Rudy: Or, a Marriage of True Binds
Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, told The Hill Saturday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Perkins said Giuliani told him in a private meeting that if the Defense of Marriage Act appeared to be failing or if multiple states began to legalize same-sex marriages, then he would support the constitutional amendment.
[...]
Perkins said that was not enough to assuage his concerns about Giuliani, but “it was nice to hear.â€
Former presidential candidate and conservative leader Gary Bauer told The Hill in a brief interview that Giuliani gave a good speech [at some convocation called the "Values Voters Summit"], but the glaring omission of marriage issues was telling.
“To come into a crowd like this and not mention marriage was, I think, a colossal mistake,†Bauer said.
Now really Mr. Bauer, can there be any doubt that Rudy need not speak of it, but only stand on his own example of protecting marriage? He’s been married to his first and only wife for decades, er, I mean, my emphasis:
Giuliani’s first marriage was to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi. They were married for 14 years, before Giuliani had their marriage annulled by the Catholic church. His second marriage was to Donna Hanover, a reporter and sometimes soap-opera actress. Havover was the city’s First Lady while Giuliani was mayor, but she stayed farther and farther out of the public spotlight as Giuliani was widely whispered to be swiving his press secretary, Cristyne Lategano. After Lategano left City Hall, Giuliani took up with a divorced nurse, Judith Nathan, paying her $10,000 per month as his speechwriter. Never one for subtlety, Giuliani and Nathan marched side-by-side in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, where the city’s mayor traditionally walks with his wife.
…He was expected to run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton, but he backed out of the race to undergo prostate surgery. And also, perhaps not coincidentally, because his marital infidelities were all over the newspapers around that time. Shortly after Giuliani left office, he filed for divorce, accusing Hanover of “cruel and inhuman treatment.” In her response, Hanover blamed the ex-mayor’s “open and notorious adultery.” When their divorce was finalized, she got a million dollars a year in alimony. In May of 2003, Giuliani returned to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York’s mayor, for a lavish ceremony to marry his former paramour, Judith Nathan.
Mr. Perkins and Mr. Bauer, what say ye both to these little tidbits, hmmm? One might suspect ya’ll only get hung about “defending” matrimony when those dread gay folk seek equality on the matter, but I’m sure you can clear up this apparent inconsistency. Failing to mention marriage in a speech is oh-so-much-more salient than Giuliani’s demonstrated respect for his spouses — if one is a “values voter.”
Comment by Vance Maverick —
October 20, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
he backed out of the race to undergo prostate surgery
I know journalistic prose is the arbitrary chaining of dead metaphors, but this one is painful.
Trackback by Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator —
October 20, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
Giuliani to religious right: We’re on the same side…
Rudy Giuliani told religious conservatives they should neither fear him nor expect he would moderate…
Comment by Davebo —
October 20, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
Look, it’s not like Rudi married a box turtle or anything. When it comes to supporting the sanctity of marriage, who better than someone who’s supported it multiple times?
Comment by Gary Farber —
October 20, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
“Shortly after Giuliani left office, he filed for divorce”
It seems a touch neglectful to leave out that Rudy’s respect for the sanctity of marriage is so strong that he informed his wife, Donna Hanover, of this intent to divorce, during a live tv press conference that she wasn’t present at. This was during his long stay of many months at the apartment of two gay friends.
And, of course, there’s his having built his emergency HQ at the World Trade Center, which setting aside how insanely stupid most of us New Yorkers thought that was at the time, given that it was long after the 1993 bombing of the WTC, is a place oh so convenient to City Hall, and oh so private, and where he reportedly was, um, enjoying the company of his lady friends after it was opened.
I don’t see why the “family values” crowd should have a problem with any of this.
“Mr. Perkins and Mr. Bauer, what say ye both to these little tidbits, hmmm?”
Well, it’s not as if it’s not incredibly ancient, incredibly exhaustively reported stuff that will be new to them, after all.
Comment by Mona —
October 20, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
I know, I almost felt silly writing that which has been publicly known and hashed through so often before, but it blows my mind that these “family values” gurus just act as if none of it happened. All they care about is what’s Rudy really going do about teh geys and marriage to, you know, defend it. They simply do not acknowledge what you correctly point out is commonly known, and which among rational people would render their concern for Rudy’s taking the White Knight pledge on “the sanctity of marriage” absurd. Clearly they are contemplating a “Republican Dispensation,” as long as said Republican will oppose gays to their satisfaction.
Comment by Gsnorgathon —
October 20, 2007 @ 10:04 pm
I figure it’s all about the authoritarianism. Rudy’s good to go on that one, and that trumps everything else. The Religiot Right will back him to the hilt, their noise notwithstanding.
Comment by Glaivester —
October 21, 2007 @ 8:38 am
Ultimately, a lot of people wouldn’t care if Giuliani were buggering a boy himself on the front lawn.
The Giuliani slogan is, and has been, “Oh, he’ll kill the ragheads and that’s good enough for me!”
As long as he piles up a sufficient number of dead Arab or Muslim bodies, a lot of folks won’t care about anyhting else.
Comment by Osama Bin Login —
October 21, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
would he go along with same-sex marriage if, every ten years, they promised to divorce and marry a younger boy?
Comment by Jebbie —
October 22, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
any damn thing