We start off in Seattle.  Where editors of the Seattle Times cheered Rove's resignation

when it was announced.

Why?  What was so exciting, so wonderful about Rove’s resignation to these supposedly hard-headed, fair, nonpartisan, unbiased editors?  At least that’s the way they like to see themselves portrayed in movies, plays, and TV shows.  So, given all of that image building, why would they stand up and cheer such news?  Could it be that they are not so nonpartisan and unbiased as they claim?  Hmmmmm?

 

By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll understand fully why the above questions are the definition of rhetorical, as in “we know the answer already,” as in…”DUH!”

 

Pajamas Media dug up an amazing number of disparaging remarks on Rove.  But never fear.  They balance the bad with some good insights from conservative bloggers.  Check these out:

 

http://pajamasmedia.com/

 

What does Rove’s Symbolic Quit really mean? “I think we can imagine the subtext is present in Rove’s assertion. It’ll be a matter of paying attention to the clues to see what Rove’s real strategy is… the real carom shot.” (Clarissa Pinkola Estés @ Moderate Voice)

 

“How typical of him to slink off out of the bunker and leave the mess for someone else to clean up.” (Mustang Bobby @ Shakespeare’s Sister)

 

“To paraphrase Freud, sometimes political figures “resign to spend more time with their family” because they really want to spend more time with their family. Whether or not that’s actually the case with Rove is anyone’s guess, however.” (Chris Lawrence @ Outside The Beltway)

 

So what is the real reason for his departure? “Legal troubles? Or was it as a result of his demotion in the White House in April ‘06 away from his involvement in policy-making? Or, just maybe, is this the first step towards joining another presidential campaign? Is there a campaign that would take him on?” (Psericks @ MyDD)

 

“Even without the various scandals that have touched or been propagated by his enemies to try to touch him, recent years have cast doubt on his political finesse.” (Betsy Newmark)

 

“No matter what you think of him, Rove did his job well, at least until the realities of the world outside the Washington Beltway became so crushing that they could no longer be subsumed or blustered away.” (Shaun Mullen @ Moderate Voice)

 

Self-delusion and blindness? “Gigot lets Rove defend himself and his legacy, and what I see, alas, is the mark of self-delusion and blindness that has damaged the White House and the Beltway GOP … Imagine how much better off the White House and the Republican Party might be now if he had, in fact, left a year ago.” (Michelle Malkin)

 

A quick scan of reaction at Democratic Underground. (Blogs of War)

 

A Giant Exits The Stage: “Many are throwing pitchforks at him because of 2006 but I’d say that Rove’s election record prior to that was pretty amazing.” (Let Freedom Ring)

 

Our Dark Lord Rove, exiting stage right: “Timing may be intended to remove a lightning rod, distraction prior to the battles of the fall, during this interim when Dems cannot claim it as a result of one of their ineffectual witchhunts. Not that that will stop them.” (Jules Crittenden)

 

An aside: “This is the first clear indication to the conspiracy theorists on the Left that Bush doesn’t intend to declare himself Emperor.” (Ed Morrissey @ Captain’s Quarters)

 

“It doesn’t matter that Rove will be living in Texas after he resigns; the nutroots and moonbats out there will still find things that they will insist are Rovian plots that he concocted from Texas.” (Kim Priestap @ Wizbang)

 

Coverup! (Ana Marie Cox @ Time’s Swampland)

 

Who will the Kos people blame for everything? “After all, they believe Pres. Bush has no brain.” (Fausta’s Blog)

 

How Will Presidential Hopefuls React? (Washington Wire @ WSJ)

 

When Is The Band Getting Back Together? “Democrats have to be worried that when Karl Rove exits the White House in August, he’ll take a month off and end up at the virtual elbow of Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney, or Senator Thompson. They should be worried. Of course that’s what he (and Ken Mehlman) will be doing. All-stars whose franchise can’t play for the title often show up in the heat of the hunt. Politics is like sports in many ways. And Rove is the Tiger Woods of politics.” (Hugh Hewitt)

 

“Karl Rove did maximize Bush’s short-run political influence. The long-term costs, however,Daniel Drezner)

Ready For Rove II? (Macsmind)

A look into the future. (Sundries Shack) will not be experienced until well after 2009. And my hunch is that those costs are far greater than Rove acknowledges.” (

 

President Bush and Karl Rove’s press conference, liveblogged @ Michelle Malkin.

