It was only the tip of the iceberg.
I was away from the computer and any news for the evening and here I come back to find out that Bernard Kerik has withdrawn his name from consideration for head of DHS allegedly for a nanny problem. (AP quotes the White House saying simply that it was for “personal reasons.”)
Frankly, I doubt that was all there was. As we’ve discussed on this site, only a president with majorities as compliant as George W. Bush has right now would have even considered nominating Kerik. On top of the mysterious departure from Baghdad and the Rudy and Co. rainmaking, there’s the fact that he left the Riker’s Island prison as something very near to a latter-day version of Tammany Hall. And that was hardly the end of it. Eventually, the pay-off to Rudy aspect of the nod would have come up too.
This is the Bush way of handling these sorts of things: if it’s going to be bloody, dispatch him early. Don’t even let it get to the hearings stage — just like Linda Chavez.
I’ll be very curious to hear the follow-on reporting about what really happened. What was the problem that did him in? When did the White House send the message? How did they do it?
Maybe not a horse-head in the bed-sheets, but there must be some story to tell.
