Karl Rove resigns.
Karl Rove will resign his post at the White House at the end of this month. According to the Washington Post, Rove says he is going to get out of political consulting.
This is a great way to start the week!
Rove, a/k/a "Bush's Brain," is perhaps the single person most responsible for Bush's political success and the overall style that politics has taken over the last six and a half years.
Rove is a sick, twisted, power-hungry asshole, and I just wish I thought his resignation truly meant that he was getting out of the political consulting game. However, I seriously doubt that to be the case. The man seems to have a near pathological need to be involved in Machiavellian machinations. Now that he is no longer a public official, he could very well be free from close scrutiny and allowed to be even more of a bastard than he has been in the past. I also don't think Bush is capable of functioning without Rove being intimately involved.
Rove's departure does raise some interesting questions. Although he and Bush deny that the resignation has anything to do with the various ongoing Congressional investigations, anyone believing that might be interested in the beach front property I have for sale here in Wichita Falls (which, by the way is hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline). As proof of his claim, Rove stated that he wanted to leave about a year ago. Hmm...about a year ago, it was starting to become clear that the Democrats could very well win back Congress. Could that have prompted Karl's desire to leave? After all, a Democratic Congress would mean lots of investigations, and most of them would lead back to Rove. So I ain't buying the bullshit that Congressional investigations had nothing to do with Rove's decision to resign.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. There were no Congressional investigations a year ago, so Karl is telling the truth. Well, this is precisely the kind of bullshit that Karl Rove and the Bush administration use as their sustenance. No one would know more about the possible election results--and know sooner--than Karl Rove. It would not take a rocket scientist (or a political scientist) to figure out that if the Democrats won back both houses there would be lots of investigations of Bush administration activities. And who had likely been involved, either directly or through some sort of planning or supervision, in most of those activities? Karl Rove. Karl could see the handwriting on the wall, and I believe that is why he wanted to leave a year ago (if in fact he is telling the truth about that). So, while it is literally true that there were no Congressional investigations a year ago, it is also true that there loomed a real possibility of future investigations that would lead to Rove. Consequently, to say that Congressional investigations are unrelated to Rove's resignation is just more bullshit from the Bush administration.
And that leads to the interesting questions. What happens now that Rove is out of the White House? More to the point, what happens to the claims of executive privilege? Is Rove going to clear out all his files and records so that the White House can claim that they do not exist and therefore they don't have to turn over the records to Congress? Will the Congress continue to pursue Rove now that he is officially out of the administration?
My guess is that Rove thinks that the Dems will be satisfied that they "got rid" of him and will forget about coming after him. I hope the Dems do not do that. They need to go after Rove with a renewed vigor. Why? First of all, he needs to be held accountable for all his bullshit. I'm talking about principle here, folks. This country does not need any future Karl Roves, regardless of political party. Holding him accountable could help to change the political climate for the future. Secondly, if Rove is busy trying to defend himself, he will have less time and energy to devote to "political consulting." Karl Rove's influence on American politics needs to end, and his resignation from the White House does not accomplish that.
And by the way, I did see his and Bush's statements as they happened. I almost threw up.
This is a great way to start the week!
Rove, a/k/a "Bush's Brain," is perhaps the single person most responsible for Bush's political success and the overall style that politics has taken over the last six and a half years.
Rove is a sick, twisted, power-hungry asshole, and I just wish I thought his resignation truly meant that he was getting out of the political consulting game. However, I seriously doubt that to be the case. The man seems to have a near pathological need to be involved in Machiavellian machinations. Now that he is no longer a public official, he could very well be free from close scrutiny and allowed to be even more of a bastard than he has been in the past. I also don't think Bush is capable of functioning without Rove being intimately involved.
Rove's departure does raise some interesting questions. Although he and Bush deny that the resignation has anything to do with the various ongoing Congressional investigations, anyone believing that might be interested in the beach front property I have for sale here in Wichita Falls (which, by the way is hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline). As proof of his claim, Rove stated that he wanted to leave about a year ago. Hmm...about a year ago, it was starting to become clear that the Democrats could very well win back Congress. Could that have prompted Karl's desire to leave? After all, a Democratic Congress would mean lots of investigations, and most of them would lead back to Rove. So I ain't buying the bullshit that Congressional investigations had nothing to do with Rove's decision to resign.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. There were no Congressional investigations a year ago, so Karl is telling the truth. Well, this is precisely the kind of bullshit that Karl Rove and the Bush administration use as their sustenance. No one would know more about the possible election results--and know sooner--than Karl Rove. It would not take a rocket scientist (or a political scientist) to figure out that if the Democrats won back both houses there would be lots of investigations of Bush administration activities. And who had likely been involved, either directly or through some sort of planning or supervision, in most of those activities? Karl Rove. Karl could see the handwriting on the wall, and I believe that is why he wanted to leave a year ago (if in fact he is telling the truth about that). So, while it is literally true that there were no Congressional investigations a year ago, it is also true that there loomed a real possibility of future investigations that would lead to Rove. Consequently, to say that Congressional investigations are unrelated to Rove's resignation is just more bullshit from the Bush administration.
And that leads to the interesting questions. What happens now that Rove is out of the White House? More to the point, what happens to the claims of executive privilege? Is Rove going to clear out all his files and records so that the White House can claim that they do not exist and therefore they don't have to turn over the records to Congress? Will the Congress continue to pursue Rove now that he is officially out of the administration?
My guess is that Rove thinks that the Dems will be satisfied that they "got rid" of him and will forget about coming after him. I hope the Dems do not do that. They need to go after Rove with a renewed vigor. Why? First of all, he needs to be held accountable for all his bullshit. I'm talking about principle here, folks. This country does not need any future Karl Roves, regardless of political party. Holding him accountable could help to change the political climate for the future. Secondly, if Rove is busy trying to defend himself, he will have less time and energy to devote to "political consulting." Karl Rove's influence on American politics needs to end, and his resignation from the White House does not accomplish that.
And by the way, I did see his and Bush's statements as they happened. I almost threw up.
posted by WCharles @ 8/13/2007 11:50:00 AM
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