And if anyone knows about fighting terror, it's Rudy Giuliani. He also fought the Mob and won.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3684.html

If democrats win in '08, we'll only be on defense. And judging by defeatists like Harry Reid, even that is a stretch.

Vote republican!

Herb

Booga Booga.

I see the phrase, "Democrats do not understand the nature of the War on Terror." I've seen variations on this a lot.

What I don't see is a solid story to detail where this understanding is lacking, potential impact and how our current efforts are actually helping address this problem.

Anyone have some good, solid info on that?

Essentially, the plan is stay in Iraq as presented by the GOP. What isn't detailed is how that is addressing the core threat of terror. America's mayor has the same problem with his statement presented here.

Giuliani said flatly: “America will (be) safer with a Republican president.”

Fear, Fear, Fear. Man do I get tired of this crap. We have a Republican President and it didn't stop it the first time.

You don't stop terrorism by killing more terrorists. You stop terrorism by stopping their funding and you build better relationships with the global community who can help as well.

Fiorello LaGuardia is still alive and running for President?!! Wow. I might have to... oh wait... false alarm.

Just another hopeful thread from Herb about the worst Italian leader since the 1940s. I bet ol' Rudy would make good use of the camps Craig posted.

The global community thing has major limitations.
They don't give a hoot about anyone but themselves and selling technology to people like Saddam.
You don't stop terror by making nice with back-stabbing pals like france.

Herb

Let's take France out of the picture. Who do we have left? Or have we isolated ourselves?

I think we have. Not completely, but our cred is way down, largely over Iraq.

Everybody wants to deal with terror. That's a no brainer. Dealing with it, the way we currently are, is another matter totally, thus my question above.

Damn good question Chris. Who exactly is on our side right now?

Having friends and some trust is very important in this War on Terror. I don't see how that could not be true, unless one has overwhelming power, economic strength, etc...

We have neither, all things considered.

Do we really have to have this silly discussion every few weeks?

Rudy spent over fifteen million taxpayer dollars on a command center to shelter his inner circle. It was built into the World Trade Center complex within three few years of the attack. He was in no danger at any time because he wasn't suppose to be in danger. With such great planning and foresight -- and one is supposed to assume coincidence -- he was in WTC 7 and emerged into the spotlight.

The citizens of New York still despise him whether his business buddies love him or not.

As a nuclear power and major player in the EU, France is still a fine ally. They helped fund our fight for independence, remember?

Well, we could say that Rudy has no hope.

And his cross-dressing and being married to his second cousin probably by themselves take care of that!

That leaves the whole "Dems are weak on Terror" bit, and that's not really been substantiated. Truth is, we've not actually seen any approach other than the one the GOP has us wrapped up in. How exactly can we know if one is better than the other, without actually doing some things?

Seems to me, we've no way to tell if we are lucky, or on borrowed time, or being effective! Our "decider" has decided his way is the best way. Given the number of people who have quit, spoken for alternatives, etc... I'm not sure that decision makes sense. A whole bunch of well informed people seem to think we are on a bad path, yet we do nothing...

I want to hear how our current path is gonna keep us safe in solid terms --terms that are not easily rebutted. That has not yet happened. Until it does, this is empty rhetoric.

The Democrats provided all the information necessary to prevent 9/11, made every effort to insure that the American people were safe -- short of kidnapping Condi and giving her a forced briefing -- and were thwarted, ignored and marginalized during the transition.

This administration had many reasons to ignore the warnings, and the powerful and profitable result should tell you volumes about why they ignored every sign. In the end, it sure as hell looks like smoke over the Reichstag.

I went to Giuliani's and Hillary's campaign sites to see how they differed on issues. I didn't study the sites, just skimmed them but those two seem to stand for mostly the same things.

Yep, I buy most of that.

So, how come it's not that easy to just say that and have people move on, or at least ask some questions then?

