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The Issues List!
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05/13/2009 11:49:30 AM
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Niagara Falls Reporter Opinion
KARL ROVE: AN AMERICAN
TRAITOR.
By Bill Gallagher.
Karl
Rove: Traitor and
Liar |
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Karl
Rove is all out of second chances.
On February 23, Karl Rove was supposed to testify before the
House Judiciary Committee in accordance with a Congressional
subpoena. But Rove didn't show up. Again.
Rove didn't show up last year when he was ordered to testify,
because President Bush said that Rove's testimony was protected by
executive privilege. |
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"So I stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of
the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks
and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the
White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There was one
problem. It was not true. I had unknowingly passed along false
information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the
administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby,
the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the
president himself."
~Scott McClellan, staunch Republican, former White House
Spokesperson and a Bush Administration insider
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 An old CBS
newscast reveals a predilection for tricks... and more hair...
orm
At the end of this 1972 Dan Rather newscast on
the Nixon Republican machine, we see a young Karl Rove talking
about bringing the youth into the GOP fold.
As many have pointed out, Rove was already
knee-deep in the dirty politics that would become his signature
all these years later... from
Wikipedia:
Karl Rove and the Dixon campaign incident
In the fall of 1970, Karl Rove, current Bush
Administration Deputy Chief of Staff, used a false identity to
enter the campaign office of Alan J. Dixon, who was running for
Illinois State Treasurer, and stole 1000 sheets of paper with
campaign letterhead. Rove then printed fake campaign rally
fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time
for nothing," and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless
shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon's rally (Dixon
eventually won the election). Rove's role would not become
publicly known until August 1973. Rove told the
Dallas Morning News
in 1999, "It was a youthful prank at the age of 19 and I regret
it."
Now go
watch Rove rap.
Tears form; of what sort? I won't know for weeks. Maybe
months...
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To all the Republicans who sit
in their air-conditioned offices and talk of the courage it takes for them
to keep young kids in harm's way -- I say enough. Karl Rove talking about
"cutting and running" while he sits on his big, fat backside-saying "stay
the course." I say enough! That's not a plan! We've got to have a new
direction, and it's clear we need more Democrats in Congress to get that
done.
No matter how obvious the mistakes in Iraq become, or how many Americans get
fed up, Republicans in Congress and the White House will label you a traitor
to your country if you stand up and question them. I hope you will join me
in my call to House Republicans by signing this petition. We hope to deliver
50,000 names to the Speaker of the House, asking them to cut the traitor
talk and start to get a change of direction in Iraq -- if you believe this
Republican Congress has abdicated its responsibility long enough, please
join us.
Tell Republicans to Cut the Traitor Talk and Chart a New Course. We Need a
Real Plan for Victory -- No More Just Sitting and Watching. |
Rove's Warning For 2006: It's All About the "War On Terror"
Max Elbaum, CommonDreams.org
January 25, 2006
The speech that will
define U.S. politics throughout 2006 has already been given.
The
audience was the Republican National Committee and the date was January 19.
The speechmaker was Karl Rove, top political adviser to President George
Bush.
Rove laid
out the political strategy that will shape the fight for U.S. public
opinion, the midterm elections, and the terrain for all social struggles in
2006. The cornerstone of this strategy is once again "You Are With Us or You
Are With the Terrorists."
This
battle plan is a direct challenge not simply to the Democrats, but to
antiwar activists and every progressive and grassroots movement. The
responsibility falls squarely on us to meet Rove head on with an unequivocal
challenge to the war in Iraq and to the "war on terror" justification for
spying, torture, and racist injustice from the Gulf Coast to the U.S.-Mexico
border.
Marching Orders
Rove’s
speech was front-page news in the New York Times Jan. 20:
"Rove…left little doubt that once again–as has been the case in both
national elections since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks–he was intent on
making national security the pre-eminent issue in 2006….He lacerated
Democrats for what he described as their 'cut and run’ policy on Iraq, for
blocking a renewal of the broad antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot
Act, and for challenging the legality of the administration's widespread use
of warrantless wiretaps in the face of widespread criticism.
"The
United States faces a ruthless enemy, and we need a commander in chief and a
Congress who understand the nature of the threat and the gravity of the
moment America finds itself in," Mr. Rove said. "President Bush and the
Republican Party do. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many
Democrats."
Rove’s
words are not individual opinions. They are marching orders with the full
power of the White House behind them. The official Republican Party
apparatus of political operatives, media flacks, multi-millionaire donors,
ambitious House and Senate candidates and more are already saluting and
marching to this tune. Rove’s "unofficial" army of right-wing talk show
hosts, dirty tricksters and religious zealots are already pummeling away.
