For those of you not familiar with the rarefied and delicate phenomenon of Manhattan Republicanism, the Manhattan Institute is a neoconish think tank ('neocon' in, I would say, the pre-Iraq War sense of the word which meant domestic policy as much as gonzo foreign interventionism) that publishes City Journal, sort of the highbrow outlet of the local Rudy cult. So as you can imagine, these are pretty glum days for the folks who run the place.

Well, this afternoon AH sent over this new piece from City Journal, "Requiem for Rudy: Giuliani's exit removes the most visible representative of September 11."

As long as the topic is the Islamofascist War Against Us (IWAU) (TM), I guess it's sort of like There's is no 9/11 but 9/11 and Rudy is its messenger ... a little Koranic humor there.

In any case, at the end of the piece author Paul Beston has this beautiful sentiment ...

Perhaps Giuliani should blame Bush for his campaign’s demise. If Bush had not been so successful in preventing another domestic terrorist attack, Giuliani’s relevance to voters would be painfully obvious, and his deviations from party orthodoxy less compelling. Instead, he and Bush, the two public figures most associated with September 11, will watch from the sidelines as America turns the page.

So there you have it. If only the last six-plus years of American history had been a real world equivalent of Rudy's verbal tick -- 9/11 9/11 9/11 -- we could be blessed with the glory of a Rudy presidency. In the end, terrorism let Rudy down.