Saturday, September 22, 2007

Ruuuuudeeeee!!!! Flip/Flop, Flip/Flop...

Rudy appeared before the NRA's Board and proceeded to wiggle.

In the Q&A, he was asked about whether he still supported the lawsuit he filed in NYC against gun manufacturers, and flipped on the issue. He said, at the time, he was focused on using every law he could, and every interpretation of the law, to reduce crime, but that since then, the lawsuit has taken "twists and turns" and so he no longer supports the current version. He said the Parker decision and 9/11 also changed his thinking on it--the connection to Sept. 11 will probably raise questions among Giuliani cynics. Also, just yesterday, he had punted on the lawsuit question, saying he doesn't discuss pending litigation.

There's a case to be made that Rudy's a closet Statist--just like the Hildebeeste. You could argue that the particular affliction of Statism comes in a couple of flavors; Rudy's just happens to be flavored more like Tommy Thompson's than FDR's.

In contrast, there's Fred, who is a Federalist--and whose major challenge is to get people to understand that Federalism is a virtue.

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