Karl Rove is Baaack
Karl Rove is back with a vengeance — un-indicted — and he’s nastier and sleazier than ever. He’s ready to do some serious Swiftboating.
For six years, Rove has been pulling strings, defining the issues and framing the debates. Democrats have been trying vainly to counter Rove’s attacks. Mostly they just end up walking right into whatever trap Rove has set for them.
This column by Eleanor Clift is an excellent description of Rove’s shrewd/slippery tactics. Unless something changes drastically, Rove will be pulling all the strings again this year and the Democrats will again be dancing around like a bunch of spastic marionettes.
Clift says “Rove is following a time-honored tactic: hang a lantern on your problem. Iraq is George Bush’s biggest problem, ergo Rove’s strategy: showcase the war, frame the choice between victory and defeatism, put the Democrats on the defensive.”
She also says “It’s appalling that an administration led by chickenhawks dares to build an election strategy based on lecturing combat veterans, but it is devilishly clever, and it might work.”
Might work?? Ask John Kerry, John McCain and Max Cleland.
(Max Cleland was a senator from Georgia; a Vietnam veteran who lost three limbs in combat. In 2002 his chickenhawk opponent, Saxby Chambliss, ran a series of attack ads comparing Cleland to Osama bin Laden. The ads worked; Cleland was voted out. Dumbfuck voters!)
John McCain got slimed by Bush/Rove in 2000. Kerry got slandered and destroyed in 2004 by “Swiftboat Veterans for Truth.” If that gang of fucksticks has a single veteran in it, I’m Sylvester Stallone.
Clift also uses the term “reverse accountability” — blame Iraqmire on the Democrats even though the Republicans have been in total control during the whole fiasco.
As unconventional and counter-intuitive as Rove’s approach is, it sure has worked so far. Highlight your own weakest point (Iraqmire) and turn it into an advantage. Attack your enemy’s strongest points — the war records of John McCain, Max Cleland, John Kerry and John Murtha. And use Reverse Accountability to blame the Democrats — who’ve been completely out of power — for the Iraqi invasion, the killing of over 2,500 American soldiers and the continuing quagmire.
“Cut and Run!” will be this year’s “Gay Marriage!” Will the voters be just as gullible this November as they were in 2000, ‘02 and ‘04?
Good old Karl Rove. He may be the most slippery shameless shit-eating pusbucket that ever lived — but he’s brilliant.
posted by Tom Harper @ 9:11 PM
20 Comments:
You have it a bit wrong, Karl rove was never indicted, so he couldn't be un-indicted. It is you liberals that indicted him in your own feeble minds. Karl Rove engineered George W. Bush's 2000 election and his 2004 re-election and you liberals can't stand it. Maybe the Democrats need to find a better group of stategists that actually come up with better ideas than just attack their Republican opponents.
"He may be the most slippery shameless shit-eating pusbucket that ever lived — but he’s brilliant."
Change that "he" to "she" and you'll have the perfect description of Eleanor Clift. Funny how the pot keeps calling the kettle black, doncha think?
Kvatch: I never knew that about Volvos (never owned one). Maybe Rove was their PR man during the '70s.
NASCAR Jon: Admit it -- Rove, Cheney and Libby all conspired to out a CIA agent, violating that sacred "national security" that Bush is always blubbering about. If there wasn't enough evidence to indict him, that's the way it goes. But he was in that scandal up to his eyeballs. You know it, I know it and the American people know it (that's my Bob Dole impression).
But you're right about one thing. The Democrats DO need to come up with a better strategist who can counter Rove's shrewdness.
Ma Titwonky: Kind of an odd comparison. One writes a magazine column and the other is a political strategist who put a lowlife warmongering spoiled brat into the White House. You were saying...
Actually what I was doing was resorting to the same meaningless name calling I read in your post and which continued in your comments. And the point of THAT is????????
LOL!
