GOP abandons Kerik

This is from Slate's column "Today's Papers."

"The WP says the Bush administration isn't offering Kerik any sympathy: During the pre-appointment vetting process, he was asked "repeatedly" whether he had ever employed an illegal alien and denied it, administration officials tell the paper. Even Kerik's political patron, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, sounds less than supportive in the NYT, calling the revelations "an embarrassment" and adding: "I never had a conversation [with the White House] in which I vouched for him."

Both Kerik and the White House maintain that it was the nanny that sank the nomination. But the NYT quotes an anonymous Democratic Senate staff member saying that "multiple media organizations were pursuing multiple stories," about Kerik's checkered past. What was else was there? For one thing, Sunday's New York Daily News reports that, during his job as a police official, Kerik allegedly accepted thousands of dollars in cash and gifts—including "a bejeweled Tiffany badge"—from a friend who worked for a city contractor with possible mob ties."

Kerik obviously had a hell of a lot of dirty laundry, and didn't come clean with booster Giuliani. Now it's a race to see who can get furthest away from him in the shortest amount of time. Yet another example of the political games the administration plays. The actual record of nominees is irrelevant-- they just want someone with a background that'll play well on the media. Black, Hispanic, bastard son of a prostitute-- anything to look inclusive. Any of these things trumps experience, ability, or even criminal behavior.

Kerik, however, has already made his millions cashing in on 9/11, so you don't need to feel too sorry for him.