We've got a bunch of great little sound bites floating around. They are powerful and influencial --at least to the "joe bag 'o dougnuts" crowd.

"Dems weak on Terror"

"Bleeding Heart Liberals"

"Fight them there, so we don't fight them here." Who is the genius that crafted that one!

etc...

How come the bar is so low in this regard? It's a real problem on a lot of levels, yet it continues to happen week after week. As if those who utter them just get to forget everything learned the week before. There are still clowns out there worried about the "found WMD's", or the ones that "were smuggled out in trucks before we found them", etc...

Where is the goddamed beef?

Looks like we are trying to find a hamburger at a Rainbow Gathering, well, if the John Birch Society was vegan, camped, made crafts and shared crabs. Here is a question for all the meatless fence rustlers and goat ropers out there:

Was our tragedy due to stupidity or conspiracy?

Facts are facts. Looking back at this horrific event, there really are only two choices.

Which was it?

This remains the one question that will have to be settled in the mind of every thinking American before they trust any leadership again. Rudy is a leader who has brazenly exploited the deaths of thousands of people, for this alone, he cannot be forgiven.

kskd sez "Who exactly is on our side right now?"

Answer: After the new president takes office, no matter who he/she is, we'll have more friends than we do now, because at least other countries will know that there IS a possiblity that whatever the heck that comes out of new president's mouth isn't BS.

"Looks like we are trying to find a hamburger at a Rainbow Gathering, well, if the John Birch Society was vegan, camped, made crafts and shared crabs."

Littlesongs, that's F'in hilarious. I bow to thee.

Pardon my bitter outbursts, but I do not like the "America's Mayor" cowflop. It reminds me of another big lie that is supposed to make me feel snuggly. Barry Bonds is a pathetic excuse for a human being. He has cheated instead of simply using his incredible talents. He is a lot like Rudy.

In a few weeks, or months, we are supposed to forget Hank Aaron. We are supposed to rally behind a meanspirited bullshit artist who did not trust his own abilities. We are supposed to punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame.

Like Bonds in baseball, Giuliani was the best on the surface, and the worst underneath, that city has ever seen. He "cleaned up the city" by creating a pipeline of insider deals to developers. He made changes in many city laws that undermined the rights of all New Yorkers. He selectively trimmed the mob, and made it healthier. His police force was second to none, in fact, some days they made the Turks, Cubans, Chinese and others look downright soft.

The true "America's Mayor" LaGuardia, like Hank Aaron, was a pioneer, an innovator, and one of a kind. Fiorello would not have dug for gold and silver instead of firemen. He would not have risked the health of every rescuer. He would not have danced in the spotlight and let this administration off with lip service and empty rhetoric.

The adoption of the "America's Mayor" persona by a two-bit hat rack is an insult to New York, an insult to Italian-Americans, and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. When reading his tripe, remember, all he knows about foreign policy is how to divide New Yorkers, a city full of immigrants. He was there when they were bound by grief, but that is the only card he holds.

Giuliani/Bonds '08?

Nice hats. Big bats.

"Pardon my bitter outbursts, but I do not like the "America's Mayor" cowflop -- can you tell? Barry Bonds, a pathetic excuse for a human being. He has cheated instead of simply using his incredible talents. He is a lot like Rudy.

In a few weeks, or months, we are supposed to forget Hank Aaron. We are supposed to rally behind yet a drug addled bullshit artist who did not trust his own abilities. We are supposed to punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame."

Now don't misunderstand me as a Bonds homer, because I certainly am NOT one. I would LOVE it if he went away.

That said, I don't know if you can put an asterisk on the record, or strike him from Cooperstown. He played in an era where 1) steroids were not only NOT illegal in baseball, but CONDONED and 2) a whole lot of other folks have "allegedly" done them. If you look at it, if you alter his stats and place in the game's history because of what has allegedly happened (ok, it happened, but we don't have the hard-line PROOF yet), you are going to have to do it with darn near every slugger in the last 25 years. If Bonds were a likable guy, a lot of this would be washed under the bridge ... but he goes out of his way to be a prick, so there you have it.

