The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

With Friends Like Rudy's ...

Good catch, Melinda, on how Rudy wants to help the "worst people" in our society as long as they are his pals—and surely Rudy considers child-molesting priests worse than squeegee men. This article describes Giuliani's friendship with the defrocked priest who now works at his firm. It goes back to childhood and the former priest, Alan Placa, presided over two of Giuliani's weddings (and the annulment of the first marriage, over the objection of Giuliani's first wife). Yes, Rudy's big on loyalty, but to a point. Witness his friendship with his former police and corrections commissioner—and crook—Bernie Kerik. Giuliani pushed for Kerik to become head of Homeland Security in the Bush administration, but the guy was such a sleazeball that the nomination had to be withdrawn almost immediately. The embarrassment, and Kerik's subsequent conviction for taking illegal gifts while serving in the Giuliani administration, ended the friendship. But surely Rudy—Mr. Crime Fighter—knew who Kerik really was all along, just as he knows now who Placa is. So why is he so close to such men—and what do they know about him? And won't Rudy soon be forced to rid himself of this troublesome priest?