Keith Olbermann to Rudy: You Crossed the Line

Rudy Giuliani, who located New York City's disaster response headquarters in the basement of the World Trade Center, had fire and police departments whose radios could not reach each other, and elevated his corrupt driver, Bernard Kerik, to Police Commissioner of New York, says if a Democrat is elected America will be hit again by terrorists. Shameless. Keith Olberman says it much more elegantly:

GOP: Grand Ol' Police Blotter

Trout Lips Pirro, doomed candidate for New York State Attorney General, caught on tape trying to get Bernie Kerik to eavesdrop on her cheating hubby.

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman's been giving out federal money for political contributions; indictment to follow.

Ewwwwww, Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) caught writing creepy emails to a 16-year-old boy who was formerly a Congressional page. Oh, and Foley is one of those: Republican by day, Democrat by night. Since he's been in the closet his whole life, he's probably a 16-year old inside, too.

We Got Al Qaeda Right Where We Want 'Em

From the Boston Globe:

Bomber of US mess hall said to be Saudi student

CAIRO -- The suicide bomber who killed 22 people when he blew himself up in a US mess hall in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was a Saudi medical student, an Arab newspaper reported yesterday.

Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat identified him as 20-year-old Ahmed Said Ahmed al-Ghamdi, citing unnamed friends of the man's father. The friends said members of an Iraqi resistance group contacted Ghamdi's father to tell him his son was the suicide bomber who carried out the Dec. 21 attack, the deadliest on a US installation in Iraq.

The father told the newspaper his son had gone to Iraq to fight the Americans and had died there. The family held a mourning ceremony, the paper said. US officials have said their preliminary investigation indicates the bomber was dressed in an Iraqi military uniform -- but was not an Iraqi soldier -- when he slipped into a mess tent packed with soldiers.

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The Ghamdis are a large Saudi clan, three members of whom were among the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Yes, three of his family members were among the September 11th hijackers.

Hey, if Bernard Kerik "I'd sell government influence for a lousy $7,000 New Jersey wedding reception" could be nominated as Homeland Security chief, anybody with a backpack & an Iraqi uniform could get into a military base in Iraq. FUBAR, under Prances in Flightsuit it's all FUBAR. Chilling.

Bush is a simpleton

A 'good' adjective

Funny piece from The Carpetbagger Report about Bush & his limited vocabulary:

Ron Suskind raised a point the other day in a New York Times op-ed that I wanted to follow up on.

The president chose Bernard Kerik to lead the Department of Homeland Security because he was "a good man," an intangible, gut-check standard that the president also applies to judicial nominees and world leaders.

I think that's absolutely true. One recent report explained in great detail that the president met Kerik, decided on the spot that he liked him, and that this initial meeting effectively ended the vetting process. Bush, as we know, relies on his "gut" far more than facts, so the man with poor instincts was satisfied with the conclusion that this incompetent criminal should head the Department of Homeland Security. As far as the president was concerned, he's "a good man." No other information was needed; no other standard need be met.

The fun part, however, is seeing how often he relies on this silly little phrase as a standard for qualification. Suskind noted that Bush uses the "good man" standard to size-up would-be judges and foreign heads of state, but the amusing thing is realizing that the president uses the same phrase to describe just about every man for which he has any fondness at all.

This link shows that Bush refers to almost everyone as "a good man." The president relies on the line so often, he's used it, on average, about seven times a month throughout his first term.

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It actually suits Bush perfectly. He's a simple person with a simple worldview: people are either good or bad. Complexities are for the "reality-based community." For the president, labeling someone a "good man" isn't just deep insight into a person's character, it's the only insight necessary.

Bernie, We Hardly Knew Ye

Bernard Kerik is going to get an indictment in his stocking for Christmas; next Christmas, if not this one.

For all there is to know about Bernie Kerik's shenanigans, you must check out Steve Gilliard's news blog. No More Mister Nice Blog has also been following the story.

Kerik Was Married to the Mob

I knew there was more.

Inquiry of Kerik in '00 Puts Focus on Vetting Issue

In June 2000, two months before Bernard B. Kerik was appointed police commissioner, New York City's top investigative agency learned that he had a social relationship with the owner of a New Jersey construction company suspected of having business ties to organized crime figures, city documents show.

The city's Department of Investigation took two days of testimony from Frank DiTommaso, the owner of the company, Interstate Industrial Corporation. It also formally interviewed Mr. Kerik himself. Though it is not clear what he told the investigators, there is no indication that Mr. Kerik did anything illegal or improper.

A spokesman for the Department of Investigation declined to comment yesterday when asked whether any of the information concerning Mr. Kerik and Interstate Industrial had been shared at the time with any other city officials.

But Rudolph W. Giuliani said in an interview yesterday that none of those facts were brought to his attention in August 2000 when, as mayor, he appointed Mr. Kerik as New York's top police official. And there was no indication that the White House was aware of the findings before it nominated Mr. Kerik to take over the Department of Homeland Security on Dec. 3, a nomination that has now been withdrawn.

Yeah, right, Giuliani knew nothing.

Nanny Problem? Come On.

Last night I heard on the news that Bernard Kerik had abruptly withdrawn as nominee to head the Homeland Security Department and I thought, what's the real deal here? By the late news the media was reporting he had a "nanny problem". I seriously doubt that. Isn't it amazing that having a nanny problem is now a legitimate way to bow out of a government job?

Anyway, there must be more to the story. From his appointment to the board of the company that manufactures Taser stun guns, which lead to his making a $6.8 million dollar profit on stock options he was given for free, just for being a board member, to his personal finances (bankruptcy, etc.), to his thug years in Saudi Arabia, you had to know there was more dirt out there on this guy.

Here's the latest scoop, from Newsweek.

My guess? We've only seen the tip of the Bernard Kerik dirty ice iceberg.

Another Hacktacular Homeland Security Chief

Kerik Nomination is a Ticking Time Bomb

Click the link to read the whole article. Here's its sad beginning:

Campaign bodyguard to Rudy Giuliani.

Errand boy for the Saudi royal family.

Energetic exploiter of Sept. 11th tragedy.

Tough-talking publicity-hound vowing to bring law and order to Iraq - then hightailing it out of there after a disastrous 14 weeks, leaving the place far less safe than he found it.

Oh, the bullet points on Bernie Kerik's real-life resume just go on and on. But is this really the guy we want standing between us and the terrorists?

George W. Bush apparently thinks so.

Here's the story on Kerik covering up for his top aide Picciano after "Pitch" threatened his girlfriend with a gun: Kerik bailed out pal, sources say: Covered up '98 assault, they claim