Media Taking A Break From Campaign Season To Actually Go To A Racetrack and Cover Horse Races

This is truly an indictment of what passes for political reporting in this country. Rudy Giuliani has made a habit of wild exaggerations, from claiming that he spent as much time at Ground Zero than any rescue worker, to saying that he's "studied Islamic terrorism for 30 years," to claiming that Hillary Clinton said "Capitalism is the most destructive force in modern America" when she actually quoted someone else calling capitalism a "disruptive" force. There are more exaggerations here, yet Giuliani continues to espouse the same bombast (others would call it "lies") because he is able to get away with them. But look how Washington Post reporter Lois Romano reacts to this persistent issue when confronted with the evidence at an online chat last week:

New York: Hi, Lois. In the GOP debate earlier this week, Rudy Giuliani said: "The leading Democratic candidate once said that the unfettered free market is the most destructive force in modern America. I mean, just get an idea of where that philosophy comes from." Rudy uses this line on Hillary frequently. But as has been conclusively proven, it's an almost comically dishonest distortion of what Hillary actually said in a 1996 interview with Brian Lamb. In that interview, Hillary quoted another author saying that the unfettered free market had been radically disruptive, not destructive, and actually went on to praise free markets.

My question, though, is this. If Al Gore can be painted as a serial liar and exaggerator by the media for things he didn't actually say, why has Giuliani so far gotten a pass on the lies he's actually spouting publicly?

Lois Romano: He hasn't been really challenged on every word yet. That will come. Right now, there are so many people in the race trying to get footing, and the media is trying to illuminate facts about all of them. As the field starts to winnow, you will see more and more scrutiny of what candidates say and do, and what they have done or said in the past....

"We'll get around to it," is the answer (it certainly wasn't the answer with Al Gore, who they pounced on mercilessly from day one). You know, for the betterment of Republican voters, even, I think it's time to get around to it.

We, The Undersigned, demand an investigation into the Giuliani administration's failure between 1994 and 2001 to equip firefighters with the radio equipment they needed to perform their duties on 9/11 with the highest likelihood of their own survival. We ask for an investigation to find answers to the following, unresolved questions:

Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?

Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
Why were these new radios never tested?

The families of the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11 deserve answers to these questions. We call on a full, public investigation to uncover the facts behind the Giuliani administration’s pre-9/11 emergency preparation.

Rudy's unpreparedness for the events of 9/11 led to the needless deaths of firefighters who never heard the evacuation call. That's relevant information that we shouldn't have to wait for until the field is "winnowed."

You can sit there and watch passively as the campaign runs its course, which would be fine if you were merely an observer of the political scene. But a JOURNALIST is charged with distilling information and providing the fullest possible context, in the interest of allowing for a more well-informed citizenry. This shirking of responsibility doesn't cut it, and it bodes ill for the general election as well.

UPDATE: The Real Rudy has a petition for you to sign.