Rudy's Judgment: From Kerik to Kazakhstan
An article in today's New York Times notes that Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign is "holding a fundraiser today in Kazakhstan, despite concerns about its human rights record." "Concerns" is putting it mildly. The Human Rights Watch 2007 World Report notes that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has not only effectively shut down the main opposition party, but has also passed a new media law giving him "unlimited power to close independent and opposition media outlets." Democracy promotion, anyone?
Hypocrisy and bad judgment are not new tools in the Giuliani repertoire, as evidenced by his long and checkered association with Bernard R. Kerik.
Until he was indicted on charges of accepting an illegal gift from a contractor with alleged mob associations, Kerik was Rudy Giuliani's best buddy. He rose rapidly in the administration of "America's Mayor," from police detective to corrections commissioner to police chief. Giuliani was so enamored of him that he named the downtown Manhattan jail "The Bernard R. Kerik Correctional Complex."
The mutual admiration society continued when Giuliani stepped down as mayor and vouched for Kerik as he was appointed head of the U.S. operation to train the Iraqi police force. By all accounts, Kerik spent most of his time in Iraq doing photo ops and press conferences, before failing upward to his next potential assignment, head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This was his downfall of course, as the background check conducted prior to his appointment revealed the financial irregularities that eventually led to his conviction of a misdemeanor for accepting illegal gifts. Kerik is still under suspicion on charges of tax evasion and illegal wiretapping. And, in one of the tackier acts by a public figure in recent memory, it was revealed that Kerik was conducting an affair with HarperCollins editor and right-wing mainstay Judith Regan using an apartment that had been set aside as a place for 9/11 rescue workers to rest between shifts.
Giuliani has charitably suggested that voters have a "right" to judge him on this and other decisions he has made in his public career. From Kerik to Kazakhstan, there's plenty there to judge. One might even suggest that these decisions are more consequential than whether or not top Democrats have sufficiently scolded MoveOn.org for its "General Betray Us" ad in the New York Times.
Giuliani is morally unfit for office. Any office. He is an altogether repugnant excuse for a human being. He has the swagger of his idol, Benito and about the same substance. He is a real louse. He'll do credit to the Republican Party.
September 26, 2007 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would chuckle and look forward to the Republicans nominating this douchbag as their presidential candidate, but I have this premonition that the American voters would elect him. They would do this because the man who will be portrayed as "weak on _______" is his opponent. So, I am rooting for the Republicans to nominate their outstanding candidate, ah.....you know....well......
Hoppy in Sacramento
September 26, 2007 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kazakhstan has security, which for Giuliani now trumps everything except self-glorification, ambition, and self-indulgence.
September 26, 2007 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like a bad trip flashback to "Footloose", Guiliani brought the power of the old Cabaret Licensing system to bear on bars where (the horror...) DANCING occurred.
Not content with constricting the booty shaking of civilians, he compounded his infamy by shutting down the Harmony Theatres. (Those of you who lament them with me, you know who you are...)
He awakens in a cold sweat at 4:30 AM each night, fearful that someone, somewhere, is getting laid.
He is, at heart, a police state fascist in the direct Mussolini mode, (and I offer that with no ethnic animus towards my Italian-American brothers and sisters.)
September 26, 2007 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Bernard R. Kerik Correctional Complex."
I think I read about that in the DSM-IV
September 27, 2007 8:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kerik was conducting an affair with HarperCollins editor and right-wing mainstay Judith Regan using an apartment that had been set aside as a place for 9/11 rescue workers to rest between shifts.
similarly
Giuliani was conducting an affair with Christine Lategano using an apartment in the Emergency Bunker that Giuliani insisted be located in the World Trade Center.
September 27, 2007 8:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
The defining moment for me with Rudy was at his inauguration as mayor. His young son Andrew was there in his little suit looking like John, John Kennedy at JFK's funeral, all scrubbed up.
When the oath of office was administered, young Andrew spoke along with his dad as if he was being sworn in as well. Rudy was frozen. The scene was uncomfortable to everyone. And yet Rudy let it play out as though he didn't have a clue. It was like the kid was a stranger to him. The relationship has not apparently improved in the intervening years.
One wonders what kind of relationship a man has with his kid that he didn't, to save Andrew from a moment that would undoubtedly prove humiliating later in life, just bend over and whisper in his ear that this was just for daddy to do. I don't trust people who can't establish and maintain relationships. If you can't successfully deal with the people closest to you, you haven't a prayer with others.
Rudy has proven his weakness in this area over and over again.
“I despise idealogues masquerading as objective journalists.” - Bill O'Reilly, March 30, 2007
September 27, 2007 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink