So Karl Rove just unloaded another of his up is down-world volleys against Bush critics, calling them "elite, effete snobs" of a President who has "common sense," who is "Middle America" -- who is smart, "one of the best-read people I've ever met." And whose "passion is history."
This is Alice in Wonderland meets the Big Lie stuff -- and the deep Rove M.O.
And I would brand it as that, rather than just answering point by point.
Rove's favorite tactic is not, as often described, merely turning an opponent's perceived strength into a liability. It's much more conceptually insidious: He projects his own man's flaws and vulnerabilities onto the other fellow, and claims that man's strengths as his own. (The Kerry swiftboating in a nutshell.)
So GW, the scion of an Eastern family, the silver-spoon-sucking daddy's boy, is trumped up as much more of a regular ole fella than you could possibly be. So Bush and his extremist catastrophic delusions are lauded as so much more common sensical and heartlandish than any loud-mouthed working class Michael Moore, say, from Michigan. So the Chief Exec who gets intelligence briefings spoken aloud to him so he doesn't have to read is a regular bookworm. So the War Decider whose men circular-filed every piece of historically-informed advice about every act of blood-spattered foreign policy turns out to be another Tacitus himself.
So Karl had George buy his Crawford "ranch" property shortly before running for President, and make like he had summered there forever. This "ranch" having not a head of cattle to its name now (tho it formerly had, under precious owners). Unless you count the bass dumped into the lake as livestock.
So there you go again, Karl. (sigh) Really, you are the slimmest, most truthful, most honorable, most honest-to-god esteemed lambikins in American political life. Yes oh yes, Karl, baby, you are.
Thanks to UBER.COM, where this post first appeared on my blog Brain Flakes
Also appearing at Smirkingchimp.com