What Rudy Giuliani did this week was stupid.
What Scott Walker did ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender.
As the world now knows, Giuliani, the former New York mayor, said at a dinner featuring Walker, the Wisconsin governor, that “I do not believe that the president loves America.” According to Politico, Giuliani said President Obama “wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up, through love of this country.”
And Walker, just a few seats away, said . . . nothing. Asked the next morning on CNBC about Giuliani’s words, the Republican presidential aspirant was spineless: “The mayor can speak for himself. I’m not going to comment on what the president thinks or not. He can speak for himself as well. I’ll tell you, I love America, and I think there are plenty of people — Democrat, Republican, independent, everyone in between — who love this country.”
But did he agree with Giuliani? “I’m in New York,” Walker demurred. “I’m used to people saying things that are aggressive out there.”
This is what’s alarming about the Giuliani affair. There will always be people on the fringe who say outrageous things (and Giuliani, once a respected public servant, has sadly joined the nutters as he questioned the president’s patriotism even while claiming he was doing no such thing). But to have a civilized debate, it’s necessary for public officials to disown such beyond-the-pale rhetoric. And Walker failed that fundamental test of leadership.
This week saw the harvest of a bumper crop of crazy, much of it occasioned by Obama’s efforts to make clear that the United States isn’t at war with Islam, by avoiding the phrase “radical Islam” and by pointing out that terrible things have also been done in the name of Christianity. His language on Islam is essentially the same as George W. Bush’s, but no matter.
More: Scott Walker's cowardice should disqualify him - The Washington Post
I agree that Walker's bland response was cowardly. He can't tiptoe his way into the White House.
What Scott Walker did ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender.
As the world now knows, Giuliani, the former New York mayor, said at a dinner featuring Walker, the Wisconsin governor, that “I do not believe that the president loves America.” According to Politico, Giuliani said President Obama “wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up, through love of this country.”
And Walker, just a few seats away, said . . . nothing. Asked the next morning on CNBC about Giuliani’s words, the Republican presidential aspirant was spineless: “The mayor can speak for himself. I’m not going to comment on what the president thinks or not. He can speak for himself as well. I’ll tell you, I love America, and I think there are plenty of people — Democrat, Republican, independent, everyone in between — who love this country.”
But did he agree with Giuliani? “I’m in New York,” Walker demurred. “I’m used to people saying things that are aggressive out there.”
This is what’s alarming about the Giuliani affair. There will always be people on the fringe who say outrageous things (and Giuliani, once a respected public servant, has sadly joined the nutters as he questioned the president’s patriotism even while claiming he was doing no such thing). But to have a civilized debate, it’s necessary for public officials to disown such beyond-the-pale rhetoric. And Walker failed that fundamental test of leadership.
This week saw the harvest of a bumper crop of crazy, much of it occasioned by Obama’s efforts to make clear that the United States isn’t at war with Islam, by avoiding the phrase “radical Islam” and by pointing out that terrible things have also been done in the name of Christianity. His language on Islam is essentially the same as George W. Bush’s, but no matter.
More: Scott Walker's cowardice should disqualify him - The Washington Post
I agree that Walker's bland response was cowardly. He can't tiptoe his way into the White House.
