I'm trying to wrap my head around why Bush would nominate Bernie Kerik to be the head of the Homeland Security department. We all knew he had a checkered past. Giuliani knew. The White House knew. Yet the guy was still kept close to Rudy and the White House nominated him regardless of what the vetters found.
From The NY Post:
Despite Kerik's "bald-faced" lies to investigators, vetters uncovered shady financial deals, an ethics violation and ties to a reputed mob family - yet pushed Kerik ahead, only to watch as his nomination collapsed, The Washington Post reports.
Federal prosecutors have told the former New York City police commissioner that he will likely be charged with several felonies, including lying to White House vetters.
And Kerik's embarrassing Cabinet bid has some questioning the judgment of ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the 2008 GOP presidential-nomination front-runner, who nominated Kerik, and of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who headed the vetting.
The Post seems to think it was all about a flashy headline for the Administration. Though that may be part of it, it still doesn't sync with the pattern of how people are selected for positions throughout the government. If someone get the nod for a job, it tends to be for political patronage. All you need to do is look at the plethora of nominees that have been approved to see that they hardly had an experience related to the post yet plenty of connections to George Bush.
If the White House knew, then they also knew that an indicted man would never pass the test. Once he failed, Chertoff looked a whole lot better and was easily confirmed. I can't put my finger on it precisely, but there seems to be a whiff of a fall guy to get Chertoff in. This may seem like a conspiracy theory, but we are far past that when it comes to George Bush. I'll report more on this when I find hard data.
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