OK… Who said this:
“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…”
Take a guess and see if you were as shocked as I was. The answer is… as they say… below the fold.
The above quote comes from Rudy Giuliani. I once heard it said that conservatism was about order in society. About conforming to social norms. It seems the leading Republican Presidential candidate has no problem with authoritarian control. This could help explain his appeal.
It is also a charming weakness. “Freedom is about authority” makes my bill of rights crawl. Creepy as all hell.
I don’t think he is broadly viewed as an authoritarian though. I’m not sure whether that alone plays well with the “conservatism or nothing” crowd. I think to successfully market yourself, you need to be authoritarian but in the context of a greater political goal.
While Rudy can run on 9/11, the opposition of the firefighters is going to make that an uphill battle. His personal life and stances on social issues could make the radical right uncomfortable with investing him with the same level of faith they expend on Bush.
I think if he is framed as authoritarian consistently by the media and the other campaigns, he will lose some support without being able to recover an equal amount from the radical right.
So for Rudy, I think this is more of a weakness than a strength.