And is it really possible he thinks New York voters have such short attention spans?

9-11 is no laughing matter, and while Rudy Giuliani admittedly doesn’t laugh when he says one or the other, his polar-opposite positions on prosecuting terrorists in U.S. criminal courts is, well, laughable.

In 2006, Rudy Giuliani applauded the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria, VA.  He even testified.  Here’s an excerpt of the contemporaneous FOX News article on the [ more . . . ]]]> It’s stunning.  I know Rudy Giuliani quickly became a political opportunist over the course of the last Presidential election, but is it really possible he has absolutely no clue?

And is it really possible he thinks New York voters have such short attention spans?

9-11 is no laughing matter, and while Rudy Giuliani admittedly doesn’t laugh when he says one or the other, his polar-opposite positions on prosecuting terrorists in U.S. criminal courts is, well, laughable.

In 2006, Rudy Giuliani applauded the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria, VA.  He even testified.  Here’s an excerpt of the contemporaneous FOX News article on the sentencing portion.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani retold the now-familiar tale of his own harrowing experience in debris-choked lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. But it was not until he spoke of the daughter of one of his closest aides, Beth Petrone Hatton, that Giuliani’s voice quaked and broke. Firefighter Terence S. Hatton — who earned 19 medals in 21 years — died without knowing his wife was pregnant.

One female juror looked stricken. The rest hung motionless on Giuliani’s every word.

Even Moussaoui, who had affected a look of boredom during the showing of video of falling bodies, watched the ex-mayor intently . . .

Just this past Sunday, November 15, 2009, Rudy Giuliani took a dramatically different stance (ironically on FOX News Sunday).  Among other things Rudy Giuliani has said on the decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York . . .

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused the Obama administration of “repeating the mistake of history” by bringing the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and his accomplices to New York for a civilian trial, saying the administration has definitively reverted to a “pre-9/11 approach” stating, “This choice of New York is a better choice for the terrorists.”

So, Mr. Giuliani, which is it?  Do you retract your testimony and support for the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui?  Or do you think New Yorkers and our legal system are strong enough to withstand the trial of a true criminal of mastermind proportions?

I for one believe the horrific acts perpetrated by the few must be put on display, for how else are we able to judge them by our own values and laws?  Hiding trials in secret does nothing in this regard while also failing to appease one of America’s greatest and most fundamental tenants ‘a trial by a jury of peers’.  Putting criminals on trial — even the worst of the worst — is our way, the American way, Mr. Giuliani.

And on the off-chance Mr. Giuliani were ever to actually read this . . . You know you’re on the loosing side of an argument when both Bob Barr and Keith Olbermann agree you’ve got it all wrong.