A brilliantined stick insect

What can be said about Rudy Giuliani? He exists. He's from New York. And while he'd probably like to be remembered for more than those two things, anything more is probably a long shot.

Recently a Muslim group has applied for a permit to build a tower that includes a mosque, rather than the whole thing being a mosque, as you may have heard. The site happens to be on the site of in the same county as the World Trade Center attacks. Well, that prospect made the former mayor's saggy diaper leak, and he responded with a show of bluster. "Bluster" in this case being a fancy word for "being an asshole."

"This is a desecration," he added. "Nobody would allow something like that at Pearl Harbor. Let's have some respect for who died there and why they died there. Let's not put this off on some kind of politically correct theory.

"I mean, they died there because of Islamic extremist terrorism. They are our enemy, we can say that, the world will not end when we say that. And the reality is it will not and should not insult any decent Muslim because decent Muslims should be as opposed to Islamic extremism as you and I are."

There was a time when these words would have carried weight. An aura of heroism surrounded him for a good three or four years after 9/11, even if it was mostly reflected glory. He was "America's Mayor" back then, after a long and honorable term by Mayor McCheese.

At the time, his public castigation of the Landmarks Preservation Commission would have put the fear into them, and perhaps even spurred a reversal.

That was then, before he was revealed as a more venal than average big city pol. Before his presidential campaign showed what a lousy campaigner he was three inches out of his comfort zone. Now he's been reduced to background noise in his own backyard, thank God.

Oh yes, and one of Giuliani's fellow New Yorker's has something to say about hizzoner's forehead.



Word, Count. Word.