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Tim Russert asks his Meet The Press panel if Giuliani's BFF Bernard Kerik should be the proverbial albatross around the presidential candidate's neck. Especially since, as Giuliani responded, though Kerik "had issues," the end justified the means for Rudy.

Heather takes it from here:

Byron York gives some talking points from the campaign about how he hires a lot of people and unless there's some sort of problem they're not really going to pay much attention to them. Gwen Ifill calls him out and asks, "Do they really think that's going to work?" York tells the truth with his facial expressions and then says "It's one guy. I think obviously where he went to far was pushing him for homeland security."

E.J. Dionne: They've taken his name off the prison they named after him.....When it's a guy that was this close to him you have to ask a lot of questions.....This is the first time something out of Mayor Giuliani's record has really gotten traction in the national press."

Ron Brownstein: And in fact it is a reminder that if he is the nominee, time will begin again. It's the morning after and we will begin to explore the New York record and debate it and discuss it in a way that we haven't so far.

My question would be why not and whose fault is that?

Well, exactly. It's stunning to me to see how the media and Republicans will try to spin and justify everything to not detract from Rudy's frontrunner status. Can you imagine if a Democratic candidate had a such a high-profile relationship with an indicted criminal with mob ties? Would it take as much to gain traction in the MSM?