NYP: BERNIE'S STUNNER -- Kerik shows great timing with $6 million Taser stock sale

New York Post ^ | December 6, 2004 | CHRISTOPHER BYRON

[Lijahsbubbe]

Another stuner!

[GVnana]

Tasers are a ridiculous weapon. I know of a man who was high on drugs and making threatening remarks so the police were called.

They used a taser on him, and he became so enranged at being shocked, he ended up nearly klling the cop and was beaten to death. (Accidentally, I'm sure.)

I think its a form of torture.

[untrained skeptic]

The NY Post is back to their same old tricks of casting dispersions on any Bush appointee.

Kerik's life is an amazing story of a man who has achieved amazing things despite humble beginnings.

The Post accuses the "hero machine" of making his history look better than it is. What examples do they use?

Iraqi police were hired without background checks when he was rebuilding their police force. How exactly does the Post think he should have performed those background tests? The government was in shambles, and had a past history of making up charges to throw dissidents in jail. Kerik had a job to do, and he did the best he could do with the tools he had available.

They mention how one of his appointees was corrupt and is serving a one year jail term. However, the Post never seemed bothered by the number of Clinton appointees who ended up in jail because of corruption.

There is also nothing to point to Kerik profiting at all from the corrupt acts. Out of a lifetime of public service, they can point to one person that he appointed that turned out to be a bad apple. Considering the amount of corruption in politics, that's a pretty good track record.

Then there's his making a profit off of his stock in TASER. How dare someone get involved in a product that makes law enforcement safer for both Police and civilians? He was a good choice for TASER, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with him lending his credibility to a product that appears to be having a profound positive impact on law enforcement.

The ACLU doesn't like TASERs. If you really think that the ACLU has credibility in such issues, read their press releases, and then research the facts.

If you want to cast dispersions on someone based on finical benefits, why not look at the ACLU which is made up of mostly lawyers who have a habit of making huge amounts of money by suing law enforcement agencies.

The Post doesn't even bother mentioning that Kerik is likely selling his stock to remove a conflict of interest before taking public office.

The ACLU has a direct conflict of interest, but that never seems to bother the Post. However, Kerik selling his stock and removing a conflict of interest appears to concern them.

[wildbill]

"Kerik seems comfortably in the clear, for whatever his reasons may have been for selling his shares, they are now changing hands for almost exactly what they were selling for when he unloaded them on Nov. 11th..."

And the point of this column is what???

After a lot of innuendo, there seems to be no there, there.

[dangus]

>>"who began life as the son of a New Jersey prostitute"<<

I know, really. Just because his mother was born in New Jersey doesn't mean... Oh, nevermind. :^D

Ew... nasty thought. I HOPE they were referring to his MOTHER!

[dangus]

>>No, the prostitute remark is about the lowest thing I've ever heard of. You would never hear them saying that Jesse Jackson's mother was a welfare whore, if it was true. The Post, though. I surprised.<<

I actually think the Post was trying to point out that his is a story of man overcoming his horrid background. You know, the Catholic Church, for instance, loves pointing out all the nasty things in the backgrounds of its saints.

[the invisib1e hand]

OK. Just my gut here. I don't care what he or his mother is or was -- I'd think he'd want her to be remembered for something other than that.