Written by: Beck

One thing this convention has done for me--I know now for certain how to spell, "Giuliani."

Updates to follow. Crowd going nuts. Networks providing no coverage. Business as usual.

Update: Giuliani has likened Bush to Washington (who took his oath of office in NYC). Bush said to the terrorists, "You will hear from us." Well they've heard from us.

"They heard from us in Libya, and without firing a shot, Quadafi abandoned his weapons of mass destruction." Yeah, I've blogged on that a time or three.

"So long as George Bush is our president, is there any doubt they will continue to hear from us?"

Update: "NYC and America are open for business, and they are stronger than ever." Followed by leading the crowd in a chant of "New York!" and an ad-lib about the Yankees. What a great speaker to be able to improvise like that.

"Our party's great contribution is to expand freedom in our own land and all over the world." That's a good point, considering that the first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln.

"These are times when leadership is the most important." I don't think it's necessary to play up leadership to such a great extent at the expense of other things. It's not like Bush doesn't have other strong points. Right?

Update: Giuliani just expressed something a lot of people felt on 9/11. What he said to his police chief, spontaneously and without thought, "Thank God George Bush is our President."

Update: "Terrorism didn't start on September 11th... The world created a response to it that allowed it to succeed. The attack on the Israelis at the Olympics was in 1972... The three surviving terrorists were arrested, and then in just 3 months, the terrorists were released by the German government [booing], Set free!, action like this became the rule, not the exception. Terrorists came to learn that they could attack, slaughter innocent people, and not face any consequences." Why aren't more people making this point?

"Terrorists learned they could intimidate the world community, and too often the response, particularly in Europe, would be accommodation, appeasement, and compromise. And worse. They also learned that their cause would be taken more seriously almost in direct proportion to the horror of their attacks... Terrorism became a bargaining chip... How else to explain Yasser Arafat winning the Nobel Peace Prize?"

I don't know how well that will play in the media, but I'm 100% glad he said it. Principle has to take the place of pragmatism in such things. There are certain absolutes that cannot be danced around.

Update: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists!" That's gonna piss off a few Democrats. Tee-hee.

"[The media] ridiculed Winston Churchill, they belittled Ronald Reagan..." another point which should be dug up more. Maybe I'm the one who needs to learn something. The media has always been liberal, and they have always gotten away with it. Or, just maybe, I should use that as motivation to redouble my efforts at blogging. After all, I take great pride in serving as an alternative outlet of information.

Update: It's kinda funny. During the DNC, speakers repeatedly tried to draw comparisons between Kerry and JFK and FDR. Rudy is drawing repeated comparisons between Bush and Reagan and Churchill. I must say, Bush is in much better company out of those two comparisons. At the same time, it's kind of sad that American politics have reached the point where people like Kerry and Bush can seriously be compared to Churchill and JFK.

Update: Rudy is now tallying past John Kerry flip-flops. Coming from most people, this would seem petty, but Rudy is pulling it off. "With two months left in the campaign, he still has time to change his position 4 or 5 more times!" More Rudy: "I quote John Kerry, 'I acutally did vote for the 87 billion before I voted against it.'" I can't believe he just said that. Hilarious. "Maybe that explains John Edwards' need for two Americas. One where John Kerry can vote for something, and one where he can vote against the exact same thing." Again, Rudy can get away with this. Something about that New York attitude leads you to expect it. It's really a crying shame that this isn't being televized on the main channels.

Now Rudy's taking Kerry to task on a flip-flop on the Israeli security wall. I still wonder why it is that most Jewish-Americans support Kerry. I've never understood that.

"Under President Bush, you can be certain America will lead, not follow." I think Giuliani is starting to wrap things up. Of course, every time I start thinking that, he goes into a new part of his speech. "...I remember the days following September 11 when we were no longer Republicans or Democrats, but we were Americans..." You know how much I would give to have a McCain-Giuliani presidential ticket?

Update: Rudy's doing comedy now. Talking about construction workers talking to Bush on September 14th. Bear hugs are involved. It's actually really funny. Rudy's delivery is completely natural. Now onto the serious stuff. Forget that. He's talking about the Boston Red Sox.

Now thanking the nation for its support after 9/11. "Let's make sure that we rekindle that spirit that we had. That we're one America." "In any effort to remove the pillars of support of terrorism, Saddam Hussein had to be removed." "[Saddam] was himself a weapon of mass destruction." "Removing a pillar of support for terrorism [Iraq] is nothing to be defensive about." Amen!

Update: "Governments that are free and accountable... are the long term way to defeat terrorism."

"The war on terrorism will not be won in a single battle. There will be no key surrender. There will be no dramatic crumbling of a wall."

"...and God bless America." That's that.