Rudy does not really make himself a conservative by calling himself one. Or having gone to Catholic school with the head of The Catholic League. Or having served in the United States Department of Justice with a founder of The Federalist Society. Or having officiating at the marriage of Fox News' Roger Ailes. Or by siding with America against terrorists.
As a lifelong New Yorker and a contemporary of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, I am amazed that Rudy is still fooling so many people in the rest of the country.
Rudy is NOT an acceptable presidential candidate for conservatives.
Rudy may have been the best conservatives could hope for as a Mayor of liberal New York City, but he's not a true conservative, a moral exemplar or even faithful to his faith.
Rudy's hero was Bobby Kennedy.
Rudy once said, "Most of [Bill] Clinton's policies are similar to most of mine."
When running for mayor, Mr. Giuliani pledged to "rekindle the Rockefeller/Javits/Lefkowitz tradition" of the Republican Party and "produce the kind of change New York City saw with Fiorella LaGuardia and with John Lindsay."
Rudy supported liberal Democrat Governor Mario Cuomo for re-election against his successful conservative Republican challenger, George Pataki.
Rudy's been the champion of illegal immigration.
Rudy, October 11, 1996:
"I believe the anti-immigration movement in America is one of our most serious public problems. 'And Washington is only making the problem worse. I am speaking out and filing this action because I believe that a threat to immigration can be a threat to the future of our country. Just as they did in years past, immigrants today revitalize and reinvigorate the culture and economy of our cities and states.
"The suit filed today is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging two federal statutory provisions that encroach on the power of the City of New York to determine policies to ensure public health and safety and regulate its workforce. These provisions prohibit the City from continuing its well-considered policy, embodied in Executive Order 124...."
Executive Order 124 bars City employees from disclosing to federal immigration authorities the immigration status of aliens who come to their attention, unless required to do so by law, and more specifically barring the New York City Police Department from reporting the immigration status of victims of crime.
Rudy (who dressed as a woman while Mayor of New York City) would have been very comfortable as Mayor of San Francisco!
Rudy, June 24, 1997: "'... we welcome all of New York City to celebrate the history of our gay and lesbian communities, a history as rich in diversity as the City itself. Advocates for the lesbian and gay community have worked to heighten awareness and understanding throughout the City. Since its founding in 1992, the Coalition of Lesbian and Gay City Employees has become an important part of that diverse history, providing an intelligent voice and a strong support system for the men and women whose achievements help to make the City what it is today."
Pro-lifers need to keep Rudy from transforming the Republican Party into another pro-abortion party.
Rudy's Opening Remarks to the N.A.R.A.L. Champions of Choice Lunch, April 5, 2001:
"This event shows that people of different political parties and different political thinking can unite in support of choice. In doing so, we are upholding a distinguished tradition that began in our city starting with the work of Margaret Sanger and the movement for reproductive freedom that began in the early decades of the 20th century.
"As a Republican who supports a woman's right to choose, it is particularly an honor to be here....I believe being in favor of choice is consistent with the philosophy of the Republican Party."
Rudy does not really make himself a conservative by calling himself one. Or having gone to Catholic school with the head of The Catholic League. Or having served in the United States Department of Justice with a founder of The Federalist Society. Or having officiating at the marriage of Fox News' Roger Ailes. Or by siding with America against terrorists.
In New York, in addition to the major parties (Republican and Democrat), there are two important minor parties (Conservative and Liberal).
A candidate may have more than one nomination, so Rudy ran as a Republican and a Liberal, not a Republican and a Conservative.
Rudy does not make himself a conservative by calling himself one. Or make himself acceptable to pro-lifers by claiming to hate abortion while having supporting it as a permissible choice since he first ran for public office.
Nor does Rudy make himself acceptable to gun owners by ignoring his anti-gun history and hoping gun owners won't learn about it.
Don't expect presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani to repeat his mistake of being interviewed by Laura Ingraham again before Republicans nominate their presidential candidate and probably not for a long time thereafter, if ever.
Rudy doesn't fool Laura.
Last May, Laura deftly put Rudy on the spot, by publicly asking Rudy what he thought made abortion "hateful"? (Rudy's been trying VERY hard to make his position on abortion tolerable in order to win the Republican presidential nomination.)
Rudy never really answered that devastating question, By the time the interview was over, Rudy's chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination should have been dead. (The Republican Party has a pro-choice wing, so it's not surprising that Rudy is first in the polls since all the other Republican presidential hopefuls are pro-life), but Rudy can win ONLY if division among social conservatives allows him to do so.)
Why had Rudy and his wife No. 2 contributed to Planned Parenthood when he thought abortion was so hateful, Laura asked.
Great question! (How many organizations that focus on activity that you consider hateful receive voluntary contributions from YOU?)
