Sunday, December 12, 2004
So, how do Bush, Rove feel about Gonzales making them look like idiots?
Wait! There's more! Forget about (0) Kerik's Nanny cover story. Forget (1) about Kerik's mob ties (back). Forget (2) about the outstanding arrest warrant (back). Heck, forget (3) about Kerik bugging out from Iraq and the farcically bad job he did "training" [cough] the Iraqi police force on the CPA tit (back).
Let's even forget (4) that Kerik's being sued for trying to ruin a subordinate's career after the subordinate reprimanded Kerik's girlfriend (Newsday)
The real issue is this: Gonzales, who vetted Kerik (back), made Rove and Inerrant Boy look bad. All the information in points (1)-(4) above was really, really easy to get. That's why it all came out the hours and days after Kerik was nominated. (Oddly, the only information that was hard to get, because known only to Kerik, is point (0), the Nanny cover story. She's left the country, by the way (here). Um, was she just a nanny?)
So, since the information was so easy to get, why didn't Gonzales get it?
Seems like Rove and Radio Boy were the last to know about Kerik's flameout: From the same Newsday story, here's how the famously disciplined Bush team was operating right until Kerik crashed and burned:
So, Gonzales blew something that should have been really simple. Blew it really, really badly (just like the Texas clemency memos if it comes to that.) And now, he's already the Justice [cough] nominee. Sweet!
Pass the popcorn!
NOTE Of course, there's another area where Radio Boy, Gonzales, and Rove all have a set of interests in common: the Plame Affair which, oddly, hasn't been in the news lately. I wonder who owns who on that one?
Let's even forget (4) that Kerik's being sued for trying to ruin a subordinate's career after the subordinate reprimanded Kerik's girlfriend (Newsday)
The real issue is this: Gonzales, who vetted Kerik (back), made Rove and Inerrant Boy look bad. All the information in points (1)-(4) above was really, really easy to get. That's why it all came out the hours and days after Kerik was nominated. (Oddly, the only information that was hard to get, because known only to Kerik, is point (0), the Nanny cover story. She's left the country, by the way (here). Um, was she just a nanny?)
So, since the information was so easy to get, why didn't Gonzales get it?
Seems like Rove and Radio Boy were the last to know about Kerik's flameout: From the same Newsday story, here's how the famously disciplined Bush team was operating right until Kerik crashed and burned:
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) said the White House seemed to have been caught off guard.
He said that as late as 7 p.m. Friday, just 90 minutes before Kerik telephoned President George W. Bush and withdrew, the White House faxed King talking points defending the nomination for his use during a TV appearance.
King said he talked with Bush and White House political strategist Karl Rove on Monday about Kerik during a White House Christmas party. He said both spoke enthusiastically about the nomination and showed no concern about its fate.
Later that same night, King said, he ran into Kerik at a Washington restaurant. King said Kerik indicated he was aware that questions would be raised about his background but showed no hesitancy about answering them.
In the end, however, Kerik, a proud protege of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, withdrew his nomination with the disclosure that he failed to pay taxes on a housekeeper and nanny who may have been undocumented.
So, Gonzales blew something that should have been really simple. Blew it really, really badly (just like the Texas clemency memos if it comes to that.) And now, he's already the Justice [cough] nominee. Sweet!
Pass the popcorn!
NOTE Of course, there's another area where Radio Boy, Gonzales, and Rove all have a set of interests in common: the Plame Affair which, oddly, hasn't been in the news lately. I wonder who owns who on that one?
