For Rudy, Like Dubya, Loyalty Trumps All

There are plenty of reasons why Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani would make a lousy president.

Like personal turpitudes and an anger-management problem, flip-flopping to suit the moment, an affection for using the stick before trying the carrot, and a simplistically shallow grasp of defense and foreign policy.

But no reason is more troubling than the fact that like the man he wants to replace, Giuliani values loyalty -- hell, let's call it for was it is, sycophancy -- over all. And this has caused someone who brags about his ability to pick leaders to repeatedly overlook disturbing information and inconvenient questions when they pertain to the people loyal to him.

Exhibit A in that regard is, of course, Bernard Kerik, who as the New York Times reminds us in an article today, was promoted by Mayor Giuliani to run the city's Department of Corrections and then as police commissioner -- as well as was recommended to the Bush administration as the first homeland security czar -- although he was aware of Kerik's multiple legal entanglements, links to organized crime and other shady dealings.

While Giuliani has defended Kerik and has met his longtime friend's loyalty with loyalty, the Times says, he also has tried to shield himself from accusations that he ignored Kerik's failings. He also has changed his story about what he knew about a construction company linked to the mob that Kerik has helped.

Kerik now faces possible indictment on a range of federal felony charges stemming in part from his acceptance of $165,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment paid for by the company.

It's a sure bet that there won't be a place in Gliuliani's administration for Kerik in the unlikely event that he is the next president. Methinks that is unlikely not just because the Republican nominee faces an uphill fight, but because the more people find out about America's Mayor the clearer it will become that they won't want him to be America's President.