Rudy said he gave because Planned Parenthood provided information that would help a pregnant woman choose!
For America's sake, any presidential candidate who thinks like that better lose.
The homepage of Laura's website modestly noted that Laura played a role in making sure Rudy's abortion stance was "unmask[ed]."
Laura understands that the Republican Party is the pro-life party and it would be "insane" for it to nominate Rudy.
"Trail Blazers":
"Laura Ingraham Warns the Faithful Against Rudy
"Conservative radio talker Laura Ingraham is warning 2,000 Christian conservatives gathered for the Values Voters summit in Washington not to abandon their values in hopes of winning year's election. She took aim at a couple of enemies. Her targets? Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton."
Laura to the Values Voters:
“You guys have heard from the GOP field…You know pretty much where they stand."
“I am here to tell you that there is not going to be any magic dust spread on the field to make it any different… I don’t think there is going to be any new candidate riding on a white steed to be the next Ronald Wilson Reagan."
“It is essential… that you not fall into the trap of burying your head in the sand… and saying none of these people measure up. That, my friends, is what the elite in both parties want."
“The freight train is heading down the tracks… and I’m not just talking about Hillary. Right now, before Thanksgiving, this is your chance to stand up… No one is going to listen to you after this weekend… They are listening to you now because you have influence.
“It’s a tough message to hear, but I’ve been around this town since 1987, right after I started working in the Reagan administration. For me, it’s absolutely insane for this party not to nominate someone who can bring together those three groups, the groups that President Reagan was able to bring together, social conservatives, foreign policy hawks and fiscal conservatives.
“You’ve got a political couple in the Clintons who spend every waking hour thinking about how to get back in that White House. Do not underestimate how difficult it is going to be to defeat them."
Succinct translation: Nominating Rudy Giuliani would be "insane."
Implicit hope: Values voters will rally behind the monogamous Mormon, Mitt Romney, instead of being seduced by the siren song of the fundamentally flawed Rudy Giuliani that only he can stop Hillary.
Snide, sexist comments reviling social conservative, foreign policy hawk and fiscal conservative Laura are badges of honor reflecting her importance and positive influence.
"Bill": "Wow...There is no end to the conservative talkshow hosts preaching their dribble. I could only hope Snydley Whiplash 'ties' [Laura Ingraham] to those tracks."
So does Rudy!
An anonymous poster heard Laura's message about what is going on and what needs to be done:
"I don't know how many of you were listening, but talk-show host Laura Ingraham sent a message to us on the right this past Friday that I believe Conservatives of every stripe need to take to heart. She said that we need to find a Candidate that will satisfy Social Conservatives, Fiscal Conservatives and National Security Conservatives if we want a real shot at winning the Presidency.
"But mainly, it seemed to me that she was talking to us Social Conservatives who are splitting our support among all the candidates except the one who is supposedly leading in the polls. She reminded us that we need a coalition of voters in order to have a chance of winning first the Republican Presidential nomination and then the actual Presidency with a Conservative candidate.
"She admonished us for waiting to hear from the perfect candidate since obviously there is no such animal. She reminded us that we weren't going to get everything we want in one candidate.
"Then she went on to admonish the actual candidates themselves for not going on the offensive against the one liberal candidate who is leading in the polls and yes she named names talking about Rudy Giuliani being the one liberal on our side of the aisle. She suggested that whichever of the Conservative candidates speaks out first with forcefulness and dares to call Rudy on the carpet for his liberal views would have a much better chance of gaining the support of those Conservatives who are still in limbo. She told them that they would need to fight for what they believe.
"Here's an excerpt of what she said to the best of my transcribing abilities. In the first part, she is addressing the Republican candidates.
If you are going to stop Giuliani, if you want to stop Giuliani, maybe you don't but if you do, then you've got to come at him with everything you have and that means you've got [to] call him a liberal on the border, a liberal on spending, a liberal on immigration, a liberal on life, a liberal on marriage, a liberal on all these issues that frankly brought the Republican party together in 1980 . . .
If you are claiming to carry the conservative mantle, then you have got to on every front be hitting Giuliani and it's got to be hard enough that the media starts to pay attention to it, because the elites are lining up behind Giuliani one after the other . . .
"In this next section, Laura starts to address us Conservatives.
The hand-wringing on the sidelines is really getting old . .oh well, Romney's not perfect . . . oh well, Thompson's not energetic enough . . . oh Huckleberry is this or that, . . . [if] you don't decide soon who you are going to support, or support Giuliani if you think he's your best shot too but you are going to be irrelevant, do people not get this, that they are going to never have their phone calls returned . . .
"I could not agree more with her. I do believe that if we don't start getting it in gear, that we are going to be left out in the cold for decades to come."
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.