Paging Mr. Orwell: Rudolph Giuliani may be a liberal on social issues but when it comes to his views on the authority of the government to regulate the lives of its citizens, he is 100 percent conservative.
– Rudolph Giuliani, 1994
During his tenure as mayor, Giuliani was in a constant struggle to impose authoritarian rule onto a city known for its liberal, non-conformist culture. At one point, things grew so contentious that America’s Mayor declared it illegal to criticize Himself.
That came as no surprise to locals. For one thing, in March 1994, early in his first year as mayor, he laid out his views on the supremacy of the authoritarian state in remarks during a forum on crime:
We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.
In other words, life was better back in authoritarianism’s golden age because citizens bowed to the government and kept to their place. Looking ahead from 1994, he seemed to be saying that the only way to quell the disorder in the streets was to bring all the citizens, especially the criminal element of the lower classes, into submission.
In the authoritarian way of thinking, social ills at the root of unrest are unimportant, and will likely resolve themselves after order is imposed. Of course, suppressing the criminal element does not make crime disappear. It just pushes it into someone else’s district.
After eight years of Cheney and Bush shredding the Bill of Rights and ceding power to themselves, it is unsettling to think that more of the same, or worse, could lie ahead under a Giuliani regime. If he becomes the GOP nominee, all he has to do is run a rematch of 2004, pummel the Democrats, as Bush did, with fear politics and the specter of 9/11 — and cakewalk into the White House. Now that is scary.
- Topic: Politics
- Topics: Campaign 2008
Rudy in 1994: ‘Freedom Is About Authority’…
Early in his first year as mayor, New Yorkers got a foretaste of what to was come from Rudy Giuliani’s term in office: "Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great d…
JA, VE in the Giuliani campaign know freedom has its limits. Limits that VE VILL be more than happy to impose on you serfs.
Limits like “temporarily” suspending the Internet, but only until VE decide which sites are suitable for the kids. JAAAAA
Once VE impose these sane measures to protect the kids, the Internet will be allowed back online, with the suitable OVERLORD protective software program monitoring the Internet, for the sake of the children.
Remember Citizen:
“Ignorance is Knowledge”
“War is Peace”
[...] Wesley Clark Contact the Webmaster Link to Article rudolph giuliani Rudy in 1994: ‘Freedom Is About Authority’ » Posted at Pensito Review on Saturday, August 11, 2007 This article contains copywritten material. Please click on the "View Original Article" link below to view the article on the author’s site. View Original Article » [...]
Giuliani said: “Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”
….So what is his problem with national health care ?
Or taxing zillionaires and multi-naitonal big-business ?
Giuliani waffles like a willow in the wind.
Just another ignorant republican. No big deal. We have to start stopping them, taking them down, not ranting on about them. Until we decide what we will and will not accept in our lives, they will do it for us.
Fortunately, nobody’s ever been elected POTUS whose last name ends in a vowel.
Rule # 1 for authoritarianism:
“Obedience to the law is freedom.” Not agreeing to this oxymoron is sedition, rebellion, and … TRUE freedom.
Fortunately, nobody’s ever been elected POTUS whose last name ends in a vowel.
a, e, i, o, u and sometimes romneY.
Goddess forbid!
The true Universal Truth is: Freedom Equals Responsibilty, and vice-versa: Responsibilty Equals Freedom. The more Freedom you want, the more responsible you need to be. Responsibilty means the ability to respond. All Freedom loving Americans need to Respond to this wannabe Dictator, Serial Adulterer by voting against him.
James Monroe, Frankin Pearce, Calvin Coolidge, John Kennedy. You need to look for another omen.
[...] Sites which also record the quote: http://mylittlepouch.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-semi-deliberate-and-nonetheless.html (This is where I first found the quote.) http://www.reason.com/blog/show/121958.html (This was the first non-blog source I located for it.) http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/08/11/rudy-in-1994-freedom-is-about-authority/ (This probides a bit more context) « Struggles of an Autodidact [...]
[...] But, Rudy doesn’t just mean it that way. He means submit! And his tenure as Mayor of New York City makes that point clear. As mayor, he went on an authoritarian rampage.  He clamped down on every vice known to man, and even went so far as to outlaw critisizing himself! [...]