And Speaking of the 9/11 Commission

LAST WEDNESDAY, as Rudy Giuliani gave his testimony before the 9/11 Commission, he found himself in the strange position (at least for these past three years) of being savagely heckled by protestors. Giuliani's certainly been heckled plenty in his lifetime, but this was different-the people who were doing the heckling were family members of those killed in the Towers. These were people who had traditionally worshipped the man, who considered him some sort of saint. In the aftermath of the attacks, Rudy was the one public official who, without fail, came down on their side and tried to give them whatever they wanted.

So what happened? Why is the man who has become a nationwide symbol of leadership and strength and grace under pressure, suddenly being called incompetent by a firefighter's mother? ("My son was murdered because of your incompetence!") And why is the commission catching hell for mollycoddling a man these folks would've named emperor had they been given the chance?

Clearly, that whole saint business went to Giuliani's head and, let's be honest, he's earned a shitload of money for speaking engagements, book deals and leadership seminars-all as a direct result of the terrorist attacks. You might call it profiteering.

Or maybe people are finally getting fed up with his smug arrogance. Maybe they're tired of him getting the star treatment for not really doing all that much. Maybe they're remembering, finally, what he was like before the attacks. And maybe, scary as it is, they're starting to think that there really is something to what Christopher X. Brodeur's been saying all this time.