Karl and Me

A new book on Karl Rove, Machiavelli's Shadow by Paul Alexander, recalls a personal experience I had with George W. Bush's political guru. I had forgotten that I talked to the author until reading this excerpt from a review of the book on the Washington Examiner's web site:

"CQ's Craig Crawford recalls this moment from 1999, when Crawford was editing National Journal's Hotline: 'I thought Bush was called Bush Junior,' Crawford told Alexander.'So, at Hotline, because we needed a device in our headlines to delineate him from Bush Senior, we were just calling him Bush Junior. Well, one day I picked up the phone and there was this person screaming at me on the other end. It was just nonstop yelling. It was Karl Rove and I mean he tore my head off over our calling Bush Bush Junior.'"

All true. I haven't seen the book yet and don't know whether Alexander included this detail: It was the only time I ever talked to Rove. His rudeness in the conversation described above caused me to decide that life is too short to ever again waste time talking to such a jerk.

That was a lucky move. Had I courted Rove as a source, as so many of my colleagues did, I might have had to hire a lawyer, or worse -- as so many of my colleagues experienced in the CIA leak case.

Craig blogs daily at Trail Mix on CQ Politics.

Comments

[Aanya]

I really envy you Craig! What I wouldn't give for 20 seconds to tell Rove what I thought of him. Up until now, I really envied Sheryl Crow.! You are two lucky ducks! You two are most likely the only two human beings who got a direct shot at that guy!

[Moose49]

"His rudeness in the conversation described above caused me to decide that life is too short to ever again waste time talking to such a jerk."

Too bad the rest of the mainstream media didn't come to same sensible conclusion you did.

Rove belongs in jail. Or failing that, in obscurity (rather than Fox News). But at least we can have some confidence that historians will judge him even more harshly.

[ginadem]

the clinton war room's james carvell begot rove, and bush's rove begot obama's axelrod. the ever -evolving political one-upmanship is "ratings gold."

"Too bad the rest of the mainstream media didn't come to same sensible conclusion you did."

oh, believe me, they did. tv ratings like this, without having to hire writers, actors and producers are worth all the mainstream media protection major networks can muster. as the country tunes in, rome is burning.

[GJMandinka]

Too right. Gotta separate news from entertainment and get it out of the hands of folks who have a financial interest in deceiving people; or we're through as a democracy.
I just hope it's not too late.