2008

The Latest on Rudy

Calvin Freiburger 2008, abortion, ethics, GOP, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Kerik, pro-life
Laura Ingraham gets this week’s “Pundit with Principles” award for (not following Hannity’s lead and) actually grilling Giuliani on abortion.
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I’m currently debating the Mayor’s support for premeditated child homicide at Bloggers4Rudy.
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If Rudy “hates” abortion, he’s got some ‘splainin’ to do: Remarks to NARAL’s “Champions of Choice” Luncheon, and his spin as to why he donated to Planned Parenthood doesn’t hold water. (hat tip: EFM)
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Bill Donohue asks a great question: “If helping pregnant women make choices is the supreme issue for Rudy Giuliani, then he should be able to document all the checks he’s written to support Crisis Pregnancy Centers—not just Planned Parenthood. If he can’t, it is logical to conclude that the only real choice he thinks is worthy of his money is the one which results in the death of innocent human beings. And that would make him a fraud.” (hat tip: K-Lo)
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“But he significantly increased adoptions in the Big Apple, right?” Not so fast.
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Oh and by the way, Rudy’s problems aren’t all abortion-related: meet Bernie Kerik, the elephant in the room (no pun intended).

First Republican Primary Debate

Calvin Freiburger 2008, conservatism, debate, Duncan Hunter, Giuliani, GOP, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, McCain, Ron Paul, Tancredo, Tommy Thompson
Full video here. Best performances: Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, & Duncan Hunter. John McCain did well, though the almost-angry tone that soared talking about the war seemed a little odd in other places (vowing to follow Osama bin Laden “to the gates of Hell” was a great touch, but his smile afterward was just creepy). The rest of the candidates were fair…except for Tommy Thompson & Ron “Kos-wing-of-the-party” Paul. Just go home, you two. Please.
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Some points of interest:
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One of the things the three who impressed me most managed to do was work in issues that were otherwise on the back burner: for instance, Mitt worked a McCain-Feingold jab into a pro-life answer, Hunter’s now-famous “Yes, and let me use the rest of my time on Iran” answer to “Are you a compassionate conservative?,” and Tancredo getting in immigration repeatedly.
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When asked about churches who ex-communicate pro-choicers, Romney turned the tables on the Left by noting that, thanks to the separation of church & state, churches have the freedom to do what they want. Overall he was passionate, optimistic, & confident; and several have noticed (even Savage?!).
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Tancredo had some nice moments, such as calling Roe v. Wade’s hypothetical overturn “the greatest day in American history,” calling for the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, and noting that their host, the Reagan Library, was in honor of a man who was not a centrist.
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Giuliani may have know the difference between Sunni and Shia, but offered little to match the hype (especially not Michael Medved’s ridiculous description of him as “Reaganesque”). Certainly not his “eh, whatever” reaction to Roe’s future fall. Weak.

Tidbits from the Republican Primary

Calvin Freiburger 2008, Fred Thompson, Giuliani, GOP, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post
Mitt Romney has a great Townhall piece blasting McCain-Feingold (by the way, he’ll also be giving the commencement address at my soon-to-be school, Hillsdale College).
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Fred Thompson: “mulling summer announcement,” though he hasn’t made a final decision yet. I would humbly point out to my fellow conservatives two things: 1.) there’s a Republican primary debate just days away, and 2.) right now, my guy is an actual candidate.
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Whoops: “Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani released his latest slate of New Hampshire supporters last week. One problem: Not all of them back the former New York City mayor.”
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And John McCain: idiot.

The Statesman that Time Forgot

Calvin Freiburger 2008, Democrats, humor, Mike Gravel, moonbats
His name is Mike Gravel. He hasn’t held public office since 1981. He manages to make the rest of the Democrats look hawkish by comparison. And he wants to be your president.
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Senator Gravel advocates a plan that empowers individual citizens to actually make law, believes in global warming (of course), and wants to “de-criminalize minor drug offenses.” Oddly enough, he also happens to support the Fair Tax.
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The would-be commander-in-chief “firmly opposed President Bush’s decision to send 40,000 [say what?] more troops to Iraq.” How would he get out of the war? He would “pass a law. Not a resolution, a law making it a felony to stay there,” and he thinks Barack Obama (!) wants to nuke somebody.
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Huh.

Odds & Ends

Calvin Freiburger 2008, Baldwin, Biden, Darfur, Hollywood, Iran, McCain, parenting, school shootings, stupidity
John McCain jokes about bombing Iran, then tells predictably-shocked (shocked!) liberals to “get a life.” Good for you, Senator.
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Meanwhile, another Hollywood leftist turns out to be a rotten bloke in his personal life. Does this count as “verbal violence,” Senator Obama? Unlike the Rutgers basketball team with Don Imus, this poor girl actually had to spend long periods of time with this creep, whose tirade was far more vicious than “nappy-headed ho.”
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Oh, and Jo[k]e Biden decries the “politics of polarization,” saying “since 1994 with the Gingrich revolution, just take a look at Iraq, Venezuela, Katrina, what’s gone down at Virginia Tech, Darfur, Imus. Take a look. This didn’t happen accidentally, all these things.” But there’s nothing polarizing or divisive whatsoever about blaming a political party for, among other things, a school shooting and overseas genocide in the same breath. Nope. Nuthin’.

