Now that Bernard Kerik is under a 16 count federal indictment, coming at a time when it will reflect poorly on his rabbi, Rudy Guiliani, who is running for President as the Hero of 9/11, it’s time to learn a little about how and why Bernie hit the big time, and what was truly wrong about Rudy’s judgment.

Bernie was a high school dropout who went into the army and became an MP.  He obtained his GED and went to work as a security officer for various Saudi entities, until he was thrown out of Saudi Arabia in 1984.  Somehow, he landed a job as Warden of the Passaic, New Jersey, County jail, where he worked until 1986.

Kerik then joined the NYPD as a beat cop back in the days when you didn’t need any college credits to be a cop.  It’s hard to understand how he went from warden of a jail to beat cop in NYC, but apparently he had a knack for ingratiating himself with the right people.  He won some medals for valor in gunfights as a cop, and wound up as driver and bodyguard to Mayor Rudolph Guiliani. 

In 1998, Bernie was appointed Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Corrections, running the array of jails in the City, including Riker’s Island, lovingly referred to as “The Rock.”  He had previously served as First Deputy Commissioner for three years.

During the early Guiliani administration, Bill Bratton was Police Commissioner of the City of New York.  Bratton was a brilliant man, and was widely credited for the turnaround in crime in New York that is now attributed to Rudy.  Rudy couldn’t stand the attention that Bratton was receiving (and Bratton was all too happy to smile for the cameras).  So out went Bratton and in came Bernie Kerik as Police Commissioner in 2000.

At this point, Kerik, high school drop-out, was now in command of the largest police department in the world, though ironically his lack of a college degree would have precluded him from holding any rank higher than captain.  But Bernie had something better than an education.  He was loyal to a fault to his Mayor, and Rudy appreciated it.  And so Bernard Kerik was fortuitously Police Commissioner of New York on September 11, 2001.  Like the Mayor to whom he owed fealty, the adoration of a nation rubbed off on him and he became a hero.

When Rudy’s term as Mayor finally ran out, Bernie left as well, going on to become one of Rudy’s “partners” and making a fortune as a consultant to Taser International.  He was also appointed interim Minister of the Interior of Iraq.

Bernie Kerik’s rise was nothing short of meteoric, and proof positive that who you know matters.  But during this rise, Bernie was still an uneducated street cop at heart, though hob-knobbing with the important people.  What Bernie lacked was the financing necessary to run with a fast crowd. He had filed for bankruptcy in 1987, living higher on the hog than he should.  He had prominence and authority, but he didn’t have much cash.  And as every street cop knows, cash is king.

So his street cop mentality told him that big time players enjoyed the perks of office to “compensate” for their public service.  He was serving the public, right?  So why shouldn’t he enjoy a few benefits in the process.  Until Bernie received more than $6 Million from stock sales in Taser, he had to take his perks where he could find them. 

The world of Bernie Kerik came crashing down when his reach exceeded his grasp on December 3, 2004, when President Bush, at Rudy’s urging, nominated him to replace Tom Ridge as Homeland Security Czar.  He was vetted by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and the announcement was made.  But this wasn’t a position where one could slide under the radar with smooth rhetoric and Rudy’s true love.  The national press scrutinized Bernie and he quickly withdrew his nomination.  His world then began to crumble.  First, he was charged in the Bronx with accepting some “illegal gifts,” to which he pleaded guilty of misdemeanors in 2006 and was fined.  Now, he’s been indicted in the Southern District of New York.

Bernie has a  established a website to take donations to pay for his defense.  After all, Bernard B. Kerik is the living embodiment of the American dream.  He is also a reminder of what becomes of government when we love our heroes too much to look behind the curtain.