OK, maybe it was a hundred thieves. Turns out part of that big fundraising extravaganza that got all sorts of publicity for the Paul campaign the other day (Richard reported it) came from stolen credit cards. Of course the Paul campaign was honest and gave the money back to the bank. No, this only reflects well on the Paul campaign. Seems some theives in Europe were testing the stolen cards and decided a Republican political campaign was as good a place as any to see if the cards worked. Let’s be sure to note this barely dents that huge fundraising from the Paul campaign. But I’m a bit stunned at this comment from the Paul campaign. From CBSNews:

Added Paul spokesman Jesse Benton: “Ron Paul does not have anything to do with this.”

Did Ron Paul hire idiots as spokespeople? This guy, by denying, puts a hint of wrongdoing where it simply never was. Of course Ron Paul had nothing to do with this! What an incompetent spokesman is Jesse Benton.

As it turns out, while Ron Paul may have no connection to identity theives, old Rudy Guiliani has huge connections to Al Qaeda. It has to do with that security firm Rudy ran after he left as Mayor of New York, and from which Rudy still recieves a paycheck. From Radar Online:

Following earlier reports that Giuliani was still getting paid by the consulting firm he created, Mary Jacoby of the Wall Street Journal sheds light on some potentially problematic sources of Giuliani’s private income. Chief among them is Qatar, the U.S. ally that paid Giuliani Partners for “security advice” regarding their petroleum facilities. The article uncovers a “potential political pitfall” for Giuliani’s candidacy and image given Qatar’s spotty record in fighting Al Qaeda, but it stops short of explicitly addressing an aspect of the business arrangement that could dog Giuliani during his quest for the presidency.

Specifically, the ostensible chief consumer of Giuliani’s security advice in this case would be Qatar’s internal security ministry—currently headed by a known Al Qaeda associate.

As Radar reported earlier this year, Qatar Interior Minister Abdullah bin Khalid Al-Thani has long had ties to top Al Qaeda operatives including Osama Bin Laden, and is believed by many U.S. officials to have personally arranged the narrow escape of Al Qaeda big-wig Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from U.S. agents in 1996, thereby ensuring his freedom to mastermind the 9/11 attacks.

That Wall Street Journal article is here. I’ve not enough time to vet it much, but these two pieces seem to give the lie, once again, to Rudy’s claim of mastery at fighting terrorism. As I mentioned to my wife the other night, Rudy can legitimately claim to be an expert at disaster recovery. I’m just afraid he is so inexperienced on the international stage that he’ll attract those disasters to us.

Were it me, I’d far rather be voting for Ron Paul, even with his naive and incompetent spokespeople, than for Rudy Guiliani who claims to fight terrorism while cozying up to the terrorists. And this doesn’t even mention Rudy’s good buddy Bernard Kerick, now indicted. Between Ron Paul and Rudy Guiliani it’s a very clear choice.