Monday, ahead of Rupert Murdoch s inquiry by the British Parliament, former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appeared on CNN to defend his beleaguered friend against accusations of knowledge of his employees hacking and bribing offenses. The men s relationship goes back at least 15 years, when Giuliani gave Murdoch one of New York City s five public-access channels to launch Fox News Channel. As the article below shows, the sordid, often concealed Murdoch-Giuliani partnership is exemplary of the kind of societal destruction that becomes possible when public officials merge their interests and power with private wealth, and confirms the urgent need to write and enact laws that prevent such an occurrence.