“See what happens when you go out and try to exercise some meat off your fat butt instead of sitting on it waiting for the Big News? You miss out on it.” (Baldilocks)

“Celebrate my liberal friends!! Bush’s brain is leaving the White House!” (Liberal College Kid)

Patrick Carroll :

 

He's obviously freeing himself up so he can cry havoc (and release the blogs of war, I guess) on the Democrats in 2008.

Oh, that wily Rove!

 

“‘I just think it’s time,’ he says, adding that he first floated the idea of leaving to Mr. Bush a year ago. His friends confirm he had been talking about it with others even earlier. But Democrats took Congress, and he didn’t want to depart on that sour note. He then thought he’d leave after the State of the Union, but the Iraq and immigration fights beckoned. Finally, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten told senior White House aides that if they stayed past a certain point, they were obliged to remain to Jan. 20, 2009.”

 

“‘There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.’ (WSJ accompanying report, free link)

 

Here are some responses from PajamasMedia fans:

 

howard lohmuller:  There are probably some intelligent Democrats, as distinguished from the barking dogs yipping at his heels, whom are sorry to see him leave the White House and worry that Mr. Rove may run the Presidential campaign for the probable Republican nominee and advise Republican Congressional candidates. FDR was elected President 4 times and Mr. Rove may have as his goal a permanent Republican Presidency. The yipping dogs may come to regret his leaving and look in the phone book to make sure Rove doesn't live on Elm St.

 

William Casey :  He has accomplished more than Howard Dean.

Aug 13, 2007 07:04 AM

 

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés:  Great job in rounding up insightful writings. I'll link back to you from The Moderate Voice later today. With kindest regards

PajamaMedia

Then, check out The Mark of Rove by Paul Gigot in WSJ:

Get article, “Karl Rove to Resign at the End of August,” the Paul Gigot interviewing Rove video, and Rove photo slide show here:

 

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB118698747711695773.html

 

Read Brent Baker piece on how the major TV networks spun Rove’s resignation.  The MSM will do anything for their Democrat masters, which means spreading any lie they want against Republicans:

 

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2007/08/14/abc-blames-karl-rove-swift-boat-ads-all-nets-scold-him-plame-leak

 

Here’s a few more blogs and web sites for your reading “pleasure” (although Hugh Hewitt’s is always a good, solid read):

Conservative commentator RobertBluey.com

Conservative commentator MichelleMalkin.com

Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt: hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog

The Financial Times

Ana Marie Cox's riff on Rove is at Time magazine's Swampland blog:

time-blog.com/swampland/2007/08/his_long_national_nightmare_is.html

Andrew Sullivan: andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

Liberal sites: MyDD.com, MichaelMoore.com, and DailyKos.com

E-mail Joe Garofoli at jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com

 

Video links:

 

This one’s got to be so bad it’s funny: MichaelMoore.com offers "The Karl Christian Rove Christmastime Quote of the Day":

 

www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/beastofburdon.mov

 

A 20-year-old Rove.  This one should be a keeper:  CBS News story from 1972 that includes an interview with a young Karl Rove talking about how he helps former President Nixon attract the youth vote:

 

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM0zJl9Bxk8

 

Rush’s staff pulled together some really choice outtakes from the MSM punditry.  Here are some of my favorite choice bits.  Enjoy…or not:

 

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_081407/content/01125107.guest.html

 

MORAN : Divisiveness! Anger! Ruthlessness! That's what you call "Rovian politics."

LEHMAN: The news to most Americans here isn't so much that Karl Rove is leaving, as that Karl Rove has a family.

MATTHEWS: He was knighting the guy, and he said he was going to take care of this bum.

YELLIN: The dark prince of the Bush administration.

WRIGHT: Many saw his fingerprints in the attack on John McCain's character; 2004 witnessed a similar sustained attack on John Kerry's war record

MOORE: There is a certain part of this guy that is pathological.

