Giuliani’s in England this week; the campaign trail is global now.  He’s polishing up his image as a statesman, by meeting with Prime Ministers Blair and Brown, and a Living Churchill Relative.  Churchill’s granddaughter said he was "Churchill in a baseball cap." 

Does the comparison hold?  Churchill spent a decade saying the unsayable, and then half a decade winning the unwinnable.  He spent his so-called ‘wilderness years’ out of favor, warning anyone who would listen about the danger the Nazis posed.  He paid heavily for it in his favorite coin — power.  He was kept mostly out of it until the war started, things turned dire quickly, and Britain turned to him. 

As everyone knows, he came through magnificently, keeping Britain’s hopes alive through some very dark times, staking almost everything on hanging in there until the recalcitrant Americans could be persuaded to join the War.  He said many times in private that if American helped in time the war could be won.  He was right.

Giuliani, by contrast, was an unpopular but reasonably effective mayor until 9/11, when he stood tall and became the nation’s hero for a few weeks, and then a very well-paid business speaker.  He’s now running for president on a platform of sticking it to the terrorists, reminding everyone at every conceivable moment about his role in 9/11.

I think it’s fair to say that both gentlemen are leaders, and both show their best qualities under duress.  But the level of duress, and the subsequent qualities shown, are so different that the comparison ends there.  Mayor Giuliani, with respect, you’re no Churchill. 

Indeed, one could argue that, in addition to hyping 9/11 shamelessly for political ends, Giuliani is committing a real strategic blunder by making so much of the terrorists.  It encourages them, makes recruiting easier for them, not to mention fundraising, and it gives what they did a false significance.

What Giuliani and the Republicans seem to forget is that, while the continuity of the British state was threatened by Germany in WWII, the terrorists are not anything like as significant a threat for Americans today.  The continuity of our state is not at issue.  Wall Street panicked briefly on 9/11, but the truth about markets is that they are incredibly resilient and were soon back in business.  Taking a day or two off from buying and selling shares is not morally, pratically, or strategically equivalent to the Battle of Britain. 

We’ve overblown the terrorist threat.  Yes, 2,900 deaths are a terrible thing.  And yes, it was shocking that the attacks took place in New York City — home for some and close to home for most of us.  But the carnage on the highways in the United States every year is far higher, and we don’t make such an enormous fuss over that.  It’s time to start acting like grown-ups, recognize that "The War on Terrorism" is a little war, and behave accordingly.