The former mayor of New York is quite testy.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, jumped in to object after Texas Representative Ron Paul, 71, suggested the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 were precipitated by American interventions in the Middle East.“That’s an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of Sept. 11, that we invited the attack,” Giuliani, 62, said during the debate in Columbia, South Carolina. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before, and I’ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11.”
Giuliani’s statement, which drew applause from the crowd, came after the Republican frontrunner defended himself from attacks from some of the second-tier candidates for his support of abortion rights.
I wonder if Giuliani realizes that we ALL lived through September 11, 2001? It had a huge psychological impact on my life. I took it very personally. Does that mean I’m completely unwilling to discuss the reasons why we were attacked? Of course not. I have an opinion too, and as far as I’m concerned it matters just as much as Giuliani’s opinion. I also want to eliminate or minimize the threat of future attacks, and one way to do that is by honestly examining the motivations of the people who attacked. You can’t do that if you’re busy demanding that someone with an opposing viewpoint retract their statement(s) because you don’t see eye to eye.
Last night while watching the debate I began noticing a new media catch phrase – "second tier" candidate. Nice. Makes it real easy to minimize, dismiss and then ignore the candidates you don’t want to cover.
The real impact of last night’s debate has yet to be ascertained, but it appears to me the Republicans are going to settle for business as usual. That’s disappointing. I was hoping the revolution might be coming. Maybe next election cycle.
I’d still like to hear how Ron Paul would, in great detail, deal with the war in Iraq, particularly from a humanitarian standpoint.
As a second tier blogger, maybe I’m all alone, but I doubt it.
UPDATE: Not alone. The Liberty Papers has blogged the Ron Paul/Rudy Giuliani "exchange."