Rudy: His Law, His Order

Respect for law is a beautiful thing. Rudy, of course, is above anything so silly:

Rudy's new political ad attacking Hillary Clinton features multiple pictures of General Petraeus in uniform -- but now the Pentagon says that the General "has not condoned" the use of his image in Rudy's ad or any other political ads, adding that it was done "without his consent."

Rudy's Web ad -- launched yesterday -- features images of a uniformed Petraeus as a narrator's voice in the background accuses Clinton of slandering the General. In the ad, the Giulilani campaign also faults Clinton for not forcefully condemning a MoveOn ad in The Times that also features a picture of Petraeus.

Giuliani's ad, in addition to featuring multiple pictures of Petraeus in uniform, also features photos of uniformed American soldiers in Iraq that are "shown as Mrs. Clinton is accused of turning her back on them," as today's New York Times piece on the ad puts it. You can view the ad here, on Giuliani's campaign Web site.

Defense Department regulations prohibit uniformed personnel from appearing in political ads. And while these are stock photos, meaning that neither Petraeus nor the other military personnel actively moved to appear in Giuliani's ad, their use in this ad makes the question of whether Petraeus or the Defense Department condone the use of images of him or other military uniformed personnel a fair one.

It also raises the question of whether the Giuliani campaign perhaps should have asked Petraeus' permission to use his image in the ad -- particularly since the ad is designed to portray him as respectful of the General while painting Clinton as disrespectful, even disdainful, towards the top commander in Iraq.

Link.