For starters, I must give a hat tip to my good friend, thereisnospoon, for mentioning this frame on our BlogTalkRadio show, “Don’t Hijack My Thread!” when I was talking about how Rudy’s tremendous and consistent showing of bad judgment when it comes to who he aligns himself with and what his major decisions and actions are.
And for anyone who still can overlook his lack of “family values” when it comes to multiple marriages, or his (conflicting) views on a woman’s right to privacy in her personal and medical decisions, surely will at least be a bit disturbed by the fact that Guiliani is closer with the corrupt and indicted Bernard Kerik than he is with his own children. Whether this kills him in the primary battle or the general election, I think this is a simple and direct reminder of what the “strong on crime former Federal prosecutor” Rudolph Giuliani deems to be important when choosing his relationships.
There are so many things that are so very wrong with Rudy that it should be easy to articulate most of them in bite size pieces that would stick with the general or voting public. Generally, they all focus on Rudy’s incredible lack of good judgment and poor decision making on very important matters. Even more important, however, is the fact that his one major perceived strength – strong on crime and “national security” – can so very easily be knocked down by highlighting his close relationship with a corrupt police chief.
The purposeful distancing from his campaign by his own children leaves the door open to really stick in the side of the fundies or other republicans who claim “moral or family values” to be very important for their vote. there are some real good juicy tidbits of just how good a father Rudy is in this article from March:
Mr. Giuliani’s relationship with Andrew has grown strained and distant since his very public and bitter divorce from Andrew’s mother, Donna Hanover, and his marriage to Judith Nathan, according to Andrew and others familiar with the relationship.
—snip—
“There’s obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife,” the younger Mr. Giuliani said. “And we’re trying to figure that out. But as of right now it’s not working as well as we would like.”
Andrew Giuliani said he would not participate in his father’s campaign, saying his devotion to becoming a professional golfer within three years allows no time for distraction.
—snip—
Some campaign Web sites highlight pictures of candidates with family members, but Mr. Giuliani’s does not mention his children, though it includes photographs and mentions of Ms. Nathan.
—snip—
Mr. Giuliani once prided himself on attending all his children’s events and went to Andrew’s high school football games and Caroline’s plays. But he stopped at some point after his marriage to Ms. Nathan in 2003. He missed his son’s graduation, in 2005, and his daughter’s plays in the last 18 months, said people who attended those events.
Let’s be clear here – this is not a knock on his children, nor is it anything that will drag them into the spotlight. Frankly, it isn’t even ABOUT his children, really. The point here is that Rudy doesn’t even mention his children on his campaign website, and doesn’t even attend his children’s major life events
Now, let’s look at Rudy and his corrupt/indicted buddy Bernard Kerik. Well, for starters, the corrupt former Police Chief was CEO of Giuliani-Kerik LLC, an affiliate of Giuliani Partners LLC until his embarrassing nomination for Homeland Security Chief. The key here is that either Rudy truly did not know about the depth of corruption and illegal acts by his good friend (who he trusted as CEO of one of his companies, and nominated for the top Homeland Security position) and is therefore unfit for President due to having such poor judgment or he DID know about the depths of Kerik’s corruption and illegal acts, making him unfit for President based on knowingly associating himself so closely with corrupt criminals.
He was also a former driver for Giuliani and detective before becoming Rudy’s Police Chief. Now, say what you want about what a driver knows about his employer, but wasn’t the driver of another very famous and wanted man stuck at Gitmo because of his “connections” and had his case heard by the US Supreme Court?
And lest anyone think that even Guiliani is distancing himself from the corrupt and tax cheat Kerik, there is this little nugget from the LA Times article linked above:
Although Giuliani said last week that the two men had not talked recently, they were professionally and personally close. The former mayor is godfather to Kerik’s daughter, and Kerik wrote in his autobiography that Giuliani had “made” him.
Press reports have indicated that before Kerik’s appointment as police commissioner, a New York City official briefed Giuliani about Kerik’s ties to a New Jersey waste disposal company that is at the heart of the federal indictment. Giuliani has not disputed those reports, but maintains he doesn’t remember the briefings.
And yes, Rudy is defending Kerik, not distancing himself from him. Once again, if Rudy doesn’t remember briefings about Kerik’s ties to a company at the heart of a federal indictment, then doesn’t that cut right to the heart of his “experience and strength in law enforcement”? Either he didn’t remember those briefings – pretty damning briefings about one of his closest friends and professional partners – and isn’t really strong on crime and law enforcement or he DID remember those briefings and is a liar who is not strong on crime and law enforcement as he would then be covering up his knowledge of this information.
In either event, it is very telling and shows just what Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani finds important, and who he chooses to align himself closely with.
A corrupt tax cheating criminal over his own children. What strength against crime and corruption. And what a great dad – always being there for his children as they enter adulthood. A great model for his kids – showing them that he cares more about his corrupt buddies than he does about them.
