When Rudy met Yasser & other thoughts

Thanks to reader Mark W, who sent me this very interesting article on Rudy Giuliani’s famous/infamous moment throwing Yassir Arafat out of Lincoln Center. Here is an excerpt of Julia Gorin’s two-fisted defense and promotion of Hizzoner:

With six states down, and Romney, Huckabee and McCain being the only names on the lips of primary voters, caucus delegates, and reporters, it increasingly looks like it will indeed be up to January 29th to determine whether Rudy Giuliani’s Florida-only gamble paid off. Florida will also be a test of his candidacy and viability on Super Tuesday. Which will be a survival test for a breed of man who, when fanciful hopes for a Middle East peace were at their highest in the 1990s and Yasser Arafat was legitimized everywhere as a dignitary, had only one question: “Why is there a terrorist at my party?”

[…Rudy had Arafat expelled…]

…Giuliani explained, simply, “I don’t forget.” What he didn’t forget were the PLO’s crimes against America, and that the Nobel laureate and frequent White House guest had “never been held to answer for the murders that he was implicated in.”

In his own, more recent, retelling of the Lincoln Center incident, Giuliani related his clarity of mind using plain, Jackie Mason-style wisdom:

I didn’t call for a team of lawyers to tell me on the one hand you can throw him out, on the other hand you can’t. Maybe you can partially throw him out. Maybe we can have him sit, like, further up. I made a decision. You see, I lead. That’s what a leader is about.
[…]
Recall the $10 million dollar check for New York disaster relief after 9/11 from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who went on to suggest that the U.S. should “re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause.” We all know what Giuliani told the prince he could do with his ten million. In unequivocal and trenchant terms, Giuliani stated, “To suggest that there’s a justification…only invites this happening in the future…And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism. So I think not only are those statements wrong, they’re part of the problem.”

You’ll want to read the rest. Rudy has a new ad running here

Stacy at Stand at the Bridge, another Catholic blog, explores the idea that Rudy is the unwitting pro-life candidate. She also says Hillary will Eat Obama for Breakfast. All I know is her utterly classless and dishonest campaign is making me sick.

Steve Skojec, writing at Inside Catholic about no candidate in particular, reasons through the abortion issue and says it’s time for pro-lifers to understand that changing the law will require more than marches. That’s right. It will require new SCOTUS judges, and perhaps a congress with backbone.

The Democrat primary has ceased discussing real issues – it’s all about who is being “mean” to who and how poor Hillary and poor Bill are the perpetual victims. Really, his narcissism and her power-mania are dancing dangerously close to being out of control. And maybe that needs to happen.

Dick Meyer at CBS says John McCain is gonna put the fear of God into all of them.