Obviously, my remorse knows bounds. My sadness has a bottom. Words are more than adequate to express my grief.

He was a gangster and a terrorist, as I’m sure we’ll hear countless times here and elsewhere in the days to come.

Nothing wrong with all of that. The world is a better place without that carbunkle on humanity and it is fine to say so. I think Palestinians can have a bit of free pass this week as they express remorse because, right or wrong, Arafat was a symbol of hope for many of them. All’s the greater the tragedy.

But no one else really deserves anything like a free-pass. It will be interesting to see how the news of Arafat’s death serves as a dye-marker (die marker?) for others around the world and here in America. How someone with even a scintilla of objectivity could grieve for this man is beyond me. Sure, you can be misinformed and grieve for the Palestinian people if you think this is bad news for them (it’s not). But to grieve for the man, to mourn his passing, is an act of staggering ignorance and moral surrender. Shed no tears for this man if you care about mankind.