that at least some Republicans aren't drinking the KoolAid.

[Millee]

Admitted dummy here, but what's a "socon"?

[wbill]

The current 'battle' the media is touting is Rudy vs AlGore in '08. I'd love to see that; it may be the first time a Republican carries all 50 states.

Given the choice between the frontrunners, I like Rudy the most. While there may be others that I'd like to see run (Hunter? Tancredo?) I don't think that they're electable.

Unless...either Hillary! or AlGore steal the (D) nomination. Then, it doesn't really matter who the Republicans run, because their core will come sprinting home. Heck, I'd even vote for John McCain if he was running against Gore or Clinton.

[sam_paine]

I plan to vote for Duncan Hunter in the primary, but if he cannot gain traction, I will vote for Rudy.

Ha! You're out of your mind! If your 100% candidate doesn't win the primary, then you stay the hell away from the general election and teach the amoral bastards a lesson! You'll teach them to listen to you, or else! LOL. Uh, yeah. "/sarc"

[monocle]

Democrats and the MSM are biding their time and crossing their fingers in hope that Giuliani is nominated. If Giuliani is nominated his personal life will be made issue number one. Even if I agreed with Giuliani on all issues, which I don't, I would be reluctant to vote for him in a primary because of the trap being set. Furthermore, there are enough single issue voters on the right which would lower the turnout in the general election. Current polls notwithstanding I do not think Giuliani is electable regardless of who is the Democrat nominee, except maybe Kucinich or Sharpton.

[mupcat]

.....because enough of the people who vote in Republican caucuses and primaries still respect life and marriage

He was interviewed this morning and said he was for a legal union for gays, but NOT for marriage, and he believed that marriage was only for a man and a woman.

[dmw]

Oh, I believe you. I never realized how many liberals there were on FR until the Rudybots came out of the woodwork. But the one thing that gives me peace of mind is knowing that the social conservatives will not go along with Rudy, therefore, he doesn't stand a chance of getting nominated. But you can go on dreaming if you want.