GERGEN: An evil one who manipulated politics...

AXELROD:  Karl Rove is packing his bags ...and leaving the party in tatters.

ABRAMS:  If Karl Rove had been a professional wrestler, they might have called him The Constitutional Crippler.

 

RUSH: After the joint press conference with President Bush and Karl Rove, it's over, and Bush is making his way to a helicopter or wherever, and Bill Plante of CBS shouts out, "If Rove is so smart, how come you lost Congress?"  They can ask whatever they want, but you know, had I been there, had I been in the press corps, you know what I would have said?  "Hey, Plante, if you're so smart, how come Katie Couric is doing the CBS Evening News?"  Ingrates.  I tell you, this is Rove Derangement Syndrome.

So for them to sit there and say divisiveness, anger, ruthlessness?  He was "the dark prince" of the Bush administration? This descends from the hubris and from the elitism and from the arrogance of liberals who believe themselves he above being beaten, of being immune from criticism and so forth.  Last night on Nightline Terry Moran interviewed Donna Brazile, and Moran says, "Did Rove play dirty?"

BRAZILE:  I would say that Karl has gotten away with things that many of us on the Democratic side could never get away with.

MORAN:  Like what?

BRAZILE:  Well, for example, we couldn't pit white evangelical Christians against gays. We couldn't pit gun owners against, you know, blacks -- and yet Karl could find a way to pit one group after another.

RUSH:  Whoa! Normally I have some respect for Donna Brazile, but this is just absurd, to say that Karl Rove and George W. Bush are divisive -- blacks against, what, gun owners?  Ladies and gentlemen, page one of the Democrat Party playbook is: Keep people divided, fighting with each other, angry, resenting each other; make sure that there is constant crisis and angst; make sure there is no unity on whatever the issue. Wedge everything. Cause a gap to exist between everything. There's no desire for unity whatsoever, unless their opponents decide to change their principles and drop their principles and join the Democrats.  We're listening to an alternative universe here. 

RUSH: This is our old buddy Howard Fineman, who was on PMS last night saying this about Rove and Bush.

FINEMAN:  In many ways Bush and Rove have won, because as the Democrats are conceding quietly, if not openly, it's going to be hard to yank all of the troops out of Iraq -- and as the Democrats are showing, they're probably not going to have the guts to abolish George Bush's tax cuts.  So in certain respects, Bush and Rove have won.

RUSH:  Certain respects?  Who's been in the White House the last six and a half years?  (Laughing.)  That's what eats them.

 

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2007/08/15/karl_rove_bushs_napoleon?page=full&comments=true

 

And now, on to some criticism from conservative columnists, Jonah Goldberg: 

 

"What is history," Napoleon asked, "but a fable agreed upon?" After he pens his memoirs from his Texan Elba, maybe we'll find out what fable Rove subscribes to: the one in which he was a champion for conservatism, or the one in which he liberated the GOP from conservatism."

 

The completely fabricated "Bush is a dunce," "Karl Rove is Bush's brain" is a fabric agreed upon by the MSM, and surprisingly, in some respects, by a lot of conservative commentators, including Mr. Goldberg.

 

It's true, Bush was entirely too nice to the Evil Left in Washington.  His Texas gubernatorial experience with more conservative Democrats in the Texas legislature misled him and Rove.

 

BUT (you knew that word was coming, dincha?) Bush and Rove did rescue us from the Evil clutches of Gore and Kerry AND have successfully forestalled numerous attempted attacks on America if insiders are to be believed.

 

Rush is right about Bush and Rove.  They are not conservatives, but they do hold and act upon certain conservative beliefs, the chief among them is to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the nation itself.

 

For this chiefly, I honor Karl Rove as he prepares to head back to Texas.  I suspect he will be doing a lot of good work next year in many political campaigns.

...And now for something completely different, let’s lighten things up by getting down with MCRove.  :) :) :)  Com'n!  Give it up for Da MAN!!!

 

http://bamapachyderm.com/archives/2007/08/13/wsj-karl-rove-to-resign-august-31/