Kerik is withdrawing his nomination.

[BurtWorm]

http://us.rd.yahoo.com//mymod/ldpht/sty/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20041211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/bush_homeland_security_2

"For personal reasons." :wtf:

"Personally, I don't think I'd make it through the nomination process." (I made that up.)

[Califooyah Operative]

1. oh boy...nt

[NMDemDist2]

2. bhwahahahaha

afraid the chickens will come home to roost on the skeletons in his closet?

[Placebo]

3. That is REALLY strange.

And almost unheard of, no?

He accepts the nomination and then withdraws his name?

[snacker]

4. Well, isn't that interesting? n/t

[benddem]

5. it's a good thing

his hearings would have been horrendous..for him. I would have love to watch the reptiles squirm.

[MichiganVote]

6. Ahhhhh...the fuck up's begin

[BurtWorm]

10. Begin?!

That's an understatement! ;)

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

12. "Flash News" on MSNBC now.

[JI7]

7. that's too bad

i was looking forward to seeing him make a fool of himself on national tv considering his clueless "deer in the headlights" appearance on CNN during debate with Wes Clark. i guess he found out he wont just be able to read from prepared statements on the job and would actually have to answer questions not given to him before.

[Bouncy Ball]

8. How odd.

I mean, how completely odd.

[mcscajun]

9. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

...we're all Sooooooooooooooooo Disappointed. NOT!

[Catherine Vincent]

11. just heard on Mike Malloy

[AlabamaYankee]

21. Malloy's all over it

He's practically dancing on the desk he's so excited that the media finally did their job.

[LiberalAndProud]

13. The time bomb stopped ticking.

It was unavoidable, but I would have loved to see him try to get through the confirmation process. Better entertainment than the Scott Peterson trial, IMHO.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. How about that?

The article says he withdrew his name for "personal reasons." Could those reasons have anything to do with all the information that came out about what a corrupt, unqualified creep he is? Doesn't matter, though; the Reich will come up with somebody just as awful. Maybe Giuliani himself?

[ohioan]

18. Given Guliani vouched and pushed hard for Kerik

he's probably not the WH's favorite guy right now . . .

[blondeatlast]

15. Love those "personal reasons," don't you?

Boil on the behind?

Need your wisdom teeth removed?

A previously "unknown" illegitimate child with a crack whore?

"Personal reasons."

We need to start making resignations from the Cabinet and withdrawals of consideration subject to the same scrutiny we fall under when we call in sick to work.

At least a doctor's excuse!

[BurtWorm]

17. "Personally I think I could make a lot more money with Rudy."

:shrug:

[havocmom]

16. Personal reasons= truth about his 'record' would be openly discussed

and that wouldn't be pretty for him. Also the fact that someone with his track record was considered creates a PR situation even the junta couldn't control. The man sounds like a con artist and his speedy withdrawal from his post in Iraq proves him a talentless coward. Mission definitely not accomplished!

[tjdee]

19. Well, isn't he from NYC?

He is honestly the least qualified person, ever to be nominated to a cabinet position--oh, except for this Sam/Stan/nobody * nominated to Energy.

Remembering his crappy tenure in Iraq, he must have realized he was in over his head for this job, as well as being *used* because of his being a New Yorker, and if so I respect him for that.

I'd also like to think his New Yorker family was like, "Are you serious, going to work for that piece of poo again?" and that, loving his family, he took their words to heart. :)

[BurtWorm]

20. Yes, he's from NY, but he also was used as an attack dog

on national security issues. He was probably very happy to have been nominated, but the pressure was clearly building from left and right to get rid of him. He has an "unusual" background for a cabinet secretary.

[dweller]

22. well, that story is just

chock full of information.
Damn, and he had the best credentials of the whole *moron maladminisfuckupstration.

so long Bernie, we didn't need to know ya afterall.
:eyes:

dp

oh here's the real skinny: "I am convinced that, for personal reasons, moving forward would
not be in the best interests of your administration, the Department of
Homeland Security, or the American people."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/kerik_withdrawal_letter&e=1&ncid=
and
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/bush_homeland_security

:wtf: c'mon Bernie, these asshats are always moving backwards!

[neoteric lefty]

23. Haha.... I don't think Bernie was a BAD man

just not qualified and had the wrong approach for the job.

      Egg on face
            ^
            |
            |
Insert BUSH | here
            |

[BurtWorm]

24. Aha! It was a nanny problem!

Conflicts of interest? No sweat.

http://nytimes.com/2004/12/10/politics/10cnd-kerik.html?hp&ex=1102741200&en=0d3c570c08c30920&ei=5094&partner=homepage

WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik abruptly withdrew his nomination as President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary Friday night, saying questions have arisen about the immigration status of a housekeeper and nanny he employed.

The decision caught the White House off guard and sent Bush in search of a new candidate to run the sprawling bureaucracy of more than 180,000 employees melded together from 22 disparate federal agencies in 2003.

Kerik informed Bush of his decision to withdraw in a telephone call at 8:30 p.m. EST. "I am convinced that, for personal reasons, moving forward would not be in the best interests of your administration, the Department of Homeland Security or the American people," Kerik said in a letter to the president.

The White House said Bush accepted Kerik's decision.

[proudbluestater]

25. Personal Reasons? About 4 Million of them, I heard

Today on Democracy Now they revealed that as a board member of the Taser company he sold his stock two weeks before a major article was published stating that the Taser was just not as safe as it was purported to me. Saved himself a cool 4 mil that day.

Bush, Cheney, now Kerik, all inside traders. Only Martha Stewart goes to jail, probably for being an "uppity woman."

That Nanny business, that's for small-time non-criminals like the picks made by Bill Clinton. It takes a real Christian Republican to hire a real crook just like himself.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/10/1449244
Questions Raised Over Bernard Kerik's Sale of Taser Stock
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal has raised questions over the recent sale of $4.4 million in Taser stock by Bernard Kerik, Bush's pick to head the Department of Homeland security. Kerik who serves on the board of the stun gun manufacturer sold off his stock in the company on Nov. 11 - more than three weeks before he was nominated for the homeland security post. But the sale also came just two weeks before a Nov. 26th article in the New York Times that questioned whether recent government reports had actually proven the safety of the stun guns. In the weeks before the article was published the entire Taser board, including Kerik, as well as several executives, sold off more than $90 million in the company's stock. The Journal estimates Kerik made a profit of $4.4 million on his stock sale. After the Times article was published, the company's stock plunged 7 percent.

[njdemocrat106]

26. GOOD!

That guy's a scumbag. He kept rehashing the same old lies about Kerry before the election (He's a flip-flopper! He's won't save us from terrorists!)