Quote(s) of the Day - Giuliani

I'm sure it's just coincidental that there have been a ton of old Giuliani quotes (and pressure points) emerging right after the Romney Ames poll "win." Read this twice.

"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."
-- Rudy Giuliani, in a 1994 speech

(This is from the Doonesbury "say what" block, so no real sourcing or link.)

Of course, alot of the Giuliani coverage is self inflicted,

On at least three occasions, in responding to accusations that the city failed to adequately protect the health of workers in the wreckage, he has boasted that he faced comparable risks himself. In one appearance he declared that he had been in the ruins “as often, if not more” than the cleanup workers who logged hundreds of hours in the smoldering pile.....

But an exhaustively detailed account from his mayoral archive.... does exist for the period of Sept. 17 to Dec. 16, 2001. It shows he was there for a total of 29 hours in those three months, often for short periods or to visit locations adjacent to the rubble. In that same period, many rescue and recovery workers put in daily 12-hour shifts.

Then, of course, there are the insane policy positions. In his "tough on terrorism" foreign policy, Rudy Giulaini said that under his presidency there would be no Palestinian state.

"It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism," he wrote.

(Abandoning an (at least a perfunctory) commitment to a Palestinian state would create intense rage at the US across the entire Muslim world, which would, you know, create tons more anti-US terrorists.)

The light is not kind to Rudy Giuliani. Maybe he should head towards the Thompson model, no open to the public appearances, and just a vague reference to the fictionalized character the primary voters want to love.