The American Spectator

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Bring It On

9.18.07 @ 12:01AM

FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
Re: Philip Klein's Hillary Slayer:

Philip Klein has it right about Giuliani -- he is the guy to beat Hillary. But I have this nagging little problem: I still haven't heard his views on immigration reform and closing the borders down tight. Let me rephrase that. I don't like his permuting views on immigration and open borders. He is waffling like Mitt Romney on abortion or John McCain on being Episcopalian/Baptist -- and that bothers me.
-- Judy Beumler
Phoenix, Arizona

As a pro-lifer, I support Rudy Giuliani for President. Why? Not because his position is the purest, nor because I despair of the cause but simply because I believe his promise to reduce the number of abortions will be kept if he is elected.

We have had pro-life presidents including my favorite, Reagan. However, not much has been achieved because pro-life just isn't a priority for the Republican Party. Pro-life rhetoric is simply a requirement to get the conservative vote not an action item.

I support Guiliani because of national defense issues. I wish he were pro-life because he has the integrity that, if elected, he would implement a pro-life agenda. Achievement of his limited pro-life agenda would ace all the rhetoric of Thompson and the others.
-- M. Scholz
Tijeras, New Mexico

Philip Klein's "Hillary Slayer" was a joy to read; I wish two things. One, that I had been able to listen to Giuliani take on the NYT and Clinton (reading it in TAS is a good second). Two, that Britain had a ballsy conservative like him to take on the rabble presently ruining that country. Perhaps a Giuliani-Thompson ticket is the thing. Good on you Rudy; what a ballsy guy you are.
-- G. Constable
Sydney, Australia

While the Democrats have been recklessly irresponsible with their intellectually dishonest positions on the Iraq war, Republican "leaders" have been cravenly AWOL. President Bush has been steadfast, but his new tone and uninspiring war-time rhetoric have given cowards of all political stripes the courage to crawl out from beneath their rocks and spew their skewed polemics, free from consequences or retaliation.

Senators Warner and Hagel are departing, with nothing to show but a legacy of dedicated service to their massive egos. For the tap dancing, bathroom lothario, Senator Craig, what are America's problems compared to the retention of his senate seat? And then there's Rudy; the Republican some at TAS just love to hate. So the real question here becomes, if, indeed, World War IV is in full throat, who among the favorites has the guts, grit, eloquence, and sense of national purpose to finish this war? I suppose you can ask the troop loving, MoveOn beholding, lifelong Yankee fan from Chicago, whose never set foot in Yankee stadium, or, perhaps, you might ask the man who walked into those Twin Towers as the inferno raged around him.
-- Anthony DiPentima

One of the factors recommending Rudy Giuliani is the facial trend he represents and will send forward. At the start of our Republic, Presidents generally had flowing hair, sans wigs. They were models of Republican honesty, plain and manly. When the republic's survival was at stake, President Lincoln begat the beard, first as a disguise to reach his Inauguration, then in the manner of a serious Biblical Quest. Nearly all the succeeding Presidents maintained the mane, with a few mustached exceptions like Arthur, TR and Taft. This was the rough work of civilizing a continent.

With Wilson, America enjoyed the maturity of the academic pursuit of a more just society. Gone were the beards, sideburns and moustaches of a rougher-hewn era. The Presidents wore fedoras and spoke reason to the nation via radio and TV. With Kennedy, the era of vitality and action was reborn, but with the hatless image of youth. Even aged Presidents as Reagan appeared youthful and vital next to wrapped commissars of the Kremlin.

In 2008, we enter the era of executive competence so evident in Mayor Giuliani's extensive resume. Perhaps his most lasting imagery, beyond the dust mask on 9/11, was forsaking the childish comb-over of his latter years for the straight open pate of fortitude and experience. Pass on the trendy hairdress of Ms Clinton. This is the look of power in our time, not withery bald like Ike or McCain but dynamic and forceful like the modern CEO. This is the American Standard Bearer.
-- Timothy P. O'Neill
Pompano Beach, Florida

Rudy was impressive, Mr. Klein. He does have a knack. After all, with the Clintons, he's "taking on the mob," again.
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas

As a conservative, I have trouble with Giuliani on abortion, homosexual marriage, and gun control, but his combativeness and record make him a very attractive Presidential candidate in the Reagan and Bush 43 mold. A Thompson-Giuliani or Giuliani-Thompson ticket would be very appealing and blessed with an ability to communicate without concern for the Democratic propaganda machine or what is euphemistically called the mainstream media.

For all those conservatives who prattled on about the "conservative" blue-dog Democrats in 2006 where were they in defending General Petraeus against the scurrilous attacks of their liberal peers? I didn't see political opportunist Jim Webb or pseudo military supporter Ike Skelton taking on Mrs. Bill Clinton, the NY "Slimes" or MoveOn.org. So much for "conservative" blue-dog Democrats they're as useless as tits on a boar hog.

As for the President's "low approval ratings" he's more popular than Congress and the media so maybe its time conservatives in the media quit pandering to their liberal colleagues and parroting their inane dribble about poll numbers. The simple truth is statesmen lead while feckless politicians worry about poll numbers and legacies. When did so many conservative journalists morph into disciples of Bill Clinton?
-- Michael Tomlinson
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, John McCain, Bill Clinton, Mainstream Media, Abortion, Environment, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, NATO, Conservatism, Immigration, Oil