"I met Bernie in 1990 at a meeting to organize the annual Buczek Foundation...I was immediately impressed with his organizational skills and was delighted when two years later he joined my campaign...As an outsider and a risk-taker, Bernie wouldn't accept 'that's not the way we do things' as a reason new strategies couldn't tried."
Source: Giuliani, Rudolph W. (2002) Leadership. NY : Hyperion, c2002. p. 83.
On Feb. 18, 2010, Bernard B. Kerik was sentenced to 33 months in prison according to the New York Times after pleading guilty "to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials."
When I first read this news item, I wanted to use it to demonstrate the unfitness of Rudi Giuliani to ever be elected Senator of New York or President of the United States. I realized that Bernard Kerik's fall, had a lot do with how anyone can be corrupted by power. That is something I have to keep reminding myself these days. Anyone can be corrupted whether it's a union activist like myself or someone like Bernard Kerik, who came within an ace of being chosen as the first head of the Dept. of Homeland Security. Kerik will begin his sentence on May 17th. It will not be easy to be a prisoner of after being a prison warden and head of the New York Dept. of Corrections. His conviction destroys his many years of public service.
There are two aspects of his fall that merit mention. First during this trial many people came forward and offered testimony lauding both his character and his many years of distinguished public service. But there was no testimony or praise from his former patron Rudolf Giuliani.
In his book Leadership, Rudolph Giuliani devotes a whole chapter to loyalty, calling it "The Vital Virtue." According Giuliani, "A leader who distances himself at the first sign of trouble migh save a few popularity points but it's shortsighted. Eventually no on wants to work for someone like that. The best people don't apply, know that should trouble arrive, they'll be left twisting in the wind." (p. 235).
Perhaps the severity of Bernie Kerik's crimes made support by Mr. Giuliani impossible. It might also be the Mr. Giuliani left Mr. Kerik twist in the wind."
The second interesting thing about the conviction of Mr. Kerik, was that he was convicted for "lying to White House officials." The White House officials in questions were serving the George Bush and Dick Cheney. I think it's funny you can go to jail for lying to White House officials but these very same White House officials, like Dick Cheney's counsel Scooter Libby, don't go to jail for lying to us.
On Feb. 8, 2010, the the New York Times published the prosecutor's memorandum to judge pertaining to Kerik's sentencing, “The defendant’s egotism and hubris were the tragic flaws that led him to commit the considerable number of crimes to which he ultimately pleaded guilty,” the memo said. Mr. Kerik “became a wealthy man by shamelessly exploiting the most horrific civilian tragedy in this nation’s history.”
Kerik is not the only man to try to "shamelessly exploiting the most horrific civilian tragedy in this nation’s history.” Rudy Giuliani ran for President in 2008 , most ly by promoting himself as Mr. 9/11. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who recently admitted to authorizing torture is a welcome guest on the Sunday morning talk shows. His success has been so good he has been able to boost the career of his daughter Liz, whos e only creditials as a conservative leader seem to be she shares genetic information with the vice president. John Yoo, who wrote the legal memos authorizing the C.I.A. to torture prisoners of war, gives speeches on CSPAN, and former Cheney speechwriter Marc Thiessen, now has a weekly column at the Washington Post. Theissen recently went on a Catholic cable channel to justify Bush administration torture policies. Sarah Palin , the half-term former Governor of Alaska, wraps herself in the American flag and brags about how she would deal with terrorists in Iraq and Iran.
As shown above, Bernie Kerik is not the only person trying to exploit 9/11 and will to go to any lengths to do it, but so far he's the only man being sent to jail for committing crimes to satisfy his greed money and power.
Capitano Tedeschi
30
Quotations taken from: Giuliani, Rudolph W. (2002) Leadership. NY : Hyperion, c2002.
photo credit: Bernard Kerik when he was NY Police Commission retrieved Feb. 19, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:At_the_Landfill.jpg
Bernard Kerik fallen hero copyright Feb. 19, 2010 by Jamie Jacks
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