At least Giuliani puts on a facade and a smile and is nice to the folks with the camera.

Brian, I realized after I posted, it is thread unto itself. I completely agree that most of his peers were trying many of the same things and achieving based on performance enhancers. I also believe that Barry -- unlike Junior who had very few years on real grass -- could have broken these records in a long career without the clear, the juice, or the lies.

My problem with Bonds is exactly the same problem I have with Rudy. Both men were given immense talents to lead, but have not been leaders, they have only been opportunists. Both men have taken every opportunity they were presented to gain power, exploited every resource at their disposal, and gained an otherworldly arrogance in the process. Both are more than willing to flash the pearly whites for the lens -- if it benefits them.

True winners make good choices. These two gentlemen have said "yes" to virtually everything that would help them win. They live in a world with no instinct for right and wrong, no moral code, and the love of money as a barometer. They have both spent a great deal of time covering their asses for all of their poor decisions, instead of making sound judgments in the first place. History will be very unkind to both of them.

"...our cred is way down..."

You don't get it.

Our 'cred' was way down WITH OUR OWN SO-CALLED ALLIES when we stood toe-to-toe with the Russians over our placing missiles in europe...and that not only was to protect western europe's sorry behinds, YET AGAIN, but ended up helping us win the Cold War and freeing hundreds of millions in eastern europe.

No good turn goes unpunished.

Losing 'cred' often means you're doing the right thing, especially when one looks to socialists for approval.

Herb

Rudy is a tough guy. Nothing stands in his way. He'll even kill a fetus. Oh, yeah, it's only those atheist, gay-loving, gun control-pushing Democrats who like to kill fetuses. You shouldn't vote for Democrats because they are pro-abortion, in favor of gay rights, in favor of gun control. So vote for Rudy - he's America's mayor.

Andrew

LOL!!

Herb, most of us either weren't born, or old enough to vote when you bring up the old days. It's 2007 now. Nixon is dead, remember? Get over it.

Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. This is our Iraq strategy in a nutshell.

Great stuff Andrew.

Everything old is new again...

Here's to the state of Richard Nixon.
Where underneath his borders
The Devil draws no lines.
If you drag his muddy rivers
Nameless bodies you will find
And the fat trees of the forest
Have hid a thousand crimes,
And the calendar is lying
When it reads the present time.

[Chorus]
Oh here's to the land you've torn out the heart of.
Richard Nixon: find yourself another country to be part of.

And here's to the schools of Richard Nixon.
Where they're teaching all the children
That they don't have to care,
All the rudiments of hatred
Are present everywhere,
And every single classroom
Is a factory of despair.
There's nobody learning
Such a foreign word as "fair."

[Chorus]

And here's to the laws of Richard Nixon.
Where the wars are fought in secret,
Pearl Harbor every day.
He punishes with income tax
That he don't have to pay,
And he's tapping his own brother
Just to hear what he would say.
But corruption can be classic
In the Richard Nixon way.

[Chorus]

And here's to the churches of Richard Nixon (and Billy Graham).
Where the cross once made of silver
Now is caked with rust,
And the Sunday morning sermons
Pander to their lust,
And the fallen face of Jesus
Is choking in the dust,
And Heaven only knows
In which God they can trust.

[Chorus]

And here's to the government of Richard Nixon.
In the swamp of their bureaucracy
They're always bogging down,
And criminals are posing
As advisers to the crown,
And they hope that no one sees the sights
And no one hears the sounds,
And the speeches of the president
Are the ravings of a clown.

[Chorus]

A wonderful adaptation by the great Phil Ochs. Heck, with a few different names and places, the same song could be sung today about the shrub, Dick, Rudy, or any of these empty hats.

Keith Olbermann's take on the mayor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EuOLO8T-38

Ouch!

No wonder he's getting the great ratings!