There's Jon, the guy who knows it all about cars that go 'round in a circle.
Jon, Rove didn't engineer Bush's "victory" in 2004, along with a bunch of other people like Ken Blackwell in Ohio and Katherine Harris in FLA stole the election. And not for the first time.
If you take 3 million votes, mostly black, mostly democrats and you engineer a plan to make them all gone, that is hardly a "win".
Not that they will leave that only to 2004, of course:
http://www.gregpalast.com/voting-rights-act-nailed-to-burning-cross-2
Tell us all Jon (though I know you never will) what have the rethugs and the POTUS been behind that has been of benefit to the average working family in our country?
When corporations and government are in bed together like they are now, Jon, what do we call that?
Tom,
I wish I could indulge your mindless fantasy and say what you want me to say, but that would be a lie and I will leave that to you left wingnuts. There was never any evidence needed since he didn't so anything wrong. It was all in the minds of you Left wingnuts.
Ma Titwonky: You're still comparing apples and oranges. Yes I was indulging in name-calling at Karl Rove's expense. I'm not saying it's right, but Rove has had a huge, HUGE influence on the political landscape. Lots of people love him for it; lots of people hate him for it. Trust me, he's been called names that I probably haven't heard since high school or boot camp. On the other hand, a columnist (Eleanor Clift, for example) has had about one tenth of one percent of the influence that Rove has had. I don't care if you call her names or not, but she hasn't earned anywhere near the hatred (or respect) that Rove has. (Remember, I also referred to him as brilliant in the post.
Jon: "I wish I could indulge your mindless fantasy and say what you want me to say." Actually, I don't care what you say. This is a free country and you're entitled to be a rightwing nut if you so desire.
Mike: Bravo! What you said.
I would much rather be a conservative than a left wingnut like you are.
OK Jon, suit yourself and be a conservative. And how about using future comments for something more constructive than "I would much rather be a conservative than a left wingnut like you are." What are you gonna come up with next, "I am rubber you are glue..."
Karl Rove made issues that are important go to the backburner,thats his specialty. He brings out the religious nutjobs who are always trying to put their agenda on us. If they don't want an abortion, don't get one..its simple. They want to legislate morality..and crazy karl knows how to push their buttons.
He's crazy like a fox that fucker. I love the Shrub's boy Tony Snow too. Calling the death of the 2500th soldier "just a number"..that man has nads of steel evidently.
McCain was slime before 2000, and he still is. He gave up military info for medical treatment while he was a "POW".
God Bless America, God Save The Republic.
The ballot boxes were stolen by PNAC operatives and transferred by black Halliburton helicopters piloted by israeli agents
blah blah blah
The guy you all thought was an idiot, 'dumbya' has been taking libs to the cleaners for 6 yrs now.
If Rove had done anything wrong, he would have been indicted.
Dusty: Yup, that’s what Rove does. The important issues go to the back burner so they can be replaced with gay marriage, flag burning and the “death tax.” He knows exactly how to push the buttons of millions of dumbfucks who couldn’t think their way out of a paper bag.
Yeah, 2,500 is just a number — I like that. Anyone who says that obviously doesn’t have any friends or family members serving in Iraq.
David: I didn’t know about that. But considering what he went through in Vietnam, I’d tend to cut him some slack.
Senor: Yes, Dumbya is an idiot. He’s just a figurehead, a cardboard cutout. Rove, Cheney, Wolfowitz and the other PNAC members (and probably some shadowy groups nobody’s heard of) — that’s who’s pulling the strings.
The only time I ever heard about “black helicopters” was from those rightwing militia/survivalist groups during Clinton’s presidency.
BTW, I think your blog is funny. I don’t usually agree with your posts but they’re entertaining.
David,
I am guessing you have proof of this or are you just tossing out an accusation against Senator McCain becuase you don't like him?
Good job at not answering any questions, Jon, and making nothing but non-sequitor comments.
