Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Karl Rove is gone

He was the alter ego of George Bush II. His shadow. The brain behind his political strategy. The man most vehemently protected by the White House in wake of the countless scandals and dirty odd jobs he did for them. He was portly but that didn't matter. He was the aide-de-camp to the most doltishly powerful man in the world. The Prez hugged him tight, last night, as he bade good-bye to a great friend. White house interns in their pink polka-dotted dresses must have sobbed, at least, a few of them. There goes the electrifying line. The Axis. The incredible colleague. I am happy, another conspirator exits.

Karl Rove is the third to leave. After Wolfowitz and Rummy. Ah, old boy Wolf was a sheer disgrace at the World Bank. He tried to give an out-of-turn raise to his Muslim girlfriend, and was done for. As for Rumsfeld – who often used to confuse journalists with his vocab peddling – he is busy denying things that he always knew and endorsed. Last heard, a week back, he denied a cover-up and rejected personal blame -- in the public deceptions that followed Army Ranger Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan in 2004 – before questioning by a House committee.

Coming back to Karl -- the dancer who surprised the media with an impromptu jig to a hip hop tune at the annual dinner for TV and radio correspondents in Washington this year: He was some performer. His closeness to George Bush II was famed. Always an inner circle guy, an influential electoral strategist, he brought the Republican party lasting dominance by bringing Protestant evangelicals and Hispanic Catholics together under the amorphous banner of "moral values" through their shared antipathy to – stuff like -- abortion, as Guardian puts it.

Then came the tumble. The downfall was swift and disgraceful. Rove was in complete know and perhaps hand to the sacking of eight federal prosecutors by the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, a move seen largely as politically motivated. Mr Gonzales admitted he had had conversations on at least two occasions with Mr Rove about the sacking of a prosecutor in New Mexico. Rove could have been hauled but Bush used his executive privilege to prevent his man Friday from testifying at investigative hearings on the Capitol Hill. They grill you bad there, Bush knows.

Like a true wily old Republican, Rove went on to slyly reveal the identity of CIA operative, Valerie Plame, to a journalist Robert Novak. Rove had long insisted he was not responsible -- for the leaking of the identity of Plame, an undercover CIA spy – an act that was unlawful and could have landed him in some serious trouble. What followed was a three-year investigation, a 30-month jail sentence for the vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby and a huge embarrassment to the Bush establishment. Rove, by then, the all-important in charge of White House policy, got off.

As a young rookie, age 22, hired by George Bush Sr, Rove was first assigned the rather petty job of handing over car keys to Bush Jr whenever he went to Washington. After a lifetime -- 35 years -- in servitude to a once-alcoholic, twice-stupid Prez, Rove finally found himself completely out of key.

Sam

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well that is very brillinatly summed up. The Bush Presidency is in its last lag but the way his aides are going clearly reveals the rot and the sense of defeat that his team has already accepted.

Tim,
Brussels

Anonymous said...

Now I know what anger the people felt during Nixon's presidency and the Vietnam war... So good riddance to a terrible man.

Nate, Minneapolis MN

Anonymous said...

Hey Good post. Too bad Bush, Cheney, and Rice have not resigned yet. I wish I had their type of job security.

Dan, Warren MI

Anonymous said...

Rove managed to take Bush Jr, who is not leader material, and turn him into a governor. And after 4 years of a mediocre tenure, turn him into President. And 4 years of mistakes later, keep him as President.

He might not care about the bigger picture, but Karl Rove is the greatest political strategist of all time. Is he available for hire?

Anonymous said...

Bad luck for his family, good for the rest of the world.

Till Lincke, Zuerich, Switzerland

Anonymous said...

Can't think of any world leader who hasn't had lobster with Bush in Maine recently. You must be referring to the old left of old Europe...so sorry. If this is bad it doesn't seem so bad.

Max Nicks, Cahulawassee GA, United States

Anonymous said...

Heroes are those who do extraordinary things in extraordinary time. Well done Mr Rove, United Earth will never forget you.

Bikal Dhungel, Kathmandu, Nepal

Anonymous said...

I am a big fan of the Bush doctrine and have nothing but termendous respect for people like Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz because they stood up to be counted when tough decisions were required from American leaders.

Anonymous said...

This resignation means nothing, The Damage has been done. Bush is a lame duck, his Iraq policy is deader than disco and America reputation he been shattered. This resignation
will improve nothing.

Ejay, NYC

Anonymous said...

What the Republican Party needs at this stage is to regroup....The path that America is taking right now is alieniating friends abroad....
Good piece, sameer

Pancha Chandra, Brussels, Belgium