A Red Sox Fan for Rudy
By Aaron Goldstein (02/15/07)
The Boston Red Sox begin spring training camp this week. There is much excitement with the early arrival of Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka. This means Red Sox fans can commence hating all things associated with the New York Yankees. Not that Yankee hatred abates in the off season. But yes Red Sox Nation can look forward to another season of chanting "Jeter Sucks!!!", "A-Rod Sucks!!!" and, of course, "Damon sucks!!!"
However, this Red Sox fan doesn’t hate everything about the New York Yankees. Their biggest fan is Rudy Giuliani. He is as much a fixture in the stands at Yankee Stadium as Joe Torre is in the dugout. We might be on opposing sides when it comes to the state of the American League East. Yet when it comes to the state of America, Red Sox and Yankees fans unite.
Yes, I am endorsing Rudy Giuliani’s bid to secure to the Republican nomination to become President of the United States.
I am supporting Giuliani because of his achievements before and after September 11, 2001.
Before entering electoral politics, Giuliani was a successful prosecutor culminating in his appointment as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1983. Over the next decade Giuliani took on crime from all corners be it from drug dealers on 42nd Street or white collar crime on Wall Street. He also took on the Mafia in the mid 1980s bringing down major figures in organized crime. Though unsuccessful in his first bid for the mayoralty of New York in 1989, the disastrous reign of David Dinkins set the stage for Giuliani to oust Dinkins from office in 1993.
In eight years as Mayor, Giuliani transformed New York City from a combat zone to a thriving metropolis where people could once again live and work. Vigilant policing made once dangerous streets safe to walk day or night. Traffic was no longer littered with squeegee people. Graffiti and turnstile jumpers disappeared from the MTA. Able bodied welfare recipients were put to work. The size of government was reduced. Organized crime continued to be scrutinized and dismantled.
Of course, at the time he was implementing his reforms, Giuliani was loathed by many including public sector unions, advocates for the poor and incarcerated, civil libertarians and leaders in the Hispanic and African American communities, namely the Reverend Al Sharpton. He was a polarizing figure. You either loved him or hated him. Giuliani was as polarizing a figure during his mayoralty as George W. Bush is in the Presidency.
In January 2000, I was in New York for a job interview with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). One couldn’t walk a city block without hearing his name being cursed. At the time, Giuliani was embarking upon a run for the U.S. Senate against Hillary Rodham Clinton who ACORN was backing. As we all know, Giuliani withdrew from the race a few months later after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In retrospect, had Giuliani stayed in the race he would have likely lost to the then First Lady. His achievements had been overshadowed by his caustic behavior particularly his messy divorce from his second wife, Donna Hanover.
Last November, I attended the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival where my father had two of his videos screened. Prior to the screening, I had dinner with my father, older brother, an aunt and two of my uncles at Bolo, a Spanish restaurant on East 22nd Street between Fifth and Park Avenues. Since this was just days after the Democrats took both Houses of Congress it was inevitable that politics would be a topic of discussion during dinner. In the midst of the conversation, I made a point of praising Giuliani. One of my uncles pounced on my praise. “If it wasn’t for 9/11 he’d be finished. He was done,” said my uncle. I concurred with my uncle but told him that was beside the point telling him it is a true test of leadership when one rises to the occasion in times of dire trouble. My uncle, while no admirer of Giuliani, conceded the point.
Many Americans who know Giuliani’s name view him as the silver lining in the cloud of 9/11. In his book, The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life, Fred Siegel writes, “Time and again, through his union of anger, indignation and resolve, Giuliani, who returned to Ground Zero five times that fateful day, connected with the heart and soul of the city. He gave both practical advice and reassurance at a time when many assumed more attacks were to come.”
While remembered by most as the calm after the storm Giuliani showed America and the world his confrontational side at its very best. When Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal offered to donate $10 million to the City of New York he stated the United States “should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced toward the Palestinian cause.” Giuliani rejected both the Prince’s views and money out of hand:
To suggest that there’s a justification for (the terrorist attacks) only invites this happening in the future. It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous. And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism. So I think not only are those statements wrong, they’re part of the problem.
It was reminiscent of six years earlier when Giuliani had the late PLO Chairman and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat evicted from the Lincoln Center. Arafat attended a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations uninvited. Siegel pointed out that during his tenure as U.S. Attorney Giuliani had investigated the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, an American Jew, by PLO terrorists aboard the Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro. Despite protests by the U.S. State Department and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Giuliani regretted only not having thrown out Arafat himself.
