''Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it.''

In his third month as Mayor, the one-time political science major had occasion to describe his philosophy of government at a New York Post forum on crime. His passage from the liberal beliefs of his younger years was complete.

Freedom does not mean ''people can do anything they want, be anything they can be,'' he said. ''Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it.''

In New York, he seemed to announce, that lawful authority was his.

This popped out of a re-reading of articles around the "Broken-Window Theory" that Rudy Giuliani put to use as mayor...