The Times has a fun piece out today about Rudy’s image makeover on the trail. No more the ranting ferret critic, he; that was Mayor Rudy. Would-be President Rudy’s always got a grin and a kind word, even for detractors. There’s no better illustration of that than right here as Mr. 9/11 comes face to face with the dregs of society, one of whom merrily inquires as to how he can sleep at night. And darned if that thousand-watt smile doesn’t shine on the whole way through.

I do like the nascent mohawk on the kid in the back, though.

You can watch the Peter Jennings video to which they refer at Prison Planet, the gold standard for American conspiracy websites. It’s owned of course by Alex Jones, whom you might remember from his warm fireside-ish chats with “thinkin’ man’s candidate” Ron Paul. Once you’re done, just follow along on this debunker’s page, noting especially the question at the very end. There were several warnings of collapse that day and none of them had to do with explosives.

Exit question: What exactly did that old lady say to Rudy to elicit that reaction in the Times photo? Good lord. Click the image to watch.

Update: Chapter and verse from the 9/11 Commission Report from the boys at Screw Loose Change.