Know-nothing Rudy, media darling

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Greg Sargent makes a great point about Giuliani and the media:

Someone needs to tell the bookers at the networks that the fact that Rudy Giuliani happened to get photographed walking through the smoke and dust on 9/11 does not give him any authority or credibility on foreign policy and national security issues.

That's Rudy Giuliani, of course, shameless exploiter of 9/11, would-be torturer-in-chief, and neo-fascist thug, not to mention presidential campaign failure.

Sargent has made the point before, as have many of us -- for example, see my June 2008 post, "The smears of Rudy Giuliani, 'a man with zero national security and foreign policy experience,'" which quotes Sargent.

But it bears repeating, because major media outlets like CNN and MSNBC continue to trot him out as a top Republican national security expert (with obvious personal and partisan agendas):

Again: Rudy has no basis whastoever for being granted authority or credibility on these issues. Unlike, say, John McCain, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Rudy does not hold public office. His resume boasts no meaningful national security experience of any kind. His last foray into politics was two years ago, when he ran a comically inept presidential campaign. He last held public office nine years ago.

And yet the media can't get enough of him. Which says a lot, and nothing good, about the media.