A quick preface: I'm somewhat ashamed to say that, until this morning, I didn't know that Bernard Kerik -- former Police Commissioner of the City of New York, keeps a blog. Or, perhaps more accurately, Kerik kept a blog.
President Bush's one-time nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security heads to prison today, guilty of "lying on his application for the position, lying to the feds, tax fraud, and accepting $250,000 in renovations to his Bronx apartment provided by a company accused of having mob ties," Gothamist reports.
Last night, in what may be his final post, or Kerik's last post for a while -- he has been sentenced to 27 to 33 months in prison, Kerik said that "it is time to move forward."
Words cannot express my disappointment in the prosecutors and the judge's behavior, and his sentence that followed. I have repeatedly expressed remorse for what I may have done, however, unlike many, I can't remain silent in the face of what I believe has been a gross injustice, which I pray will be remedied by an appellate court.
I can only hope that history will judge me based on my 30 years of public service to our great nation, and not by tabloid headlines, my imperfections, or the mistakes that I may have made.
So, how did Kerik spend his final hours of freedom? Watching a Sylvester Stallone movie with his children, Angelina and Celine:
I sat with them and watched the movie Rocky Balboa, for the sole purpose of having them watch one scene where Rocky speaks to his son and says, "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are....it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward!"
When Sly Stallone wrote those words, he was talking about the challenges in real life and the principles of courage, strength, and perseverance.
