Bernie, we hardly knew ya

Snort.

In reviewing his personal finances this week as he prepared for confirmation hearings, Mr. Kerik said in a statement issued late Friday, he determined that a housekeeper and nanny he had once employed was not clearly a legal immigrant and that he had not properly paid taxes on her behalf.

I can imagine his surprise when he realized that, gosh, he hadn't been paying her social security taxes. What an oversight. And then there's this amusing coincidence.

A former New York City official who knows the circumstances of the withdrawal said that the housekeeper, who had worked for the Kerik family for about a year, left for her home country two weeks ago [italics added]. Her name and nationality were not disclosed. Mr. Kerik lives in Franklin Lakes, N.J., with his wife, Hala, and their two small children. Mr. Kerik has two older children, one from a previous marriage and one whom he fathered while serving in the military in Korea.

I hazard a guess that the housekeeper was the least of the skeletons in Kerik's closet. It will be interesting to see if he, despite Miramax optioning his life story, will be able to otherwise slide back into relative obscurity; that his time running Riker's Island and brief stint as NY Police Commish go unexamined. That would be too bad. I don't think the movie will focus on the shady dealings that went on while he was in charge of those institutions.

But the main thing -- and what is going largely uncommented upon -- is the light the Kerik appointment put on just how seriously Bush takes the position of Homeland Security head. Kerik had only the most shallow of credentials for the job, despite the support from NY Democratic senators who thought he'd at least understand the need for cities like New York to get more money. Kerik's entire career is one of transperent opportunism, hitching his wagon to Giuliani's (it was a spokesman from Giuliani's company who made the Kerik announcement yesterday, which had the added benefit of making it look like BushCo had nothing to do with his decision). Kerik's appointment also highlighted Bush's approach to national security. By choosing for a job that must be nonpartisan in order to be effective a guy who spent the entire summer saying that the election of John Kerry would inevitably lead to a massive terra ist attack, shows that only true believers need apply.