Rudy -- Asked about HIV, he answers with 9/11

a bird-dogging triumph -- more details from the bird-doggers later today! http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=608 Rudy Giuliani: Asked About HIV, He Answers With 9/11 by: John Deeth Friday (07/20) at 12:03 PM Rudy Giuliani gets Iowa punctuality. In fact, he may be the first presidential candidate in years to show up early at a caucus campaign stop. Razzed by the Des Moines Register for running late in his last Iowa trip, the former New York mayor arrived 10 minutes before a scheduled 2:30 Thursday speech at the Spring House, a historic restaurant built on a natural artesian spring in Cedar Rapids. The bulk of Giuliani's relatively brief visit - 55 minutes from arrival to departure -- was devoted to one on one conversations and autographs. While the event was billed as focusing on energy independence, the crowd of 60 seated patrons and as many more standing folks was more interested in health care. Loud Muzak drowned out the brief opening remarks of Paul Pate, a former Cedar Rapids mayor who also served in the Legislature and as secretary of state. Though the music clicked off early during Giuliani's speech, the lack of a microphone made it hard to hear his message. After about 10 minutes of prepared remarks, Giuliani began taking questions. Asked about increasing federal support for HIV medications, Giuliani discussed what he considers appropriate federal responsibility in health care. "I don't want to promise you the federal government will take over the role," he said, drawing applause and shouts of "all right." Then, in some interesting twists, he turned the HIV question into a 9/11 answer: