The Liberal Media Strikes Again

Being something of a news junkie, this time of year tends to be slow, what with all the best-of lists and year-end recaps and such. But flipping through the channels a few days ago, I heard a two-second blurb on CNN Headline News that pretty much encapsulates what the mainstream media has devolved to.

I can't recall the specifics, but essentially it mentioned Bernard Kerik, and re-attributed the entire fiasco surrounding his appointment as Homeland Security Secretary to the original excuse of not paying taxes on his nanny, who had since returned to Mexico.

Now, I know it's been a few weeks since that sad episode, but I'm sure we all recall that the nanny (who still doesn't even have a name, mind you) was the least of concerns about Kerik. Almost instantly, multiple stories emerged about him: his thuggish tactics working for a hospital administrator in Saudi Arabia; his apparently inept training of the new Iraqi Police Forces; his ownership of stock in companies which manufacture things like Tasers and security doors; his friendships with convicted mafiosi; his penchant for jewel-encrusted Tiffany badges(!); and his tacky little love nest over Ground Zero, where he juggled not one but two extra-marital affairs.

So we have here someone who has been appointed to maybe the most important job right now, in coordinating the defense of this country against Islamofascist terrorism, and there's all these skeletons in his closet, practically a graveyard. It brings into light of full question not only the mechanics of the vetting process, but the initial decision-making process. What little specifics on this matter that have made it to the public all point to George W. Bush, and his penchant for making decisions based on his gut.

This is not a bad thing, in and of itself; we all make gut decisions from time to time. But this is such a manifestly important job, with such monumentally high stakes. We trust that this sort of decision is made after careful investigation and consideration, not because so-and-so "seems like a good guy". Kerik's problems were multiple -- not only did he have a history of questionable behavior and a host of questionable associations, but he doesn't even appear to be all that qualified for the job in the first place, if his track record for Giuliani Associates speaks for him.

But according to the liberal media, several weeks after all the dirt had been unearthed, it was still all about the nanny.