Guiliani

More theft.

A commenter below points to an astonishing moment on Keith Olbermann's May 16 show about the GOP debate that captures the dynamic perfectly. Olbermann's guest, pundit John Harwood, a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC's chief Washington correspondent, offered the following on Rudy:

HARWOOD: Well look, Keith, I think those answers by both McCain and Giuliani help both men perhaps in the primary and in the general election for different reasons. McCain`s core message is toughness, and that I`m tough enough that I can go against my party on this issue. Why? Because I`ve been in combat. I`ve been tortured myself, as you mentioned.

Rudy Giuliani also has a bit of a claim to combat in a different way, because he was on the ground in 9/11.

Even allowing the speaker here a bit of oratory license, we nonetheless feel compelled to point it out: Rudy doesn't have combat experience. He doesn't have national security experience, either. He walked through the smoke and dust on 9/11 and held a bunch of press conferences at which he uttered a bunch of emotional and reassuring phrases. But the actual recovery effort he ran, while praised by some, has attracted a whole bunch of criticism, too.

Again: We're singling this punditry out because it's a reminder that if the media, and Rudy's rivals, cede him the aura of national security experience based on nothing more than the fact that he ran New York City on 9/11, he stands a much better chance of becoming President.

Update: And let's not forget NBC political director Chuck Todd's repeated assertion -- with no trace of irony -- that Rudy "owns 9/11."

Update II: Turns out Media Matters was way ahead of us on this, flagging it, you know, back when it happened.

It's crazy to me how much the media seems to love Guiliani. Particularly since most of the smoke and mirrors around him are transparent as hell. He's a waffler on social issues. He doesn't have a strong conservative approach, and despite his constant rhetoric, his term as Mayor of NY wasn't all that peachy keen. If ever a man was made popular by more bullshit than our sitting President, it's Guiliani.