With this in mind, I am also supporting Giuliani because I believe we need a New Yorker in the White House. And by New Yorker, I don’t mean the intelligentsia from the Upper West Side or a folk musician from the Village. I also don’t mean a native of suburban Chicago via Little Rock and D.C. I mean Brooklyn born, Long Island raised. I mean someone with the accent. I mean someone who doesn’t take any shit from bullies and tyrants while having compassion for those who are good, hard working and law abiding. The White House has not had an occupant born and bred in Empire State since FDR. The time has come for an authentic New Yorker to sit in the Oval Office and face the nation. Again, I say this as someone nestled in the cradle of Fenway Park.
This, of course, might beg the question why I am not supporting the former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney in his bid for the GOP nomination. It would be a fair question. After all, Romney was the first Republican for whom I ever cast ballot. Sure, Romney has sent the right signals concerning the war on terror and foreign policy. His refusal to allow former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami protection from the State Police during his visit to Harvard University last September a strong message. But most of his campaigning has revolved around the issues of abortion and gay marriage. While no doubt these are issues that animate many conservatives they are issues that frankly have very little to do with the White House. Sure Romney could appoint a justice who might see fit to overturn Roe v. Wade or put his weight behind a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage but the President’s involvement would be at best peripheral. Those decisions would ultimately be carried out by the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress as well as the state legislatures not with the stroke of the President’s pen.
More to the point, Romney’s achievements during his single term as Governor of the Bay State were frankly modest. The most notable achievement was the adoption of mandatory health insurance for all residents of Massachusetts. However, this measure does not take effect until July 1, 2007. It will therefore be several years before we know if this initiative was truly successful. However, critics have argued the legislation might well prove to be costly to the Commonwealth’s treasury. This reservation aside and despite his achievements in the private sector it is clear that Romney simply cannot boast the same level of accomplishment in public life as Giuliani can.
As for John McCain, I believe him to be an honorable and decent man. Like Giuliani, he is socially moderate. His military service in Vietnam is beyond reproach. He has continued to speak out in favor of the War in Iraq when it has not been popular to do so. However, his years spent as a POW have very likely compromised his ability to do the sometimes nasty and brutish things a President must do to ensure our national security. This has been demonstrated through his criticism of the Bush Administration concerning the detention and interrogation of non-enemy combatants. He successfully pressured the Bush Administration to adhere to Geneva Convention standards concerning these prisoners even though the Geneva Convention does not apply to non-enemy combatants. I believe Giuliani would have fewer such qualms in combating Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.
Besides, Rudy vs. Hillary is the fight we’ve wanted to see for years and were deprived of in 2000. If it comes to fruition it will have been nearly a decade in the making. The three Ali vs. Frazier fights will seem like a genial bocce ball tournament by comparison. Yet it is a fight Rudy can win. I do not see either Romney or McCain prevailing over Hillary in 2008. Although there is a gulf as wide as Mexico between Evangelism and Mormonism many moderate and independent voters see Romney as Latter Day Saints version of Bush and will shy away from him. As for McCain, if it is a battle between two liberals more voters will support the real liberal.
While some conservatives see Giuliani as soft on abortion and gay marriage it is clear he would appoint justices like John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the bench. Indeed, Giuliani was acquainted with both men while an Associate Attorney General in the Reagan Administration, particularly Alito. If that doesn’t satisfy conservatives he could always name Rick Santorum as his running mate or a reasonable facsimile that would draw less heat than Santorum. And if that doesn’t do any mollification then conservatives will have to be content with the country being run by Hillary and/or Barack Obama for at least four years.
Rudy Giuliani has a proven track record of success in everything he has touched. He gets things done. He’s not perfect but if anyone knows of any mortal who is perfect please let me know. We need a President not a Saint. Giuliani has proved that he can lead in both good times and especially in bad. If anyone can resolve matters in Iraq, it is Rudy. If anyone can put the fear of God into Islamic terrorists, it is Rudy. More than any other candidate in either party I believe Rudy Giuliani is best suited to lead the United States in the challenges it faces at home and abroad in the role of Commander in Chief and will support him as far as his bid will take him. Even if he is a Yankees fan.
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