This morning we woke up to find that Karl Rove, the “architect” of George W. Bush’s rise to power, the man who used every dirty play in the book to get his “friend” elected, the guy who helped out a CIA operative, the advisor who decided to play god with the Justice Department, the boy who dreamed of a “permanent Republican majority,” had decided to resign effective the end of August.
Hooray! Hallelujah! Freedom! … Yet, not.
For six and a half years we, along with many millions of Democrats across this nation, have lived with a burning desire for revenge against Karl Rove. It’s no secret the distaste we have for him. He took high school tactics for class president elections and applied them to national politics. He scared voters into believing, he shamed others, and he caused just enough chaos to create the minimum amount to win. He took a C-grade president and got him elected with a C- grade strategy.
And now he’s gone. At the end of this month he walks quietly out of the White House. No handcuffs. No charges. No life sentence for the mayhem and destruction he instrumented. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t THE mastermind behind this entire farce known as the Bush White House. Rove had no care for Iraq policy, he wasn’t interested in the tax cuts destruction of our economy, and No Child Left Behind wasn’t even a consideration for Mr. Rove. No sir, Karl was the man hired by the mastermind(s) to get GWB in the White House and no once, BUT TWICE, Rove delivered.
So today should be a day of rejoicing. The evil “architect” is no more. Yet we feel nothing but regret and frustration. This wolf in “Compassionate Conservative” clothing, abused the Republican Party for his own personal gain and the gains of his select circle. He striped the Democratic Party of its ideals, its backbone by using horrific events like 9/11 as a wedge issue to divide, rather than unite. He lied, cheated, and stole from the American Public, all so he could show the “cool kids” that he was better than them.
And on August 31st he will walk out of the White House a hero in the eyes of those who gained so much over these six years.
Some believe he’s getting out before the handcuffs do find him. Others believe he’s walking out because he’s finally had his fill. Personally, we think he’s leaving because he wants so bad to do what he does best…attack Democrats. He wants to help whoever wins the nomination for the Republican Party, to defeat the Democrats in 2008. But he can no longer do it from the steps of the White House, and he can no longer play ball with a president who has ratings hovering in the 20’s-30’s.
So he quietly walks away, takes his toys and goes home. And Democrats are left wondering if the American People realize the mistake they made in 2004, realize the decision they were robbed of in 2000. Does America understand that the politics of Karl Rove has cost us 3,600+ and counting American lives in Iraq? Do the people recognize that because of the “Rove Playbook” we are now looking down the dark hole of financial crisis in this country? You may blame GWB, his boss Dick Cheney, or even the small group of neoconservatives who crafted this eight year plan. But at the end of the day, one man saw to it that nothing would stop them from moving into 1800 Pennsylvania Avenue: “The Architect”
So we can be glad. Glad that the manipulator of modern politics finally decided to step down. Glad that some of his evil ways have been exposed and that Americans (even some Republican allies) are learning of his deceit. Glad that 2008 may be a time of change and optimism in America.
But today … today is a solemn day. For today we recognize the legacy of Karl Rove, we recognize the troubled world he helped create, and we recognize that he got away with it.
