Howard Kurtz: Media Critic or Media Hack?

To save you all some time, the answer is, media hack.  Today Howard takes on Rudy "Sex On The City" Giuliani paying for sex with Judi Nathan with the taxpayer's money.  And how does he approach this well-documented, multifaceted scandal?

Rudy Giuliani, who made his name prosecuting bad guys, has always taken a two-fisted approach toward what he brands "the liberal media."

That pugilistic style was on display last week when the Politico got under Hizzoner's skin.

Don't let the quotation marks around, "the liberal media," fool you.  This column is an ode to the manly manliness that is Rudy Giuliani.  

Kurtz begins by telling us what time the Politico story was posted, because after all, Giuliani did say it was timed as a pre-debate hit piece.  He then says that, "

...the newspaper said the former New York City mayor had billed tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses to obscure city agencies for repeated visits to the Hamptons...

Actually, Howie, the newspaper didn't just say he did it, they offered irrefutable, documented proof that security expenses were billed to obscure (obscure being aid to the disabled and the poor) city agencies.  But sure, let's pretend it was just a claim. And let's not bother to address the other aspects of this story that have come out in the past few days:  that Mistress Nathan was being ferried around by New York's finest even when she wasn't with Giuliani, that the police were a taxi service for her and her family,  that Giuliani refused to address this issue when it was first raised in 2002, and that no documentation has been produced to show that those city agencies were ever reimbursed.  

What we get is a denial from Giuliani, a rebuttal from Politco's Editor in Chief, an explanation from an unnamed Giuliani spokesman, and then from a named Giuliani spokesman.  Three to one, with nothing from Kurtz addressing the validity of the claims made, thus concluding the fair and balanced coverage from Mr. Media Critic.  Because it's time to move on to examples of Giuliani calling the media, "liberal," ending with:

Giuliani honed his political skills during eight years of constant combat with the tabloid-driven New York press. As a White House contender, he is finding the media an equally juicy target, a stance that may well have resonance among Republican primary voters.

If this column is any kind of precursor, it looks like the media is coming into this combat unarmed.