The Crossed Pond

While we’re going all human pinata on Rudy Giuliani (pardon our Spanish, Congressman Tancredo), let’s examine the mayor’s perspective on freedom, shall we?

Rudy last night on what it means to be an American:

Abraham Lincoln defined what an American is better than I’m going to be able to do it or Congressman Tancredo or anyone on the stage. Abraham Lincoln, who fought the know-nothing movement, said being an American is not whether you came over on the Mayflower or you came here yesterday. How much do you believe in freedom? How much do you believe in freedom of religion? How much do you believe in freedom for women? How much do you believe in the right to vote? How much do you believe in the rule of law?
The person who believes in that the most is the best American, and the person who doesn’t isn’t an American.

So belief in freedom is the requisite criterion by which we determine who is and isn’t American. OK.

Here’s Rudy Giuliani in 1994 on the issue of freedom:

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.

So…you’re an American only to the extent that you believe in freedom, and you believe in freedom only to the extent that you believe that every human being must cede their autonomy to lawful authority.

Glad we straightened that out.

(Hat tip: the always-enjoyable Scott Horton)