Topic: Newsmax
For some reason -- perhaps something having to do with serving as his image rehab consultant after he was busted on corruption charges that sent him to prison -- Newsmax appears to have given Bernard Kerik a regular column. And he has ended up being probably the last thing Newsmax needs: yet another pro-Trump cheerleader.
In his Jan. 5 column, Kerik cited his own experience in railing against the Trump-Russia investigation:
As someone that has run the largest police department (NYPD) and jail system (Rikers Island) in our country with unparalleled successes and achievements, and has also been the target of a selective and political prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department, I cannot stress enough, the urgency for president Donald Trump to act and force the U.S. Attorney General to do the job he was sworn to do.
We would remind people that Kerik pleaded guilty to the several counts that sent him to prison -- mostly tax-related offenses -- which undercuts his argument that he was a victim of a "selective and political prosecution." Kerik of all people should know that those in law enforcement (Kerik was formerly the New York City police commissioner) face extra scrutiny when accused of wrongdoing.
Then, Kerik mounts a bizarre defense of, all people, Rod Blagojevich:
When you think of politically motivated and overzealous prosecutions, think for a moment of the case against Rod Blagojevich… conspiring to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat, an act that was never carried out. He gained nothing personally, professionally or financially… he just talked about it, and he was sent to prison for 14 years. We sent an American citizen to prison for 14 years for talking about something he didn’t do. He wasn’t talking about murder, a terror attack, or some violent act.
[...]
Blagojevich was talking about politics, like every member of Congress does every day of their career. They don’t pick their nose unless there’s some benefit to their office or career, yet we sent Blagojevich to prison for 14 years. Did the punishment fit the crime? Hell no! His case wasn’t about justice. His prosecution was as political as the investigation today, targeting the President of the United States and his family, by Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel.
But as one writer points out, that was far from the only thing Blagojevich did:
It's important to remember that it wasn't just his giddiness over having the statutory power to appoint someone to Barack Obama's Senate seat and his alleged plans to use that authority as leverage for himself that landed him in the clink. Federal prosecutors also documented how Blago tried to shake down an executive at then Children's Memorial Hospital for a $50,000 campaign contribution in exchange for his providing $8 million in state health funds. So not only was Obama's seat "golden," but apparently reimbursements for treating sick kids were as well.
In his Jan. 12 column, Kerik defended Trump over his reference to "shithole countries" like a good Trump lackey:
I received about 25 texts and calls yesterday concerning President Trump's comments relating to a "s***hole country."
I cannot speak for the president, but I'm pretty confident he's talking about dictatorships, countries with crime rates that make Chicago look like Disney, and countries that have corrupt governments that steal their international support, causing mass starvation. Countries that have no religious, economic, press freedoms, and/or support for human and women's rights. Countries in which there are mass slaughters of Christians, and no rule of law, where you can be jailed or imprisoned at the drop of a dime with no due process.
The left and the president's personal and political critics are trying to make this about race, and it's not. It's about countries that are so sub-standard to ours that most Americans couldn't even imagine their existence, and none in their right mind would ever consider living there.
That's what I think a "s***hole country" is.
What's most annoying about all of this, isn't what the president said, it's the slimy coward and disloyal piece of garbage that was in that room and ran to the press with this non-sense.
This is what every American hates about Washington, D.C., and our spineless political leadership that's doing everything in their power to make this country fail, and not succeed.
The swamp can't get drained fast enough!
Also of note: Kerik's Newsmax bio highlights how he "has been recognized in more than 100 awards for meritorious and heroic service," but makes no reference to his prison stint.
