Hi, Raoul!

They think he's this stoic leader and master of the gracious gesture. He's not. Rudolph Giuliani is a bulldog, and not a particularly polite one. He used to appear on a radio talk show earlier in his terms as mayor and, when a critical caller would have the temerity to challenge him, he would verbally beat up his fellow citizen and then hang up on him.

I remember the Senatorial race in which it began to look like Hillary Clinton would be running against Rudy. My husband, who loves to stir the pot, asked my dad, a New Yorker all his life, who he was going to vote for. Dad laughed hollowly and then replied, "If the devil himself had done the picking he couldn't have done a better job. He's having a good laugh on New York. I don't want to vote for Herself, and I'll be damned if I'll vote for Joolyanny!"

Rudy is being Rudy. Extreme situations make extremes of character seem more acceptable.

But just so I can say so, I think the prince was out of line. He tried to make political capital out of his donation at a time of great tragedy. It's like going to a wake of a beloved person and saying to the family, "You know, if she hadn't smoked, we wouldn't be here today." No one would blame the bereaved if they threw him out of the funeral parlor, and his floral arrangement after him.

I found it especially two-faced that the prince's spoken remarks were all honey and the political commentary was included in a press release, intended to slide in under the radar. This was meant to make him look tough at home, where that press release would have been printed in full.

Rudy is prone to shoot from the lip. He knows when someone is trying to have it both ways at his expense, and he won't put up with it. On this particular occasion, I agree with him. But, like my dad, I'll be damned if I'll vote for him. The situation will change but he'll stay the same.

Mary Anne