The pitiful remaining husk of Rudi Giuliani -- is this tomorrow's GOP?

“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”

So said ex-New York mayor and former Republican presidential wannabe Rudi Giuliani, in what he probably intended to be the highlight of his remarks at an event promoting Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a potential Republican presidential contender for 2016, on February 18.

There was a time, not all that long ago, when Mr. Giuliani was respected--and deserving of respect--for his public service.  A friend of mine worked closely with Giuliani and his team in the recovery and emergency work in the wake of the tragic attack on Manhattan on September 11, 2001.  My friend--whom I know to be a reasonably liberal Democrat--had high praise for Mr. Giuliani's leadership during many dreadful and challenging days. Giuliani has my respect for what he accomplished at that time.



But Rudi Giuliani is now showing himself to be the spokesmodel for the ethical, intellectual and political failings of the trendy conservative mind-set that believes the federal government's responsibilities should and must be limited to national security.  According to that mind-set, government activities that impinge on any other sector of American life are deeply flawed, un-American and perhaps even immoral.

President Barack Obama, of course, clearly differs with--and his policies differ from--Mr. Giuliani's political philosophy.

Which apparently causes Mr. Giuliani to publicly state his belief that President Obama does not love America.

In other words, it is because of a difference in opinion over what the government ought to do to best serve the country that Rudi Giuliani has a belief, now freely stated and disclosed by himself, that the president does not love his country.

He has made a statement that is outrageous not only for its lack of courtesy to another, but which also illustrates how pitiable and wasted is the intellectual foundation supporting the political and governing policies of this mind-set championed by Mr. Giuliani and others.  At the risk of dignifying through thoughtful discourse something that has no dignity -- Rudi Giuliani is guilty of an incredibly asinine utterance.

In contrast:  Have you ever heard Barack Obama say that John Boehner, or Mitt Romney, or Mitch McConnell, or John McCain do not love their country?  No.  Much the opposite, in fact.  And yet Obama disagrees with many of the opinions held by those people.  Has Hillary Clinton ever said that George W. Bush does not love America?  No.  And yet Clinton's opinions on governing policies are at odds with those of Bush.  Have you ever seen in this space any statement that disagreement with my politics is tantamount to having no love for America?  No, of course not.  (That last one being a shameless plug for equal recognition alongside Obama and Clinton.  Apologies.)

The saddest thing to take away from this story has nothing more to do with Rudi Giuliani (not at the moment, at least).  Mr. Giuliani is not (apparently) in the running for the Republican presidential nomination.  But Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal, Republican governor of Louisiana, seem to be contenders in that contest.

Walker and Jindal have both declined to take issue with Giuliani's statements about President Obama's love of country, even though they were given the opportunity to do so.  These men are both young(-ish) and so have good odds of representing the Republican brand for decades to come.  Either one could be elected and reelected--or appointed; you never know how these thing work out in the long run--to responsible, important, powerful and visible positions in government, whether state or federal.

We have to presume that they will take their mind-sets and their current political attitudes with them as they move along their governing paths.

If, therefore, their beliefs are to continue in the way that they now seem to be molded, then there is a question of monumental importance that must be asked.

Is the future of the GOP one in which it operates on a belief that any who disagree with it do not love the country?

If so, that would be a bad thing.  It would be a force that cripples democracy.

The Republican Party can be better than that.  We Americans can be better than that.