RudyRage

In which my boy, Ron Paul, makes New York's former mayor awfully angry.

Giuliani unloaded both barrels at Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a fringe Republican White House hopeful with little support, who said, "Have you ever read about the reason they attacked us? They attacked us because we've been over there."

Notice the condescension to the most intelligent candidate in the race. It may be true that he has little support; certainly the cretins who watch Fox News don't support him. But describing Paul as a fringe candidate is, I think, a bit unfair. While the media continues to look for Ronald Reagan 2.0, they will continue to overlook the only candidate with Reagan-esque credentials. Simply put, Ron Paul, like Ronald Reagan, is a principled conservative. The other candidates are not.

"We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," Paul went on. "I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us."

Naturally this remark drew ire from Big Bad Rudy. After all, we're at war with Islamofascists (or Islamonazis, which is just as stupid a term; or Islamocommunists, which is at least my own stupid term) who use Terrorism because they hate our Freedom. Aside from allowing me to capitalize most of my words, this means we do not negotiate with the Terrorists because you cannot negotiate with Terrorists. Thus, when we confront a nation of Terrorists, we must Bomb The Hell Out Of Them--okay, enough with the capital letters. Just how this fits into winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people is unclear.

And naturally I agree, to a large extent, with Mr. Paul. Buchanan has made this point virtually from day one and I have yet to hear anyone adequately debunk his theory. Indeed, I heard Dinesh D'Souza defend Buchanan's thesis on the radio the other day, though Mr. D'Souza tends to emphasize the negative impact of the cultural left (Hollywood) in comparison to the imperialistic policies whereof Ron Paul speaks. Both undoubtedly played a role in generating 9/11. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, or so Newtonian physics tells me. If the reaction that was 9/11 was in opposition to our freedom, it is strange that it would have occurred in an era when our freedom was relatively slight, historically speaking. One wonders, for instance, where the Islamocommunists were during the era of laissez-faire capitalism and big business. Rejecting the conventional hypothesis begs that examine that of Mr. Paul. Of course Rudy doesn't do this.

"That was an extraordinary statement, as someone who has lived through the attacks of Sept. 11th, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq," an indignant Giuliani responded.

"I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11th.

Evidently Giuiliani has never read a Buchanan column. Now, disagreeing with Buchanan isn't automatic grounds for removing one from consideration for the GOP nomination, but knowledge of Buchanan's thoughts almost should be. In all honesty I can't think of a more reliable classical conservative than Mr. Buchanan, and the fact that Rudy has never heard, or pretended to be unaware, of some of Buchanan's reoccurring thoughts is utterly ridiculous. Evidently Rudy was too busy being America's mayor to bother with reading a simple column. I remind the reader that it was Carter, and not Reagan who was a workaholic.

"I'd ask the congressman to withdraw the statement and say he wasn't serious," Giuliani added to rousing applause - the loudest of the night - at the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party.

Some day I should write a column discussing the role of fear in politics, especially in regards to modern-day "conservatives". It has become increasingly clear that the War on Terror (sorry) is a more important issue to many of the GOP rank and file than I feel it ought to be. There are other issues, to be sure, such as illegal immigration, but even that can be boiled down, far too often, into a matter of fearing those who are different from oneself. It can also be opposed on more principled grounds, which is what I attempt to do, but the role of fear in regards to the war leads me to believe that it too is to blame for the anxiety about illegal immigration.

The Republicans who cheered Giuliani are not fit to untie the sandals of Ronald Reagan. Nor are they worthy of Ron Paul. I almost said that such pathetic people aren't fit for the ire of the terrorists either. But then, how do you negotiate with people who refuse to consider that bombing Iraq might make the Iraqi people mad?