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Deconstructing Karl Rove

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Wed Oct 26, 2005 at 05:53:26 PM EST
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Political Wire recommends this Atlantic Monthly profile (free link) of Karl Rove. I'm struck by this statement:

In the rare instances when he has failed to set the terms of debate, Rove hasn't fared nearly so well.

But the fact that he can't control Fitzgerald's playing field may make him more ruthless:

It is frequently said of him, in hushed tones when political folks are doing the talking, that he leaves a trail of damage in his wake—a reference to the substantial number of people who have been hurt, politically and personally, through their encounters with him. Rove's reputation for winning is eclipsed only by his reputation for ruthlessness, and examples abound of his apparent willingness to cross moral and ethical lines.

There are even some clues as to how he would react after Joseph Wilson attacked the Administration's claims about Iraq and uranium:

Some of Rove's darker tactics cut even closer to the bone. One constant throughout his career is the prevalence of whisper campaigns against opponents.

Read the example given of a judicial race in Alabama.

I also recommend this Guardian article.

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    Deconstructing Karl Rove | 13 comments (13 topical)
    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:25 PM EST
    Nice article I have to go take a shower now. He seems to be the poster-boy for most of what's wrong in our society lately. The 'win dirty, but win' attitude has done a lot of damage. He's not out of the woods by any means even if he's indicted by the current grand jury. I'm sure there's a long line of people waiting to get their turn at getting even. This is possibly the most vulnerable he's been but he's still running his mouth. The close ties that he shares with several of the original(?) College Republicans are going to burn all of them. He's a master of deception. His claims to have never seen the Plame memo are probably true, however, the document that was seen on AF1 with the 'secret' notation wasn't the original memo. That was a document drafted from original scans, notes and memo parts. He figured the art of polygraph manipulation early on. I still think he was behinf the campaign that forged GWB's TANG memo that nailed CBS...also likely part of why Harriet Myers paperwork can't be released...that was important in knocking CBS' other story off the air the coming weekend... ...the story of the Niger yellowcake document forgeries.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:25 PM EST
    We need a Democratic Rove. Let's be honest, when you're killing rats, you need to get into the sewer.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:25 PM EST
    Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. At least that's the way we would like it to work.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#5)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    in essence, what you're saying is that if karl rove has anything to do with your political campaign, you're tainted from the start? given his reputation, i'm kind of surprised someone hasn't put a bullet through his brain. you know how some people take these things personally.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#6)
    by chemoelectric on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    RandyMI says:
    We need a Democratic Rove. Let's be honest, when you're killing rats, you need to get into the sewer.
    I'm inclined to mention that I have an exterminator who comes to the house every couple of months, and he's the nicest guy you ever could meet, and doesn't feel 100% happy about killing mice (neither am I 100% happy about it). You don't need to be a Rove to kill rodents. You just need to know what you are doing. Indeed, apparently Rove is being taken down not by another like him, but by relatively virtuous people: Joseph Wilson, Patrick Fitzgerald, etc.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#7)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    Some of Rove's darker tactics cut even closer to the bone. One constant throughout his career is the prevalence of whisper campaigns against opponents.
    It's all so Christlike!

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    A traitor like Rove is a very dangerous internal enemy who seriously needs to be put on trial. The suggestion that Dems need to pollute themselves in order to overcome such criminals is a total misunderstanding of disease. This is a poison that spreads. Rove is one of the spirochetes of a deadly infection. Lancing such boils of greed and criminal conspiracy is a vital purpose of American law and government. The Rs have a few chances left to save themselves, in this regard by throwing the heaviest book they can find at this uncovered deceive, and then impeaching Bush when he offers Rove a pardon.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    Rove will surely get what's coming to him; his kind almost always does. And, NO, the Democrats do NOT need their own Rove. Rove is a cancer on the Republican Party. So, unless the Democratic Party likes cancer, be careful what you wish for.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#10)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    in fairness to rove, one only has to go back to the first contested presidential election, to understand when the precedent for this type of campaign tactic was set. rove is hardly the first, nor, i suspect, the last of his breed. when winning, as vince lombardi famously said, is the only thing, this is what you get. we don't remember the names of failed candidates, or the losers in the super bowl, for that matter, only those of the winners, and they're the ones that write the histories. much as i loathe mr. rove, and his tactics, i must agree with shakespeare, "the fault, dear brutus, lies not with our stars, but within ourselves."

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    The lesson of Rove is not that we need to regain power on his terms... it is just the opposite. This is what eventually happens when you play by those rules. To have a Rove lead us to victory means we'll have elected officials who sanction Rovian tactics, who divide the country into "with me or against me" terms, who ride into office on the tide of fear and slander, who activate voters by appealing to the most fundamentally divisive issues. And if that means sitting on the sidelines for a while until the Roves implode, well, then, so be it.

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#12)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:26 PM EST
    charley, now you have me curious. care to elucidate on the "rovian" like tactics used by clinton, in his two presidential campaigns?

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#13)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:27 PM EST
    Possible title for a rovian tell-all "From goosestep to frogmarch, my life in the White House."

    Re: Deconstructing Karl Rove (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:27 PM EST
    "we don't remember the names of failed candidates, or the losers in the super bowl, for that matter, only those of the winners," That is flatly untrue, as history demonstrates. Two examples: • Andrew Jackson, who 'lost' to Adams -- elected by landslide in the next election. • Adolf HItler, who lost the beerhall putsch -- walked away with keys to the Weimar myth a few years later. Evil geniuses like Rove are rare, thankfully. He needs to be cut out of the body politic, and then pickled in formaldehyde for future generations to study.

    Deconstructing Karl Rove | 13 comments (13 topical)