Bernie Kerik, The Problem That Will Not Go Away

Giuliani may have admitted that his dealings with Bernard Kerik was a mistake, but when it comes to Rudy that does not mean much. For many Americans the Kerik name was on the national radar for two seconds when he was tapped to become the Director of Homeland Security. Then he "disappeared" and Chertoff got the job instead. So what happened to Bernie, and why does it matter so much to the Giuliani campaign?

From The Daily News:

Greg Smith reported in The News last week that this all goes back to a 1999 meeting that involved Kerik - then Correction Department commissioner under Giuliani - and Casey and Caruso about the Interstate Industrial Corp., a company that very much wanted to run a waste transfer station on Staten Island. At the time, Casey was investigating the possibility that Interstate might have ties to the Gambino crime family.

And because you get these crazy coincidences in life sometimes, not only did Kerik's brother happen to be working for Interstate at the time, Interstate also turned out to be making rather extensive renovations on Kerik's Bronx apartment and, because they were such big-hearted people, doing those renovations for free.

None of this prevented Kerik from becoming Giuliani's top cop, standing right there at his side in the aftermath of Sept. 11, where he was so "brave," according to Giuliani himself, though you have to search your memory to remember which tower Police Commissioner Kerik ran into that day. Before long, the Bush White House wanted Kerik for head of Homeland Security. And the reason they did, the only way he gets near the White House or a job like that, is because he came from Giuliani, who, oh, by the way, later went into business with Bernie Kerik.

Now I'll admit this, Giuliani is a smart guy. No one doubts that. He knows how to put himself in the right spots at the right time, even if he hardly did any work. What counts in our "sound-bite" culture is a little bit of patriotic talk and some good photo-ops. Giuliani certainly covered his bases there. Even though he was a complete failure as mayor, America still regards him as a hero of 9/11 and an expert on security, even though he flaked on the Iraq Study Group.

He claims to have cleaned up the city and led New York through the crisis of September 11th. Yet he ignores all of the evidence to the contrary. Many who followed NYC's drop in crime credit the progress to Police Chief William Bratton, not Giuliani. In response to the praise for Bratton, what did Rudy do? He fired him. Giuliani is an expert in making himself look good, and that is why he is so afraid of Kerik, because him and Bernie go way back. Giuliani knew about Kerik's mob ties and could have cared less. Now that apathy is going to come back to bite him in the ass.