New York Values

Perhaps it’s not the best way to open a post on New York values, but here goes. In sixteenth century Italy a courtier named Baldassare Castiglione wrote a book called: The Book of the Courtier. In it he defined the rules of etiquette and ethics for those who serve in courts.

Among his salient remarks were these: a man’s character is not judged by how he exacts in an extreme situation but on how he behaves in his everyday life. It’s not in a time of crisis or danger that you see what a man is but you see it when it doesn’t really seem to matter.

Since anyone, Castiglione explained, will run into a burning building to rescue a child, it is not a very good test of character. How you treat people in your everyday life is far more important… precisely because doing the right thing when it does not seem to matter is a better indication of how honorable an individual you are.

So, today, thanks to Donald Trump Republicans around the nation standing up for New York values.  Which are, of course, liberal democratic and politically correct values.

Obviously, Trump supporters were seriously offended when Ted Cruz called out Donald Trump for his statements favoring, for example, partial-birth abortion in 1999. They were even more offended that Cruz drew attention to Trump’s disinterest in cultural issues and his willingness to cave in to the dominant opinion in New York. The truth is, to do business in New York, you do need to embrace certain politically correct values.

Trump supporters believe that New York values were most in evidence during the attack on the World Trade Center, but are far less evident in Comrade Bill de Blasio and the radical leftist influence on the city’s politics and its culture.

It is perfectly reasonable to say, as Cruz did, that New York values are the policies that New Yorkers vote for again and again.

New York is a leftist city where Republicans and especially conservatives are routinely punished for holding politically incorrect opinions. Please do not say that you are going to attack political correctness while you are defending New York’s politically correct values. The mania about political correctness on college campuses is a direct manifestation of New York values.

Today, the New York Times, of all papers, reports on what it is like to be a young Republican in New York City.

In its words:

Interviews with a dozen or so members of the club, the oldest Young Republicans chapter in the country, made it clear that being so outnumbered can pose serious challenges. Some believe that they have ruined job interviews by disclosing their Republican leanings; others said they lie about their political beliefs to avoid confrontation. Out of fear of retribution in their industries, several members refused to be interviewed or would give only their first name.

One attendee, Andy, 30, said he had lost friends after “coming out” as conservative. “When I told my mom,” he recalled, “she said, ‘I failed you as a mother.’”

Those are the New York values that Republicans and conservatives live on a daily basis. If you want to defend them, be my guest.

Amazingly, Trump supporters have been saying that Cruz should never criticize New York values because he held fundraisers in New York City and because his wife works for Goldman Sachs.

If that were true, then only self-funded candidates should ever run for president. But, self-funded candidates might have a considerable personal financial interest in any government policy. Do you think that a man who has handed his real estate and marketing empire over to his children might not tend to make decisions that favor their fortunes? Or that favor the fortunes of his friends and cronies?

As for the other canard, namely that Ted Cruz was really attacking liberal Jews, let’s keep mind that liberal Jews were instrumental in putting Jeremiah Wright’s protégé in the White House. Said protégé has consistently treated the prime minister of Israel with contempt and derision, thus making it more acceptable to be anti-Semitic in America. 

And let us not forget that liberal Jews have rallied to support the protégé of a man who considers Jesus to be a Palestinian and who is a close friend and associate of Louis Farrakhan. Said protégé sold out American and Israeli interests in favor of the Iranian mullahs. 

And let’s not forget that when the Obama administration, backed fully by liberal Jews, had the chance, it happily embraced an Egyptian president who represented the Jew hating Muslim Brotherhood.

And let’s not forget that presumptive Democratic candidate Clinton’s closest advisor is a Muslim whose family has devoted itself to working for the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islam.

Keep all that in mind before criticizing Ted Cruz on New York values.