The Unbearable Lightness of Being Karl Rove

While people and bodies continue to fall out of the train wreck that is the Bush administration, it is probably instructive to look at the dough-faced boy who was smart enough to get off at the previous station. Karl Rove was either asked to leave the Bound for Ignominy Express or he stepped onto the platform just in time to avoid the full catastrophe. Doesn't really matter if he saw it coming; anyone could have.

Instead of being vilified for what he has done to his country, his party, and his president, Rove finds doors open to him down every hall he walks. The media, which he often had the president refer to as "the filter," is embracing his intellectual dishonesty with both money and fervor. Never mind that Rove hasn't spent an adult day of his life without spitting out the words "reporter" or "media" as though they were so much risen bile. He is now one of the people he had long positioned as an enemy. He writes for Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, opines on FOX News, and in his spare moments gives speeches at $60,000 a pop while also working on his memoir, which fetched a $1.2 million advance.

Of course, he isn't exactly laboring for media outlets that are without bias. Rove makes no pretense to either objectivity or fairness. His task is to frame everything up to raise doubt about Democrats and rewrite the failures of his president and his party. The questions to be asked aren't as much about Rove as they are about why any part of our culture still takes him seriously.

His latest absurdity is to attack the New York Times for "outing" a CIA agent, one Rove claims worked undercover, even though the newspaper was unable to find any proof the agent was assigned in such a capacity. Does it even need pointing out that Rove and Robert Novak and Scooter Libby were arguing vehemently that there was no crime in outing Valerie Plame because she didn't really work undercover? Rove and his president loved the New York Times when Judy Miller and Michael Gordon were turning the unproved pabulum of Ahmed Chalabi and Donald Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans into front page narratives about scary Saddam bombs.

Rove, the consummate coward, continues to hide behind Richard Armitage as the leaker of Valerie Plame's identity. Undoubtedly, the plan from the outset was to have Armitage get the info to his (and Rove's) pal Novak and if they got caught, well, it was an inadvertent slip. This was no an accident. These things do not happen accidentally in politics. They are planned. Anyone who thinks that Karl Rove was not involved in a scheme to get this information out so that it could do harm simply has not paid attention to all of the crap he has pulled throughout his shadowy career. He would have seen in Armitage the perfect messenger with State Department credibility, closeness to Defense Secretary Colin Powell, and a neo-con political bent. Rove probably did as he has always done, which is to create a plan and then set it loose in an environment over which he has some control, and then step back and watch it all unfold. He ends up with distance and deniability.

I've labored to ignore this man and distance myself from politics but it aggravates any reasonable person to still see Rove getting a venue for his venom. His latest twist on reality is his attempt to paint Senator Obama as one of the sneering country club Republicans that Rove worked so hard to empower. The archetype Rove honored and argued was best fit to lead is now the one that he denounces by trying to attach it to Obama. Irrespective of the fact that his characterization of Obama is as erroneous and ill-considered as almost everything else Rove has created, how does he get away with people taking his pronouncements seriously?

The best thing to do about Rove is to turn his own tactics against him and vigorously attack him and his credibility. As he would counsel, hit him where he is strongest. To hell with his message, let's get the messenger. Karl Rove is once and forever a pathological liar who manufactures realities and he has become so adept at this he has trouble telling his fantasy world from the real one. History will judge him as one of our nation's more despicable characters. If we had the same courage as our founders, Rove would be standing before a court of justice being required to explain why he should not be convicted of treason. But we seem to have forgotten our founders' principles.

Rove is a kind of mutant hybrid of Aaron Burr and Joe McCarthy and he is in desperate need of psychological care. We should give that to him and see if he is fit to stand trial.

But we should not give him a podium in print and broadcast media.

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Comments

[certainot]

rove would be little more than a run of the mill political hack if not for having had control of the most effective propaganda machine the US has ever had- the talk radio monopoly, and we can largely thank its coordinated uncontested repetition and the groundwork it does for the rest of the media for this GOP/bush disaster.

unfortunately progressives continue to ignore the effectiveness of talk radio.

[Johnjlws]

The almighty and powerful Oz was only almighty and powerful behind his curtain. Out from the shadows the cowardly Rove is the pipsqueak even the pussies used to push off the merry-go-round. He's the laughable, little bully who was relegated to picking on the girls a few grades back. His mind-numbingly predictable attacks on Obama and other democrats will only continue to solidify the bonds between this Administration, George Bush, Karl Rove and their latest lapdog, John McCain. Difference is we can all see behind the curtain now and what we see is simply another tired old clown.

[bruce9432]

Why are dems so impotent and fearful? Karl Rove is an extremely smart person and I like him. Also, I am going to clean my M-14, it's ok now!

[bobpomeroy]

Karl Rove is an example of someone who was so disappointed in what he saw as "America" that he sees no fault at robbing of it at will. There are many people like that, and many have been very successful at it. They see it, and everything associated with it, as ploy to be gamed to get gain. Cynicism has begotten sociopathy.
If we are so disillusioned, so cynical as he, hope and everything like it is irrelevant to the extent it exists at all. So hope must be the cure, and they who bring hope the physicians. Finding hope is also somewhat of an inside job. It may require a change of mind, but one finds what one looks for.
What by the way, are you looking for?. Its important because its also what you are becoming. A brick at a time. Its not too late to not become Karl Rove, or anything like him. Look for Good in America. No matter how you spell it.

