WP: On Kerik Nomination, White House Missed Red Flags

[kskiska]

President Bush hoped to limit the political damage from the nomination of Bernard B. Kerik by cutting him loose as soon as he confessed he had not paid taxes for a Mexican nanny who apparently had been in the country illegally. Instead, questions about Bush's judgment have escalated because of a cascade of damaging details about Kerik's business and personal lives that White House vetters either missed or ignored.

A few days of digging by news organizations have revealed that Bush had planned to entrust one of the most sensitive jobs in his Cabinet, secretary of homeland security, to a man who had failed to report lavish gifts he received as a New York City official, had declared personal bankruptcy and was the subject of an arrest warrant in a civil case involving unpaid condominium fees.

Since Kerik withdrew, he has helped a company suspected of doing business with organized crime, and been accused of extramarital affairs that his representatives do not deny.

Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the lobbying community, accustomed to a White House that resists any whiff of sleaziness, were left wondering whether it was more astounding that Kerik allowed himself to be considered or that Bush disregarded a forest of red flags and nominated him anyway.

An exhausted staffer who has been closely involved in the matter from the beginning called it "a case of hubris on both sides."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64738-2004Dec14.html

[yardwork]

1. If this was a planned smokescreen, either it backfired badly

or they have something REALLY big to cover up.

Personally, I agree with the staffer who says hubris. I think they got giddy with "success" and got careless.

[Fridays Child]

2. They knew about him but they believed they were above being questioned...

...by anyone about his nomination. Never did they think, for one second, that tough-guy Kerik would fold.

This is, hopefully, only the first mistake they will make, based on their belief that they can actually manufacture reality.

[pa28]

24. Right.

Nobody missed any red flags. They just thought they were going to get another free pass but for some reason it stuck this time.

[Eloriel]

27. Exactly right -- they missed NOTHING

they've just been nearly immune before this. It boggles my mind that the Kerik stuff is actually sticking, and also delighting me.

No way even the most incompetent of "vetters" would've missed half this stuff. They just didn't care.

I'm enjoying the hell out of the whole spectacle. More, more!!

[Old and In the Way]

3. With a resume like that, it's easy to understand why Bush would want him

on board. He'd fit right in with the rest of the war profiteers.

[UTUSN]

4. Red Flags, Connecting Dots----Vetting, Intelligence

Shrub is a screw-up and arrogant. His string-pullers are screw-ups and arrogant. Alberto GONZALEZ (vetter) is a yes-man and the next train wreck.

It's an endless circle: Arrogance----> sloppiness----> yes-man -----> screw-up---->

Shrub himself is the biggest train wreck who has already gotten so many passes. What will it take?

[mediaman007]

6. DU Members know that this administration is a house of cards . . .

They are already coming apart and the second term has not begun! The entire first term was a gigantic re-election campaign, which itself would have fallen on its face without the Trade Center attack.

In the next two years, I think that more of the media will take a critical look and more of the public will come to see what we write about daily.

When this house falls in, it will consume them. In a way, I'm glad that Kerry will not be in the way, so the Democrats will not have to shoulder the blame.

During this time we should rebuild ourselves, so we are the obvious alternative to their corruption.

[saigon68]

26. Hopefully it will be NIXON REVISITED

The thought of all those aides and thugs FROG MARCHED OUT IN HANDCUFFS


AAH YES----

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. This is why Kerry conceded

Now they are imploding before the inauguration rather than after it.

[Solly Mack]

10. Yes, but it wasn't a "traditional" vetting, you see

The Red Flags weren't detailed enough to be relied on as valid intelligence.

No one ever imagined a Nanny crisis.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. "If someone had told me the exact length and width and...

...number and position of each of those red flags, I would have done something." (Paraphrase of a blame deflection technique previously used by the * administration.)
:think:

[Solly Mack]

16. Yep

lol

[TahitiNut]

17. They're busy blowing sunshine up each other's butts.

It's a 'loyalty' requirement. Naysayers get the axe.

[Erika]

5. I think this is how Bush got us into the Iraqi war.

Bad intelligence, advisers who only said yes to what the boss wanted to hear, and total chaos.

Our human costs for Bush's ineptness for these same qualites: See at www.icasualties.org.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. On Iraq, White House Missed Red Flags

On economy, White House Missed Red Flags
On education, White House Missed Red Flags
On health care, White House Missed Red Flags
On Social Security, White House Missed Red Flags
On environment, White House Missed Red Flags
On
and
On
and
On

[BeFree]

8. Something tells me

It was no mistake.

There is a fellow that goes by the name of Guliani, I believe, who was getting a little too big for his britches, when it came to being all-powerful like the Texas Rangers are.

