Tried to post this to the politics forum, but the forum is title "Nepali Politics Forum". San bro, if you happen to read, would it be possible to rename that forum to just "Politics" so that people can discuss US politics in it as well? Something for you to consider - no rush. BTW, I am loving this new format. It has started working on non Windows platforms pretty seamlessly now :) Thanks again for this great service you provide :)
Anyways, I find Guiliani to be a fascinating candiate given his "tough and strong manager" and "able leader" image on one hand and his total inexperience in holding any office higher than mayor on the other - even though NYC is one of the biggest and best run cities, I dare say, on the planet. Not to mention his virtually zero experience in foreign policy and his choice of foreign policy advisor: none other than the sabre rattling neo-con Norman Podhoretz who advocates, amongst other things, invading Iran.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about Guiliani and Ron Paul is my favorite Republican running for president if I had to vote Republican (which is not to say I will)
Here's an article by Tom Firedman that I thought some of you might find to be of interest. He touches on both 9/11 and Guiliani
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/30/news/edfried.php #########################
9/11 is over - By Thomas L. Friedman
Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this:
"At a well-attended rally in front of his new ground zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11. 'My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise,' said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech in front of a charred and torn American flag. 'As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all.' If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties of current 9/11 President George W. Bush, including making grim facial expressions, seeing the world's conflicts in terms of good and evil, and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions."
Like all good satire, the story made me both laugh and cry, because it reflected something so true - how much, since 9/11, we've become "The United States of Fighting Terrorism." New York Times columnists are not allowed to endorse candidates, but there's no rule against saying who will not get my vote: I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don't need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.
What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 - mine included - has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.
It is not that I thought we had new enemies that day and now I don't. Yes, in the wake of 9/11, we need new precautions, new barriers. But we also need our old habits and sense of openness. For me, the candidate of 9/12 is the one who will not only understand who our enemies are, but who we are.
Before 9/11, the world thought America's slogan was: "Where anything is possible for anybody." But that is not our global brand anymore. Our government has been exporting fear, not hope: "Give me your tired, your poor and your fingerprints."
You may think Guantánamo Bay is a prison camp in Cuba for Al Qaeda terrorists. A lot of the world thinks it's a place we send visitors who don't give the right answers at immigration. I will not vote for any candidate who is not committed to dismantling Guantánamo Bay and replacing it with a free field hospital for poor Cubans. Guantánamo Bay is the anti-Statue of Liberty.
Roger Dow, president of the Travel Industry Association, told me that the United States has lost millions of overseas visitors since 9/11 - even though the dollar is weak and America is on sale. "Only the U.S. is losing traveler volume among major countries, which is unheard of in today's world," Dow said.
Total business arrivals to the United States fell by 10 percent over the 2004-05 period alone, while the number of business visitors to Europe grew by 8 percent in that time. The travel industry's recent Discover America Partnership study concluded that "the U.S. entry process has created a climate of fear and frustration that is turning away foreign business and leisure travelers and hurting America's image abroad." Those who don't visit us, don't know us.
I'd love to see us salvage something decent in Iraq that might help tilt the Middle East onto a more progressive pathway. That was and is necessary to improve our security. But sometimes the necessary is impossible - and we just can't keep chasing that rainbow this way.
Look at our infrastructure. It's not just the bridge that fell in my hometown, Minneapolis. Fly from Zurich's ultramodern airport to La Guardia's dump. It is like flying from the Jetsons to the Flintstones.
I still can't get uninterrupted cell phone service between my home in Bethesda and my office in Washington. But I recently bought a pocket cell phone at the Beijing airport and immediately called my wife in Bethesda - crystal clear.
I just attended the China clean car conference, where Chinese automakers were boasting that their 2008 cars will meet "Euro 4" - European Union - emissions standards. We used to be the gold standard.
We aren't anymore. Last July, Microsoft, fed up with American restrictions on importing brain talent, opened its newest software development center in Vancouver. That's in Canada, folks. If Disney World can remain an open, welcoming place, with increased but invisible security, why can't America?
We can't afford to keep being this stupid! We have got to get our groove back. We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July - which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced.
Last edited: 02-Oct-07 08:43 PM