[jowilli]

Don't worry, he'll destroy McCain like he destroyed Bush. My question is this:

Why is he still free and on the payroll with any "news" organization?

[Betty Jean]

The problem with Rove is that he never learned shame. When most of us cause a really big mess-up, we feel some sense of remorse. Not Karl Rove. There he sits day in and day out, having an opinion on everything -- being the proud and able political operative -- and making sure his views are counter to everything Democratic. I will be glad when he goes back to Texas (or wherever he's from).

[Tulka2]

So Rove finds his way paved with roses...? If i ever meet him, no matter in what circumstance, i will spit at his feet. I encourage all like minded citizens to follow.

[DKLA]

me too!!

[ReElectNoOne]

Wonder how much my opinion is worth?

I officially offer my services to give speeches for only $6000 plus transportation and meals.

Such a deal !!

[truthseeker7]

Blackball Karl Rove

He's obviously as slippery as a catfish and the chances of any legal action against him is stacked against the side of what's right. I think that we should start a national campaign to ignore his blatherings, insane rhetoric and outright lies. Although he will still make plenty of money from idiots who are willing to pay to hear him or read his crap, we can send him a message that alot of us know who he really is and we are calling him on it. Make it a point not to buy his book and to tell everyone you can not to buy his book. If necessary, someone can post his book on the internet and make his words free for all. After all, he certainly owes this country not vice-versa.

[pcplz]

Someone please educate me? Why, when most of the country knows what sort of person this man is, would a major news media hire him to continue his destruction? Why would anyone pay him to speak his lies? They all know what he is. I mean, they KNOW what he is. Why?

I am not one of the big political insiders....just from the old mid west out in the boonies.....I know what he is.......why would they want him? I would be throwing cow pies at him if I saw him yet, they give him more $$. How stupid are they, or better yet, how stupid are we to even buy one of his books or to not just leave whatever venue that he appears on. Geez!

[Economike]

Rupert Murdoch?

[SShaw490]

Why? Because he tells people things that they believed already. The idea that human beings think by logical analysis of data is untrue. People think with organs other than their brains all the time - and a lot of what they think is just - what they think. Any information they can find that reinforces their preconcieved notions is "good" information, and any information that refutes it is "bad". Some people think Bush is a strong president, never mind the fact that he's an utter failure in every area of foreign policy EXCEPT the one in which he behaved in a non-Bush way - North Korea. They think he's a strong leader just because he seems to be one, not because they have any objective reason to think that.

Many, many people - in fact, MOST people - are incapabale of objective judgement and independent, honest analysis. That's how idiots like Bush get elected to start with.

[umichigan]

In spite of all the vitriol noted above, have any of you actually listened to his commentary on politics? I used to not be a fan of his at all, but once I started listening to his analysis of many subjects, I found him to be very politically astute and correct and often quite neutral in his observations and analysis. This man has a definite strengths as a neutral analyst, whatever he did for the Bush administration. I find him to be more correct than a lot of the so called objective??? people on MSNBC and CNN. You may not like him, but you should listen to him objectively with an open mind before you diss his opinions. Fox News was the only major network to be objective with the run up between Obama and Hillary, unlike pro- Obama MSNBC, which I used to watch and no longer do. So, pay attention. This man is a gold mine of information that may very well be a correct insight into Obama, all you Obama worshipers.

[sugarmoes]

from time to time rove does mix in real analysis with his propaganda. i've gotten pretty good at determining which is which with this criminal.

[DKLA]

WAKE-UP!!
ROVE IS A CRMINAL & TREASONIST, anyone who thinks differently has not been paying attention these past 9 years. His carrer is full of crimes, THE PUFFY-PINK-LITTLE WORM!!
WHAT CALIBER OF MEN SUE IN U.S. COURT(S) TO STOP COUNTING U.S. CITIZENS VOTES? ESPECIALLY IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION? IN # DIFFERENT COURTS!? shame on all of us for allowing them into our WhiteHouse.
NEVER FORGET FL200 or BUSH V. GORE!!
Never again!!

[cobraxus]

you're like one of those apologists who claims Hitler had alot of good ideas in the beginning.You Judge A Man By His Works!

[alamantra]

Perhaps when the truth of his involvement in framing the former Democratic Governor of Alabama, Don Siegleman, comes out Karl can go do a stretch in the pen, himself.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html

http://www.annistonstar.com/showcase/2008/as-open-0518-mricks-8e18a0747.htm

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5744

[Soothsayer08]

In any country except ours Karl Rove would be in jail for treason. The outing of Valerie Plame, and his duplicity in war crimes and torture, shouldn't be rewarded by your own TV show. After the testimony of Scott McClellan the doors should have been nailed shut. His idiotic comparison of Barack Obama at the country club shows how out of touch he really is. Black people aren't welcome at most country clubs. This is a pathetic feeble attempt to paint Obama as an elitist. Kind of hard to be elite when you grew up with a single mother and lived on food stamps for a time as Barack did.

[JohnJames]

You know they're desperate when they try to paint a black man as one of themselves.

[CyberCitizen]

The Republicans smear by trying to target and neutralize a perceived strength. They swiftboat John Kerry's proud military service; they neutralize John Edwards's youthful vigor and self-made status by ridiculing his great hair and mansion; they try to neutralize Obama's organizer work by calling him elitist. I say, target and reveal the Republicans' wicked strategy to neutralize their strategy!