I guess it was expected that Rudolph Giuliani would speak before a gathering of the National Rifle Association sooner or later, but even so, I can't help but think he and his people have audacity to spare in coming before us and saying he believes in protecting our rights when his record so clearly indicates otherwise. Perhaps it's another indication of the strength of the hand we're playing with in the poker game of politics, but still it's quite insulting to see him come forth and tell us he's on our side now. A glimpse behind the curtain:
"Your right to bear arms is based on a reasonable degree of safety," he said.
No. My right to bear arms is based on the premise that I have the right to exist and to defend that existence by any means I can manage from any threat that comes down the pike, from a mugger on up to a government bent on my enslavement.
"I believe that law enforcement should focus on enforcing the laws that exist on the books as opposed to passing new extensions of laws," he said.
You mean, like the Sullivan Act which you once-upon-a-time advocated as a model for the rest of the country?
Giulaini explained the lawsuit he initiated in 2000 against gun manufacturers by saying that he was "excessive in everyway that I could think of in order to reduce crime" but said that "intervening events" like September 11th had caused his views to evolve. "I think that lawsuit has gone in the direction that I don't agree with."
Somehow I can't help but think the only thing that caused your view to evolve, Mr. Giuliani, is your decision to run for president. And I don't really know what different "direction" that lawsuit has taken, other than just the gun dealers taking the fall as opposed to the manufacturers too. You were wrong to file the damned lawsuit in the first place.
Really now. When I read about this speech to the NRA, I thought of a few things...
and...
and...
Rudolph Giuliani has betrayed the American people time and time again, and absolutely nothing he says can undo that betrayal. I am sure I am not the only one who can't wait to see this campaign get to the point that he's forced to go on back to New York because of Fred Thompson, or Duncan Hunter. It's not even 7:30, and I think I need a drink already...
|