The last
year hasn’t gone well for Bush in public opinion. A majority now disapproves
of his policy in Iraq. The President’s overall approval ratings have
plummeted to a dismal 40 percent. Even some Republicans are critical of
Bush’s claim that he can spy on any U.S. citizen without a warrant and
disquiet about the situation in Iraq.
Some have
speculated that the Republicans might therefore shy away from a focus on
Iraq and the spying issue in 2006.
But the
White House's response to adversity has never been to soften its message or
"move toward the center." It is to go on the offensive. Rove believes Bush
won the 2004 election by painting his opponent as "soft on terrorism." With
Republicans vulnerable in 2006, this means Attack and Smear–and not just on
electoral terrain–will be a daily fact of life.
Nothing
should be ruled out as too low a blow. A right-wing campaign has already
begun spreading swift-boat style lies about Vietnam War veteran turned Iraq
war critic John Murtha. The extreme right is already chanting the mantra
that Osama Bin Laden equals Howard Dean equals Michael Moore. A kind of 21st
century McCarthyism is here right now. If Rove has his way, terrorist
baiting will become a powerful and lasting weapon to crush all opposition.
Racism is
an integral part of Rove’s "us against them" appeal. His implicit "us" is
"White America." His most explicitly demonized "them" are Arabs and Muslims.
But with language filling right-wing airwaves and filtering steadily into
mainstream discourse about "hordes coming across the border" and "protecting
our way of life," a thinly coded ideological assault on all peoples of color
is part of the mix.
The
immediate goal of this 2006 crusade is to protect Republican majorities in
the Senate and House. But Rove’s plan has tremendous consequences beyond the
electoral arena.
It is
crafted to bolster and harden Bush’s policy of permanent occupation in Iraq.
It is designed to increase the rightwing’s power in every arena of struggle
over policy, resources, and rights. It is a club to justify repression
against, and denial of resources to, every oppressed community and
progressive movement, from Gulf Coast victims of Katrina and the immigrant
communities that are now in Republican gunsights, to trade unions, the
women’s and lesbian/gay movements, and human rights and civil liberties
organizations.
Headway
for Rove’s crusade means curtailed democratic rights and massive cuts in
social programs. His idea is not just to win one more election. He and Bush
aim to solidify rightwing control over all branches of government for a
generation. September 11, 2001 didn’t just give the right an opening to
justify new imperial adventures abroad. Domestically Rove and Co. think they
can use 9/11 as a battering ram to prevent opposition movements from gaining
traction in the voting booths or in the streets for decades to come.
Meet
Polarization Head-On
Rove can
be stopped this time around. The administration’s failures in Iraq and in
response to Katrina, its "culture of corruption" scandals, and much more
have taken their toll on public opinion. Divisions have opened up within the
Republican Party apparatus and the party’s social base.
But
beating back Rove requires his "war on terror trumps everything" message to
be confronted head on. Only a hard-hitting "No!" to continuing the
occupation of Iraq and to using "national security" as a cover for
empire-building abroad and reaction at home will succeed. We need an
across-the board challenge to the entire "culture of fear" framework with
its relentless use of allegedly permanent enemies to silence all opposition.
Far more
is at stake than the final tally in 2006 Congressional contests, important
as that is. Whether or not the White House is confronted and beaten back on
the phony "war on terror" will shape the foreign and domestic policies
pursued by whichever party is in office. It will determine which side of the
political spectrum has initiative and self-confidence, and whether or not
grassroots movements have space to organize.
There are
a growing number of Democratic Party candidates who are now willing, at
least when pressed from below, to take Bush on regarding Iraq and his
imperial appropriation of executive power. But most top figures–Hillary
Clinton leading the pack–either duck the fight or are nearly as backward as
Bush regarding the pivot question of Iraq. No effective resistance to Rove’s
reactionary juggernaut will come from this quarter.
The
responsibility to meet Rove’s polarization head on falls squarely on the
antiwar movement and all grassroots and progressive activists. The antiwar
movement is in the direct line of fire. Loudly and militantly, in the
streets and the media, inside town halls and outside military recruitment
centers, in actions on the third anniversary of the Iraq war and
mobilizations throughout the year, we need to anchor the 2006 fightback.
Activists
whose main work is focused in other arenas will also play an indispensable
role. Linking the antiwar/anti-repression pivot to every other part of the
progressive agenda is not just a "Good Thing," but crucial for political
survival.
If we
jump start our efforts and go all-out for the next year, we can stop Karl
Rove from being the person able to give the defining political speech of
2007 and 2008.
Max
Elbaum is a staff member of
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras , a group represented on the steering
committee of
United for Peace and Justice.
:: Article nr. 19942 sent on 26-jan-2006 03:07 ECT
:: The address of this page is :
www.uruknet.info?p=19942
:: The incoming address of this article is :
www.commondreams.org/views06/0125-25.htm
:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility
of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Uruknet .
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