And It's Not Even My Birthday Yet.....
Technically, it's another 12 days until my 30th birthday, but I got an early gift this morning from the unlikeliest source....Karl Rove. Rove announced his resignation as President Bush's chief advisor this morning, ending nearly eight years of unrepentant thuggery that began in February 2000 when Rove engineered the early smears against John McCain, who Rove feared was becoming too much of a threat against his boy George W. Bush, and have continued without interruption since. Karl Rove represents the worst in American politics and the nation should be counting its blessings tonight to be rid of him.
With that said, the Democratic Party of 2007 owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Karl Rove. It was Rove's brand of bloodthirsty politics that finally caught up to him, allowing the otherwise hapless and disorganized Democratic Party to regain the reins of power in Washington despite themselves. Newt Gingrich's recent perception of Rove's tactics was pretty much on target, and represents one of the biggest reasons why Rove and his political party are in such a dismal position today. Rove had no problem polarizing the country to get his man elected with 50% of the vote plus one, and then advising him to govern as if anybody outside of that base is, at best, completely irrelevant, and at worst, a sworn enemy who needs to be taken apart limb by limb. This strategy, along with alot of help from terrorists whose attack helped Rove reframe the political debate entirely to his favor through two election cycles, got Bush elected twice, but when the ferocious rhetoric used to get him elected twice backfired under the weight of incompetence and corruption, the house of cards came tumbling down. There is no margin for error when one wins the way Rove does, so when error upon error upon error is made, the consequences tend to be that much more seismic.
And seismic were the consequences, with the Republicans Rove had perceived to constitute a permanent governing majority in America in 2005, lost both Houses of Congress in 2006. Very few people could have foreseen Rove's empire fall apart so suddenly, but in retrospect it seems like a self-fulfilling prophesy given that Rove's message essentially boiled down to a winking "Trust us!" when anybody paying attention knew he and his boss were not to be trusted. By August 2007, Karl Rove is a good guy for the Democrats' to have around. We don't want him behind the scenes pulling strings rather than being held liable for all of his dirty dealing, yet that is most likely what he'll be doing, working for Republican Party interests in 2008. Then again, if Rove can't find any new material than what flopped so thoroughly for him in 2006, it's unlikely that he'll have any better luck selling it behind the scenes than he did under the microscope.
With that said, the Democratic Party of 2007 owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Karl Rove. It was Rove's brand of bloodthirsty politics that finally caught up to him, allowing the otherwise hapless and disorganized Democratic Party to regain the reins of power in Washington despite themselves. Newt Gingrich's recent perception of Rove's tactics was pretty much on target, and represents one of the biggest reasons why Rove and his political party are in such a dismal position today. Rove had no problem polarizing the country to get his man elected with 50% of the vote plus one, and then advising him to govern as if anybody outside of that base is, at best, completely irrelevant, and at worst, a sworn enemy who needs to be taken apart limb by limb. This strategy, along with alot of help from terrorists whose attack helped Rove reframe the political debate entirely to his favor through two election cycles, got Bush elected twice, but when the ferocious rhetoric used to get him elected twice backfired under the weight of incompetence and corruption, the house of cards came tumbling down. There is no margin for error when one wins the way Rove does, so when error upon error upon error is made, the consequences tend to be that much more seismic.
And seismic were the consequences, with the Republicans Rove had perceived to constitute a permanent governing majority in America in 2005, lost both Houses of Congress in 2006. Very few people could have foreseen Rove's empire fall apart so suddenly, but in retrospect it seems like a self-fulfilling prophesy given that Rove's message essentially boiled down to a winking "Trust us!" when anybody paying attention knew he and his boss were not to be trusted. By August 2007, Karl Rove is a good guy for the Democrats' to have around. We don't want him behind the scenes pulling strings rather than being held liable for all of his dirty dealing, yet that is most likely what he'll be doing, working for Republican Party interests in 2008. Then again, if Rove can't find any new material than what flopped so thoroughly for him in 2006, it's unlikely that he'll have any better luck selling it behind the scenes than he did under the microscope.
posted by Mark at 4:36 PM
4 Comments:
I too wonder what Rove is doing next. Im almost certain that he isn't done with politics. In fact, I would not be surprised if he became chair of the Republican National Committee.
I doubt he'll be in a role as high-profile as the chair of the RNC. The GOP will want a friendly face (preferably someone of color) to fill that role and represent a positive image of the party on the Sunday morning talk shows every election year. That's not doable if that person is Karl Rove. I think the GOP has selected Florida Senator Mel Martinez as the RNC Chairman. He seems more along the lines of who the RNC is looking for, but that's not to say Rove won't be coming in the RNC office through the back door to "advise" Martinez.
Martinez is not even the Chairman. He is nothing more than a spokesperson. The real chairperson is a moonbat from Kentucky names Mike Duncan.
Hey, happy birthday!
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