Barack’s Brilliance

Calvin Freiburger 2008, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Obama, school shootings, stupidity
During Barack Obama’s campaign stop in Milwaukee, WI, he used the Virginia Tech massacre as a jumping-off point to address “other kinds” of violence:
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There’s the “verbal violence” of Imus.
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There’s “the violence of men and women who have worked all their lives and suddenly have the rug pulled out from under them because their job is moved to another country.”
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There’s “the violence of children whose voices are not heard in communities that are ignored,”
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And so, Obama says, “there’s a lot of different forms of violence in our society, and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other.”
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Many politicians would avoid, I think, suggesting that outsourcing and mass-murder belong in the same category.
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As well they should, to say nothing of a radio jock’s obnoxiousness! Verbal violence?! More like verbal flatulence.
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Listening to Obama’s speech, I had another question: where was the Senator’s famed charisma? I sure didn’t hear it. Maybe Obamamania has to be taken in small doses due to its extreme potency…yeah, that’s it…
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(In comparison, I think my guy—who just received the Ronald Reagan Award from Frontiers of Freedom—has the upper hand on charisma.)

America’s Mayor Aborting Own Candidacy?

Calvin Freiburger 2008, abortion, conservatism, GOP, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, pro-life
Too early to be sure, but one can only hope…
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Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani warned GOP activists in Des Moines on Saturday that if they insist on a nominee who always agrees with them, it will spell defeat in 2008.
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“Our party is going to grow, and we are going to win in 2008 if we are a party characterized by what we’re for, not if we’re a party that’s known for what we’re against,” the former New York mayor said at a midday campaign stop.
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Republicans can win, he said, if they nominate a candidate committed to the fight against terrorism and high taxes, rather than a pure social conservative.
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“Our party has to get beyond issues like that,” Giuliani said, a reference to abortion rights, which he supports.
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Over at the Corner there’s some doubt as to what precisely Giuliani meant, but to me, it’s immaterial. We know he’s an extremist on abortion, and that he hasn’t a clue what judicial originalism means. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’d love it if the social Right would just vanish, and chances are this was a case of the real Rudy bubbling to the surface.

Terror Warrior?

Calvin Freiburger 2008, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Iraq, War on Terror
Rudy Giuliani should be forgiven for his social liberalism and elected president because he’ll fight an aggressive War on Terror—or so we’re told. Now, even that is questionable:
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[I]n discussing the deployment of more troops, Mr. Giuliani has been alone in saying that such a strategy may not succeed, potentially providing him cover should the situation in Iraq deteriorate further. And he has put the strategy in a broader context that plays down the importance of Iraq.
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Terrorists “are going to continue to be at war with us, no matter what the outcome in Iraq,” Mr. Giuliani said recently in New Hampshire. The night before, he said that “there are no sure things,” and that if the United States fails in Iraq, “we have to be ready for that, too.” In California a few days later, speaking of “the danger of focusing on Iraq too much,” he said that complete success there would not win the fight against terrorism, and that failure there would not lose it.
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I’ve been trying to figure out the why Rudy’s terror rhetoric is so underwhelming yet so appealing to people, and the other night it hit me: it’s nothing the average talk-radio listener off the street couldn’t repeat back to you. “Terrorists will come here…war whether we want it or not…the president has acknowledged mistakes…” which is true enough as far as it goes, but that’s about as specific as America’s Mayor gets (listen for his answer as to what mistakes we made in Iraq…hint: it ain’t there).
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Man, this house of cards is seriously overdue for a nice, strong gust of wind…

Division on the Right

Calvin Freiburger 2008, conservatism, Fred Thompson, Gingrich, GOP, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post
I’ve got a bone to pick with two of our potential candidates: Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich.
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Not on policy grounds—both men are (though not perfect) conservative enough to win my support, should they conquer the primaries. I think Thompson has a chance of winning, Newt not so much, but there are a lot of people excited about the mere possibility of their candidacies. Which is why the “maybe” status of their candidacies bothers me.
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If you want to be president, go for it. Make your cases and do your best to rally the Right. I wouldn’t jump ship (I’m convinced Mitt Romney is the best the field has to offer), but if you can convince the most voters that you’re the standard-bearer, I’ll be more than happy to fight for you after the primary.
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On the flip side, you need to make a decision. If you’re not going to run, you need to say so. A lot of people’s hopes are resting on you two—especially on Thompson—and it’s not right to get their hopes up over nothing.
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It’s this state of limbo that bothers me. Until you make a commitment, your presence in the mix only serves to divide the Right’s support, and help Giuliani—and if we’re going to save the Republican Party from becoming the RINO Party, we need to unite behind a real candidate.