Giuliani Aims to Make Sure You are Scared

Fearmonger extraordinaire, Rudolph Giuliani, struck again in this week's Republican debate:

... I think the Republican Party can unite around two major principles ... being on offense against terrorism -- unlike the Democrats, who are on defense against terrorism. And you saw that two nights ago here. They couldn't even utter the words "Islamic terrorism." It's our biggest enemy. They couldn't utter it. We need somebody who can stand up to that.

If you can't win on your merits and visions as a leader, scaring the hell out of people is quite a good strategy, despite the obvious desperation.  Here's another quote that may make you want to stay inside, in your basement, in a bomb shelter, with your hands over your eyes:

Iran is not 10 years away from nuclear weapons. And the danger to us is not just missiles. The danger to us is a state like Iran handing nuclear weapons over to terrorists.

Not 10 years away?  Based on the hearsay that passed for intelligence in 2001, I'm inclined to require more proof than a former mayor supposing something is so. How about another:

And during the debate the other night, the Democrats seemed to be back in the 1990s. They don't seem to have gotten beyond the Cold War. Iran is a threat, a nuclear threat, not just because they can deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles. They're a nuclear threat because they are the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and they can hand nuclear materials to terrorists.

Right, they are in close negotitions with several terrorists who would take the nuclear material, simply develop a nuclear bomb in their cave, then overnight it to Manhattan. Could happen tomorrow.

At least he's consistent though. Let's look at his fear mongering from the first debate:

When you had this debate last week and all the Democrats were up here, I never remember the words "Islamic fundamentalist terrorism" being spoken by any of them. And I heard it a lot tonight.

You sure did hear it a lot. That's how you brainwash people. That's how you market an idea: by repeating it.  And one for the road:

We are facing an enemy that is planning all over this world, and it turns out planning inside our country, to come here and kill us...They hate you!

The scariest thing here is the prospect of Giuliani becoming President.  His entire platform appears to be to get the nation so on edge about the propect of Muslims killing us that even the slightest thing would push us over the edge...again.

So despite Giuliani's stark predictions of our future if he is not elected, or worse, a Democrat is elected, this is how he laughably responded to the question of "how do we get back to Ronald Reagan's morning in America?"

We get back to it with optimism.

Now that's advice I will use - and it's precisely why I'm currently supporting Senator Barack Obama's campaign.

Comments

[The Mexican]

I agree with ya, George. I've been a full-time supporter of Obama since when I saw his keynote speech. He's the most optimistic candidate--least talks the most about it. However, he does need to stop allowing himself to be framed into the Iran debate; he knows better. Edwards, Clinton, and Obama did well last night with the Faith and Politics segment. Did anyone else see it?

[George]

I had that on for 5 minutes and watched Edwards pretend like he prays every day. Then someone asked him how he knows that the voice in his head is that of God's as opposed to his own voice, when he is praying. At that point, I deemed it a meaningless exercise intended to make religious zealots comfortable with the candidates.

Had they spent an hour discussing how we will fight terrorism and grow our economy and improve the environment by becoming energy independent within 10 years I would have gladly watched more.

[granny]

OK - I missed it, whatever it was. May be just as well. I'm a little queasy these days, and a lot of "prayer" talk tends to exacerbate that...

I really am sorry I missed it. It's an important subject...where we're going to set the demarcation between religion and public policy/government intervention.

Did anybosy really say anything?