Blaming Anonymous BookKeepers Won't Cut It

As the story about how Rudy covered up expenses to see his then mistress Judith gets juicier, his defense is getting more and more nasty by the moment. Giuliani and his aides are trashing Politico author Ben Smith for his article (even though they haven't refuted anything in it yet and declined to talk to Smith before the article was published) and even trotted out Bernie Kerik to come to his aid.

Meanwhile, the evidence piling up against the ex-Mayor continues at a furious pace. William Thompson, the City Comptroller gave an interview which decimated Rudy's claims of ignorance. Thompson says the Giuliani's Administration "stonewalled" him when he inquired about the odd numbers in the city agencies' budgets.

When Rudy's aides tried to answer the real question here, that is why those obscure agencies paid for Rudy's security detail to the Hamptons, Anthony Carbonetti said, "It was a bookkeeping exercise, why it was done this way, I don't know."

An exercise? Like jumping jacks and push-ups type of exercise? Maybe it was more along the lines of a criminal exercise, not like robbery or extortion exercises, but definitely a fraudulent exercise.

Hypocrisy Abounds When Rudy Opens His Mouth

Not only does he lie exaggerate everything to ridiculous levels, he's a hypocrite as well. It feels like only yesterday (really a couple of weeks) when he decried government health care after lauding over it when he was taken care of by NYC's HIP plan. What is good for Rudy isn't good for everyone else, according to the man himself at least. Well today was more of the same from Giuliani when he lashed out at all the earmarks in Congress. Maybe he forgot about all of those that went his way.

From Bloomberg:

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani rails against congressional spending set aside for lawmakers' pet projects. In Washington, his law firm fights to obtain them.

Giuliani, the Republican presidential front-runner, last month pledged to ``get rid of'' so-called earmarks, which cost taxpayers about $13 billion this year, saying his party should promote ``fiscal discipline.'' Just weeks later, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP won $3 million worth of projects for its clients in defense-spending legislation.

``It's a bit hypocritical,'' said Republican consultant Eddie Mahe, who isn't aligned with any presidential candidate. ``He profits from it. I don't think Joe Sixpack is going to buy into that.''

Even his own party's political peeps are trashing him over this. Thanks for making it easier for us Dems to pile on. Oh and it appears his BFF is trailing him (scroll down to the last two paragraphs) on the campaign as well. Gotta love those diehards that follow Rudy, looking like Rudy touting old friendships.

What Does Kerik Have On Giuliani?

That is the question in my head this morning. That common sense bug keeps biting me on the subject and I just can not figure it out. Despite claims from Kerik that the two don't talk much anymore (in public at least) Kerik is still using Giuliani and in more ways than one. With Bernie now known as an indicted man, he is raising money for his legal defense as one facing a criminal trial might try and do. It is the way he is going about that is just a little bit suspicious.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Kerik, in the face of his troubles, has carried himself with what many would view as characteristic hubris, making frequent television appearances over the last year to speak as an expert on a range of subjects, from fighting terrorism to the war in Iraq. And despite public statements that he has stayed away from Mr. Giuliani, he has done little, it seems, to distance himself from the former mayor or President Bush; there are several pictures of him with both men on the Web site for his consulting business and he has used a photograph of himself with the former mayor on a separate site set up to raise money for his legal defense.

Indeed, a section of the fund-raising Legal Defense Trust Web site titled “About Bernard Kerik” begins by citing Mr. Bush’s nomination of him to serve as Homeland Security secretary, but does not mention his quick, embarrassing withdrawal. And the consulting firm’s home page gives prominent placement to a remark from the president that predated the public humiliation that followed:

“Bernie Kerik is one of the most accomplished and effective leaders of law enforcement in America.”

Accomplished my ass, Kerik is shady figure at best. His strongest asset is that he knows how to utilize his ties to a media-branded 9/11 hero, Mr. America's Mayor. Kerik did absolutely nothing for New York and less than that when it comes to helping fight the ridiculous war in Iraq. He is a mob-connected, corrupt, lying criminal with absolutely nothing on his plate besides trying to save his hide in the face of the law.

Kerik's angle is that he and Rudy are buddies and nothing more. So what is it that allows Kerik to continue to promote their friendship without any resistance from Giuliani? What does he have on the Presidential aspirant?

Kerik Speaks, Doesn't Say Much

With all of the news coverage about Bernie Kerik's ties to Rudy Giuliani, the indicted Kerik felt the need to talk about their relationship with the press. Why anyone would believe what he has to say is beyond me but the interview is noteworthy for one reason and one alone. It all comes down to loyalty. As both men have mob connections (Kerik's are obvious and Rudy has his family) the most important thing is loyalty, forget about facts, logical reasoning, geopolitical knowledge or any other quality that would make for a fit President. Well, it appears that both men are sticking to each other to the end, as Kerik shows in CBS interview.

From WCBS-TV:

When asked why he thinks Giuliani hasn't run away from him, Kerik said despite likely political pressure to do so, the former mayor is strong in his convictions.

"It's his demeanor, his personality, the way it's always been," Kerik said. "He's going to stand up for what he believes."

Kerik scoffed at suggestions that he was a keeper of Giuliani's secrets.

"There's no secrets about Giuliani," Kerik said. "And you're one -- if there were secrets, you'd know it."

Despite Giuliani's loud mouth, I'm sure there are plenty of secrets. Lies and secrets generally go hand in hand, and we know Rudy tells plenty of whoppers. Although I doubt the two of them (and especially Rudy) obey the law of omertá, loyalty is still the key for both of them and will carry many secrets to the grave.

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.

Kerik Decries 9/11 Politics By Playing Politics

Ah, Bernie Kerik. You don't hear much about that guy in the news these days. Thankfully for our reading pleasure he gave an interview while attending the ceremonies this morning at Ground Zero. For the most part he stayed away from his former pal Giuliani in the physical sense, but that did not stop him from praising the Presidential aspirant and slamming the people opposed to him.

From The Huffington Post:

Asked to respond to criticism that Giuliani made a terrible, life-costing mistake by putting New York's terrorist response center in one of the Twin Towers - thereby rendering it moot when the building was hit - Kerik noted the clairvoyance of hindsight.

"Yeah," he said, "I wish I could look back and say some of the things I've done and moves I've made, I didn't make. But the reality is you don't have that luxury of going back. Was it a bad decision? Possibly. But I think people have to look beyond that and look at the scope of the response on 9/11."

As for the criticism expressed by the International Association of Firefighters that Giuliani's performance on 9/11 was more or less a disaster, Kerik decried it as politics.

"The unfortunate thing is they have brought this into the political arena," he claimed. "As an insider in the administration, I know what Rudy did for the fire department. And I know what he did for the city... For anybody to question his leadership, I find it pretty appalling"

Appalling? Really? Those are brave comments coming from a man criminal such as himself. As for questioning Rudy's leadership....that is the right of every American to ponder before thinking of making him our next President. Speaking of people running for President, Kerik even took the time to lambast Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH):

Kerik even waded briefly into the presidential campaign, lobbing criticisms at Representative Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, who, in a recent radio interview from Syria, derided America's presence in Iraq.

"I was so sickened by it, I had to turn it off," Kerik said. "The reason we are never going to win this war is because we can't unite against the enemy. I don't know what the parameters are for treason, but this guy should be impeached."

Kerik is so far out of bounds he can't even see the field on this one. He might want to keep his mouth as far away as he does his distance from Rudy on this day....and any day.

Bush Knew Of Kerik's Shady Past, Yet Nominated Him Anyways

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.