"All you need to know about Arafat was that he insisted on wearing a pistol when he addressed the UN General Assembly. And all you need to know about the UN, I suppose, is that they let him."

From (who else?), Lileks.

This man, this terrorist, will probably be lionized in the MSM when he dies. Great, the only constant to the failure of an Israeli/Palestinian peace is Arafat. Many have tried and the only one still around from previous attempts is the tablecloth headed one. I, for one, will be glad at his passing.

I'm not an Arafat fan, but I'm not sure that the above is among his many sins.

The UN is pretty high on my list of things that "needs shooting". I'm somewhat surprised that Arafat would admit that, but even Hitler liked dogs.

I just realized that Lileks is pointing out that Arafat didn't shoot the UN. Yup, that is a sin, albeit a widely practiced one.

There's a lot of whining about Arafat: he's corrupt, the failure of the peace process is his fault, and son on. And some of it may be true. But somebody needs to tell me why you all believe it will be that much better when he's gone? If he's gone i'm certain Hamas and the other groups will be running Gaza and the West Bank. And if i'm not mistaking they have one simple demand: the removal of the state of Israel. Arafat may not be perfect, but the alternatives are a lot worse.

Groups like Hamas and Fatah got where they are due to Arafat. He IS corrupt and he DID pass on a legitimate peace plan, both well documented. With him gone, there is a chance other Palestinian leaders will come forward. There is NO chance with Arafat.

And who said anything about things being better without Arafat? My guess is that the occupied territories will implode sans Arafathead, and it couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch. Of course the Israelis will be blamed, but that's a given assuming *any* bad event in the West Bank or Gaza. Probably the U.S. will be blamed too, after all, we're the world's designated bad guys. Wear the black hat proudly!

. . .why you all believe it will be that much better when he's gone?

Because the vacuum at the heart of the Palestinian cause will be revealed. There is no goal, no leadership, no plan, nothing but a seething mass of angry and miserable victims.

With Arafat, there was the illusion of leadership and the pretense of a goal, which discouraged true leaders from emerging, and which gave other nations a focal point for futile Clintonesque "feel your pain" intervention.

Perhaps in Arafat's absence a real Palestinian patriot will emerge, who draws his support from his people and not from his Swiss bankers and corrupt Old Europeans, and the Palestinian people can begin to act like a proud people instead of a hopeless rabble.

Where was Sarah Brady when we needed her?

/snark

Are you Sarah Brady?

Nope. I don't even play her on TV.