One reason Giuliani scares me
There are plenty of reasons a “liberal” Republican Giuliani as a front runner in the 2008 Presidential race scares me, but one example I came across today points to his flawed, authoritarian thought process.
From the New York Times, March 20, 1994, a quote from a speech on crime (emphasis mine):
We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.
Then, after being interrupted by the crowd:
You have free speech so I can be heard.
Wow. And he is a “liberal” Republican? Maybe on abortion (which I actually agree with him, for the most part) and gay rights, but on virtually everything else I see him as a hard core conservative, borderline authoritarian.
I’m not sure what is worse, a bungling, corrupt Bush administration or a smart, calculating, heavy handed Giuliani administration? I know we’ve hated a good majority of the last seven years, but I am afraid of what the next four will be like under Giuliani.
I just hope the Dems get their act together and present a strong, well spoken candidate that can beat anyone the Republicans throw at them. I think any of the front runners (Obama, Edwards, Clinton) and even a Gore resurgence would do well against most candidates on the other side. So hopefully the wheels don’t fall off the truck before next election!
