Ahhh, Finally

Couldn't get into Blogger all morning. Have I mentioned how much I love Blogger?

I know, I know.

At any rate, today will be one last day of light posting; tomorrow we'll pick up with the Right-Wing Think Tank Review, and also begin a series on conservative debates over the movement's future.

Meanwhile, here's Jonathan Chait on why Rudy's swagger is so silly:

Giuliani's presidential campaign is starting to win a cult following among conservatives. It's not his position on domestic policy that's doing it — he has nothing to say about that. Lord knows it's not his social issue positions, which even his strongest backers acknowledge are his political weak point. No, he has somehow built a record as a foreign policy guru despite having no experience beyond the municipal level.

What's the basis for this 'guru' reputation? 9/11 mythmaking plus Rudy's penchant for tough-guy talk. Which is not particularly reassuring:

If having a macho swagger and talking tough about bad guys were enough to make a good commander in chief, we wouldn't have the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history on our hands right now in Iraq. And, need I remind anybody, one of the reasons Giuliani hasn't been able to fulfill his Bin Laden execution fantasy is that Bush allowed the Al Qaeda leader to escape at Tora Bora by using Afghan proxies instead of U.S. ground troops.

But a candidacy based entirely on fiction may be a good fit for a movement that developed an entirely fictionalized view of itself:

So they're strong on foreign policy, except insofar as it involves actual policy. They tend to be much better, however, at comparing themselves to figures such as Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln. They make such comparisons incessantly. Last week, Giuliani said that Lincoln had "that ability that a leader has — a leader like George Bush, a leader like Ronald Reagan — to look into the future."

That's right. Giuliani, not content to compare Bush to Lincoln, actually compared Lincoln to Bush.

That sound you hear is reality, weeping quietly in the corner.

Labels: 2008, meta, Presidential election, Rudy Giuliani

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 2:30 PM