The Physics Of Laws
Leave it to law enforcement top dogs to "stretch" the law whenever it's cheaper or more convenient for them, here and in Britain -- with slightly different Nanny-gates. But, getting back to our country, where is Kerik's nanny now? What's become of her? Luis Humberto Crosthwaite wonders:
No matter how much I've read about this matter, I can't find out anything about this girl or woman. We don't know her name or place of origin. We don't know if she liked her job or how much she was paid. We only know she was undocumented. Shortly after Kerik made the phone call, his nanny disappeared, and all we know is she returned to her own country.Maybe it's because my only point of reference is my mother and other women who have worked taking care of children or the elderly, but I don't like the idea that she was forced to leave the country, summarily, for looking after the children of a man who sought a government post he didn't deserve.
I wonder if they paid her when they fired her. I wonder if she got a Christmas bonus. I wonder if she had grown to love those children she can no longer see. I wonder if Mr. or Mrs. Kerik thanked her.
It seems that if a person is interested in a political future in this country, he or she must be free of several sins – among them, hiring undocumented workers. Their résumé must be free of any undocumented gardener, maid, dishwasher, chauffeur or any worker that might get in the way of a government job.
Kerik is not the first and won't be the last to get in trouble for hiring a worker in the country illegally. This practice is common, and not only among government officials.
The presence of immigrants is apparent everywhere we look. Why deny it? It is very probable that the person who cleans your house or tends your lawn is an immigrant. The support workers at your office, the people who prepare the food and wash the dishes at your favorite restaurant, they all immigrated to this country, legally or illegally, and they make your life easier in one way or another.
But I don't think that these people get hired for important jobs, cleaning your house and taking care of your children, just as a way to avoid taxes or to pay low wages.
You trust these people because of their commitment to their work, because of the special way they treat your loved ones.
And you hire them because you know your neighbors do, too. And because the authorities accept this and don't break into your home to remove them as if they were hunting for drug traffickers.
I have no doubt that Kerik, for a number of reasons, was not the best-qualified man to lead the Department of Homeland Security. What I question is the logic behind a system that on the one hand condemns undocumented immigration and on the other depends on it.
I do love the irony, too -- that for thugs like Kerik, complete with ties to suspected mobsters, the law is something you get to enforce upon other people, but feel completely free to break yourself.
Greetings, my lovely blogstress!
The article says:
It is, however, perfectly okay for someone with political ambitions to be a drunk driver and coke user. So, don't forget that.
And please give my thanks to Gregg, guru of all things cyber, for making your blog accept html code.
Patrick, The Goddess Fan at December 18, 2004 9:32 PM
Heh heh...I shall. I'm just impressed that you know how to use it. I was forced to learn at gun, uh, Gregg-point.
Amy Alkon at December 18, 2004 9:44 PM
The Nanny thing was just a smokescreen for all the rest of it, which is why she hasn't turned up. Kaus says this transparent scam is still better than saying you need to spend more time with your family... Which in Kerik's case means his third wife.
Cridland at December 19, 2004 4:01 AM