It is becoming more apparent each day that the Democratic Party will be guiding the course of American politics for the next four to eight years depending upon its degree of success. As this reality looms closer, the Republican Party, in order to exert any influence upon the hearts and minds of the American people, will undoubtedly employ any means necessary to acquire control of the media. A good illustration of this type of influence was exhibited during the Presidential Election of 2004. It is now a matter of historical record that the Karl Rove propaganda machine, funded by T. Boone Pickens, launched a campaign of lies to disparage the military record of John Kerry. The subsequent character assassination produced a new colloquialism in the American lexicon labeled, “swift boating.” The American people have since expressed disappointment, if not outrage, for the implementation of this deceitful practice.

As the presidential campaign gains momentum in favor of change, it would appear that the neo-cons, the hierarchy of the status quo, remain curiously calm. The Democratic frontrunners and the National Committee would collectively commit a grave error by breathing any sigh of relief upon the departure of Karl Rove from his perch in the Oval Office.

O-right, as we say in Jersey: here’s me cutting myself into the Sunday news talk shows again. This time it's Fox News Sunday, and I'm talking with Karl Rove.

A weekly roundup of the buzz from the Sunday talk shows
Monday, December 3, 2007; Page A02

Karl Rove defended his recent assertion that Democrats in Congress pushed the country to war with Iraq faster than the White House wanted.

Fox News Sunday: Mr. Rove, you lovable rascal, would you care to defend your recent assertion that Democrats in Congress pushed the country to war with Iraq faster than the White House wanted?

(continued)

There’s a new book coming out that purports to give an inside view of some of the secret squabbling that’s gone on over the past seven years inside the Bush White House. This would not be considered a big deal, except for the fact that one of the author’s informants appears to have been Karl Rove, who apparently shared a couple of “juicy stories” with the author some months prior to his departure from the White House. (continued)

The collective power of the peace movement helped the Democrats take control of Congress and turn Nancy Pelosi from Minority leader into Madam Speaker. But in May the new Congress turned its back on the peace movement, granting Bush another $95 billion for war with no timetable for withdrawal. While the Speaker of the House herself voted against the war funding, she failed to put pressure on the conservative Democrats to form a united front against another blank check for war. She also failed to effectively use her power to decide what bills would come up for a vote. In the case of both the unrestricted war funding and the expanded FISA wiretapping, Pelosi had the ability to keep the bills off the floor but refused to do so.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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    Uncle Bud and I were having our last beer for night in the Select Taproom Room, an undistinguished establishment (OK, run down dive) in Southeast DC that he’d bought in his retirement. It was a quiet, out-of-the-way place for the GOP crowd to meet below the radar of the media and any other nosy types. It was early in the morning, around 4 a.m., and the debris from Karl Rove’s going away party still littered the old, battered place. The partygoers had wandered off. It had been a fine send off for the Brain, but Uncle Bud was unhappy. He’d never liked Rove much, and had little use for the whole Grover Norquist wing of the GOP. I know he was glad to see Abramoff out of circulation, and wanted Ralph Reed to go down with him. As for Bush, I’ve always suspected that one of Uncle Bud’s assignments when he was working as a Republican operative was to kept tabs on the young W. I’ve heard Bud say, more than once, that “the boy needs several keepers on duty ‘round the clock.”

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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Did The Rooster Call Up the Sun or Did Rove Get the Last Laugh?

Seasoned audiences of presidential scandal know that there's only one certainty ahead: the timing of a Karl Rove resignation. As always in this genre, the knight takes the fall at exactly that moment when it's essential to protect the king.
--Frank Rich, via the New York Times, July 17th, 2005

Karl Rove, in a move Sir Lancelot would be proud of, has announced that he will “leave the building” August 31st.

Does this mean Mr. Bush’s recent “colonoscopy” was merely a cover story for a procedure more closely resembling the removal of a hand from a puppet?

Don’t bet on it.

The Wall Street Journal has a sychophantic interview with Karl Rove, over his planned departure from the White House, filled with gems.  Here's one from Gigot himself:

I've known Mr. Rove for 19 years and spoken to him hundreds of times. Yet I can't recall a single instance where he disclosed how his views differed from Mr. Bush's.

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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There have been two news srories released over the last couple of days dealing with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).  In one story drug czar John P. Walters announces that Mexican drug cartels are taking over our National Forests and turning them into their own private marijuana farms complete with armed guards. According to Mr. Walters:

Did the Office of National Drug Control Policy use its funds and clout to influence elections in 2006? Henry Waxman wants to know!

Crossposted from GreenState Project

I keep telling people: cannabis prohibition and the war on drugs are far bigger problems than they know. I keep telling them the GOP uses the war on drugs as a political tool.

Well, here we have Henry Waxman asking the Office of the Drug Czar and John Walters about apparent misuse of tax dollars in "2006 republican campaigns, particularly those described as "struggling". This inquiry is turning up the names of not only John Walters and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, but of one Sara Taylor and Karl Rove.

This is good stuff.

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