Via Paul Waldman, look what Saint Rudy's been up to:
on Feb. 9 in Columbia, S.C. Mr. Giuliani had initially been booked by the South Carolina Hospital Association through the Washington Speakers Bureau to speak for his usual $100,000 fee. But then a massive tsunami devastated South Asia and "we just didn't feel that a big old party was the right thing," said Patti Smoake, the hospital association's spokeswoman.
Instead, the South Carolinians held a fund-raiser called "From South Carolina to South Asia."
Mr. Giuliani agreed to speak at the new event. He even wrote a $20,000 check to the Red Cross, the event's beneficiary, according to figures cited by a South Carolina hospital official and obtained by The Observer. He batted away the inevitable political speculation that accompanied his visit to the crucial Republican primary state, telling a local reporter he was visiting "because I enjoy coming to South Carolina and because this is a worthy cause."
Mr. Giuliani didn't mention it at the time, but he also walked away from the tsunami benefit with $80,000 at a time when celebrities from Bill Clinton and the first President Bush to George Clooney were donating time to the relief effort.
Wowza! My favorite part is Rudy, ever ready to nab himself some good press, publicly writing a check for $20,000 to the Red Cross. What generosity! What an example! What a miniscule part of the $80,000 he netted for spending an evening in South Carolina!
