Karlito's Way
Is Karl Rove going down? That's the 25-cent question, as W's pocket Machiavelli finds himself in the worst political whirlpool of the second Bush term. As allegations of incompetent war planning and management by BushCheney Inc. finally begin surfacing in the media, it looks to most casual and professional observers that the sharks are circling and they will only be pacified with the ample nourishment provided by the metaphorical carcass of Karlito. Think again, folks--this is GW Bush we're talking about, after all. Rove may yet slither away to the safety of the White House and reappear with a reduced role in name only.
The precedent here is Rumsfeld, of course. But even beyond W's loyalty to his loyal vassals is the fact that Rove doesn't want to go anywhere. So he probably won't.
Rove's involvement in revealing a CIA agent's identity to a reporter carries a potential felony conviction. It also affords a real opportunity for the impeachment of GW Bush if any connection can be made between Rove's act and the top two men in the Bush crew. Since the Democratic Party has decided collaboration with the Bush gang is more to their liking than a properly adversarial relationship, it is doubtful that any connection between the Oval Office and Rove's revelations will be drawn by Biden, Kennedy, Clinton, Schumer, et al. This one act of revenge on an intelligence community whistleblower could be the key to unlocking the whole sordid storehouse of incompetence and scandal that is the Bush administration. On the list of crimes that the Bushies have committed this one is admittedly low on the list, but it appears to be a crime that they can finally be directly linked to (the Iraq war and pre-war propaganda onslaught notwithstanding).
Rove will fall on his sword if investigators try to go further up the ladder and see if Cheney or Bush gave the order to release the agent's name directly, but due to the weakness of the press and the pusillanimity of the Dems there's little fear of that. The level of malfeasance here is pretty impressive, though. I particularly like two things about Rove's contacts with Time's Matthew Cooper--the term "double super secret background" is just classic, right out of the mouth of Dean Wormer from Animal House, along with the idea that the discrediting of the Niger uranium story was arranged by a husband and wife team of agent diplomats as some sort of career opportunity for the pair. Grizzled veterans of the State Department like Joseph Wilson do not suddenly get the itch for cheap TV celebrity at age 54, nor do they normally sell out their country to Islamic fascists (unless their last name is Bush, of course).
Wilson's insistence upon the truth put the lie to the Bushies' desperate attempt to link Iraq with attempts to purchase and manufacture nuclear and chemical weapons. It was a straight-up heroic act. Rather than acquiesce to the pressure put on them by the President and his minions to perpetuate a lie that would end up costing thousands of lives, Wilson acted with conscience and told anyone who would listen that the Bush gang was full of shit and bravado, and that they were attempting to force a war on the American people that had no business being fought. He was repaid for his diligence by having his wife's life put in jeopardy. History will judge who was the better man--Joseph Wilson or Karl Rove. My money's on the diplomat, rather than the autocrat.
The precedent here is Rumsfeld, of course. But even beyond W's loyalty to his loyal vassals is the fact that Rove doesn't want to go anywhere. So he probably won't.
Rove's involvement in revealing a CIA agent's identity to a reporter carries a potential felony conviction. It also affords a real opportunity for the impeachment of GW Bush if any connection can be made between Rove's act and the top two men in the Bush crew. Since the Democratic Party has decided collaboration with the Bush gang is more to their liking than a properly adversarial relationship, it is doubtful that any connection between the Oval Office and Rove's revelations will be drawn by Biden, Kennedy, Clinton, Schumer, et al. This one act of revenge on an intelligence community whistleblower could be the key to unlocking the whole sordid storehouse of incompetence and scandal that is the Bush administration. On the list of crimes that the Bushies have committed this one is admittedly low on the list, but it appears to be a crime that they can finally be directly linked to (the Iraq war and pre-war propaganda onslaught notwithstanding).
Rove will fall on his sword if investigators try to go further up the ladder and see if Cheney or Bush gave the order to release the agent's name directly, but due to the weakness of the press and the pusillanimity of the Dems there's little fear of that. The level of malfeasance here is pretty impressive, though. I particularly like two things about Rove's contacts with Time's Matthew Cooper--the term "double super secret background" is just classic, right out of the mouth of Dean Wormer from Animal House, along with the idea that the discrediting of the Niger uranium story was arranged by a husband and wife team of agent diplomats as some sort of career opportunity for the pair. Grizzled veterans of the State Department like Joseph Wilson do not suddenly get the itch for cheap TV celebrity at age 54, nor do they normally sell out their country to Islamic fascists (unless their last name is Bush, of course).
Wilson's insistence upon the truth put the lie to the Bushies' desperate attempt to link Iraq with attempts to purchase and manufacture nuclear and chemical weapons. It was a straight-up heroic act. Rather than acquiesce to the pressure put on them by the President and his minions to perpetuate a lie that would end up costing thousands of lives, Wilson acted with conscience and told anyone who would listen that the Bush gang was full of shit and bravado, and that they were attempting to force a war on the American people that had no business being fought. He was repaid for his diligence by having his wife's life put in jeopardy. History will judge who was the better man--Joseph Wilson or Karl Rove. My money's on the diplomat, rather than the autocrat.
posted by alyosha mcbain at 2:42 PM
2 Comments:
Perfectly and eloquently stated. You should subnit this piece to the op/ed pages of The Times, Post and WSJ. Seriously.
Yes, you should definitely subnit this piece. You might consider submitting it as well.
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