I'll give you a minute to look that up in the dictionary.
Rove was not indicted because there was not enough evidence.
That hardly makes him a prince of princes.
Still waiting to hear about how the rethugs and the prez have supported anything that has been a benefit to the average working family.
All the while they have created the largest government and debt in history.
How is that, Jon?
This party of small government and tight spending.
They have all the purse strings.
They have the house, the senate and the white house.
I think it is easy and productive for rightists to defend Rove because without him they might not be enjoying as much power as they currently are. He may not be an ethical guy, but what he does gets results and it keeps his religious control-freak friends in power. I believe that power and control is what it's all about, and as much as I detest Rove I sure have to admit... he delivers.
I think that "rearranging the White House" by changing Karl Rove's duties was nothing more than a way for Bush/Cheney to get him out in the open to do more of what he does best (politically assinate the opposition), particularly at a time when the GOP hasn't been doing well in the polls.
I agree with Dusty... Rove is a master at taking the important issues and diverting the public's attention away from those issues by using "hot button" stuff as smoke screens. If Republican voters want to support that kind of trickery in order to see their crooked leaders maintain power and control at just about any cost, that's up to them. A close look at what they are doing by supporting that kind of crap might reveal that they are supporting a strategy that is more than a bit disingenuous.
Maybe someday these voters will realize they vote against their own best interests and against the best interests of the United States when they vote for most present-day Republicans, maybe they won't. In any case, I find it hard to imagine that many Republican voters actually think Bush is a good conservative. He and his friends are spending money like there is no tomorrow... I'm sure there are "liberals" who might also like to spend at this pace, but I'm not sure a Democratic administration has ever spent money and run up deficits quite like these... and if Republican voters want to believe it is necessary to make all these expenditures because the expensive Iraq war was/is necessary, well... there isn't much way to sway them; you can't use reason to change the positions of folks who never used reason to adopt their positions in the first place.
I think the operative term when it comes to discussing Karl Rove is "snake oil". He sells people bullshit, they believe it because they are afraid, and then they vote for Republican candidates. I would agree with anyone who says the Democrats don't have the killer instinct like Rove and the Republicans do, and that sitting back and simply attacking the GOP isn't going to win a lot of House seats for the lefties in November.
I'm still waiting for the pictures of Bush doing it with the goat on the White House lawn while in a drunken stupor, or the ones of Rove participating in NAMBLA meetings.
Snave: Yup, Rove gets results and he’s incredibly shrewd and brilliant — you’ve gotta give him that. And so was Clinton (and all of his handlers, strategists, etc.). It’s too bad the slickest and most marketable candidate usually wins, but that’s how it is.
But I just can’t believe how many millions of voters are voting against their own interests by supporting a candidate just because “I’m even more of a bigot than you are, so we’re cool, right?” That’s how these last few elections seem to have worked.
Like you say, Rove is an excellent snake oil salesman, and snake oil seems to be more popular now than ever. We need some ruthless paparazzi to catch Bush or Rove in an awkward position. That’s how the Right nailed Clinton in his affair with Monica. They spent tens of millions of our tax dollars trying to dig up SOMETHING on Clinton, and that’s all they found. With all the smoke about Bush and Condi Rice, there’s probably some fire in there somewhere. (And Rove looks like a child molester, whatever that’s worth. Spy on the bastard and get some pictures.)
Wow I am put in a position to defend John McCain
David Schantz talks about McCain giving up Military Secrets while he was a POW in Vietnam. I never heard of that but I do know that McCain was tortured and our Miliatary gave up years ago, trying to condition solders against resisting torture.
The policy is and has been since Vietnam that you are forgiven if you tell secrets as almost everybody that has been captured has given up some.
Erik
Erik: Yup, that would be my take on it. McCain has been through agonies that 99% of Americans couldn't even conceive of. He's gotten pretty sleazy as a politician, but he's paid more dues than most people.
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