What better way to chop Guliani down than to rake one of his goons thru the coals? Guliani will never be the same.

The Texans have nothing to lose but a smidgen of political capital. In a few days all will be forgiven. Nothing to see here, move along.

[Lucille]

15. Yep. This is all to damage Guilliani

The media has given Bush and his appointees/nominees a pass on the most egregious crimes. Now we're supposed to believe that the media suddenly grew a spine and noticed the fact that this one--one--is a mob crony, unfaithful to his wife, and a war profiteer. So, except for his blue collar background, how is Kerik any different?

For a few days the Bush administration flunkies will appear stressed and embarrassed. Then it'll be over. Guilliani will be the one who needs to do the explaining, not Bush.

[bling bling]

9. Pbbbbt. That headline is the story of this administrations life.

"On 911, white house missed red flags"
"On economy, white house missed red flags"
"On budget spending and tax cuts, white house missed red flags"
"On global warming, white house missed red flags"
"On war in Iraq, white house missed red flags"
"On prison torture, white house missed red flags"
"On post war Iraq reconstruction, white house missed red flags"
"On flu vaccine shortage, white house missed red flags"
"On Social Security disaster, white house missed red flags"
"On health care crisis, white house missed red flags"

Maybe the "white house" is colorblind? Or maybe this bunch sees red flags as nothing more than pesky distractions to be overlooked.

[QC]

11. "a White House that resists any whiff of sleaziness"

:wtf:

Pull the other one--it's got bells on it.

[ReadTomPaine]

12. I think Kerik pulled out for his own self preservation

I don't think the White House cares one whit about any of the "scandals" we've heard about Kerik so far, and they are likely aware that he has done things far worse during his shady career. I think this entire situation was driven by Kerik himself, who backed out at the last minute after he started to get a sense that he was being played.

Kerik is a thug, but he's also got the considerable survival instincts of a corrupt city cop. My read of this situation is that he senses something is amiss with this job and he refuses walk into a setup or be a patsy. Kissing ass quid-pro-quo style is one thing, but being setup for a fall or turned into a professional 'gimp' doesn't seem like Kerik's style.

RTP

[TahitiNut]

18. For sure they're looking for a fall-guy ...

... for the next set of terrorist attacks. I'm guessing they'll be permitted to be mostly successful right around November 2005.

[ReadTomPaine]

20. The noise about Lieberman being asked also suggests something is amiss

I won't go so far as to suggest MIHOP/LIHOP, but it certainly seems they are trying to get someone very loyal, expendable or both into this position. The difference in how Bush is handling this appointment compared to his other recent picks is pretty striking.

RTP

[yorkiemommie1]

13. the media wasn't doing their jobs

of plastering over the boils on kerik's 'resume'. they weren't quite in precision lockstep on this one; someone obviously didn't send out the talking points fast enough...murdoch, andrew card, rove?

yes, they are getting sloppy. we all knew it this admin is built on lies, flimsy lies, vicious lies over an underlayer of unbridled unprincipled ambition.

they could have paid any of us 2 cents and we would have told them how Iraq would unfold. i sat in a marie callendar's restaurant in march '03 and told my friends so. they all dissed me. and not one of them has admitted they were wrong!

oh to see the day when the bushies are hoist on their own petard!

[Erika]

19. The 10 Commandments Issue

Many Bushie right wingers want the 10 Commandments Everywhere.

(giggle under my breath)...do they realize that Bush nominated a man who had two affairs at the same time while being married. Now there is a charge that he committed bigamy.

You just got to love those Republicans, they are like a bunch of little kids, who hope they are caught for their naughtiness.

[President Jesus]

21. straight from the "no shit, Sherlock" files! n/t

[Sleepless In NY]

22. bush and his "darn good intelligence"

no wonder this country is in a mess.

[burrowowl]

23. BS

WH and Bu$h thought he was a 'good' guy, A CROOK LIKE THEM!

[KingChicken]

25. How many wives and simultaneous affairs?

This guy was really getting some action, I wonder if Gulliani had a piece of this?

[leesa]

28. They miss ALL red flags, on ALL topics.

[Catchawave]

29. NYT Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/politics/15home.html?oref=login&th

Snipped from the article:

A major problem, law enforcement officials said, was that the White House did not have the benefit of any F.B.I. investigation into Mr. Kerik's past. Mr. Kerik, as New York City's police commissioner on Sept. 11, 2001, had been offered a high security clearance by federal officials so he could receive classified intelligence about the city's security, a law enforcement official said. But he failed to return a questionnaire needed for the F.B.I. to conduct a background check, and he never received that clearance, the law enforcement official said.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: