Media Gushes Over Rove: ‘Superstar,’
‘Boy Genius,’ ‘The Mastermind Behind Everything’

post from Think Progress on 13 August 2007 04:17:00 PM. © Think Progress

As soon as Karl Rove’s departure from the White House was announced this morning, there was no shortage of talking heads to appear on TV to lavish praise on him. On Fox News, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card called Rove “a superstar,” CBS White House Correspondent Bill Plante described him as “the mastermind behind everything,” and on MSNBC, Chris Matthews declared “generally, where there’s brains, there’s Rove.”

While Rove is undoubtedly a skilled campaign tactician, the hyperbolic image of him as a political genius overlooks his record of bungled political predictions, a series of policy failures and the damage he has wrought on America’s political system.

ThinkProgress has put together a highlights reel of the breathless adoration for Rove. Watch it:

Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan argues, “Rove is one of the worst political strategists in recent times. He took a chance to realign the country and to unite it in a war - and threw it away in a binge of hate-filled niche campaigning, polarization and short-term expediency.”

Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin adds, “After years of being lauded as a political genius, Rove nevertheless leaves his party in worse shape than he found it, with his boss profoundly discredited in the eyes of the American people.”

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UPDATE: Huffington Post has video of the Boy Genius’s tearful goodbye from this morning.

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http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/13/media-gushes-over-rove/

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Iowa Straw Poll: Votes Per Visit

post from MyDD on 13 August 2007 04:11:32 PM. © MyDD

Chris's post at Open Left on the number of visits each candidate has made to the various early states inspired me to compare the number of votes each Republican competing in the straw poll on Saturday actually received with the number of trips they've[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/143759044/573

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The Pros and Cons of War

post from Ezra Klein on 13 August 2007 04:11:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

Before America invaded Iraq, George Packer wrote an article for The New York Times Magazine on the liberal hawks that sought to categorize the pro- and anti-war arguments. Given that you often hear war supporters say that the doves opposed...[...]

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http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/08/the-pros-and-co.html

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VoteVets solicits NFLs help obtaining Tillman
documents.

post from Think Progress on 13 August 2007 04:10:00 PM. © Think Progress

In a letter released today by VoteVets, twenty veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan write to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, asking him to call on Bush to release documents related to the death of Pat Tillman. “We know that the National Football League is not in the business of partisan politics, nor should it be,” the letter states. “However, in this case…the House committee requests were signed by both the Democratic Chairman and Republican Ranking Member, so this is not a partisan witch-hunt, but merely a quest to get to the truth about the death of Pat Tillman.”

UPDATE: In its press release, VoteVets cites arguments made by ThinkProgress commenters. Check it out here.

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http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/13/votevets-solicits-nfl%e2%80%99s-help-obtainin
g-tillman-documents/

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Schmaps: another dual-use crowdsourcing app for
disasters

post from Stephenson blogs on homeland security 2.0 et al. on 13 August 2007 04:05:07 PM. © Stephenson blogs on homeland security 2.0 et al.

Must admit that I’m not quite the intrepid adventurer of my youth, which is why I guess I hadn’t heard about the interactive web-based maps from Schmap.Quite kewl, I’d say:integrates maps and guide content dynamically, which results in real-time access to reviews and accompanying photo slideshowsdesktop version (for Windoz only until later this month [...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/stephensonstrategies/Rbib/~3/143771536/

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Edwards Criticizes Bush For Not Standing By Our
Veterans

post from John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed on 13 August 2007 04:05:00 PM. © John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement today criticizing President Bush for failing our veterans.

"President Bush's visit today to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center just before going on vacation in Crawford is another example of 'too little, too late.' The president cannot hide his terrible record for our heroes with a photo op. The Bush Administration has failed our veterans. There currently is a backlog of between 400,000 to 600,000 disability claims. The VA has consistently failed to plan for the massive increases in veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder - today, over 30% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. A VA deputy undersecretary admitted in 2006 that the waiting lists render mental health care 'virtually inaccessible.' Now, the same administration that has left so many veterans out in the cold, and that has refused to end the war in Iraq that has led to so many terrible injuries, has begun to talk openly of a draft.

"Even though the Pentagon is now denying it, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Bush Administration's new 'War Czar,' recently suggested a draft may be necessary. That a draft is even being talked about reveals the true danger of the administration's breathtaking failures in Iraq and around the world. Our all-volunteer force has helped make America what it is today, and talk of a draft is a profound measure of how much President Bush has failed our brave men and women in the military, and the American people.

"We need a dramatic change in direction. On Memorial Day weekend, I presented the American people with a plan to restore the 'Sacred Contract' we have with our service members, their families, and our veterans, that would fully fund the VA and target the 'signature injuries' of Iraq and Afghanistan -- post-traumatic stress injury, traumatic brain injury, and polytrauma.

"Today, I am expanding my commitment to our veterans. We need to stand by our heroes as they stand by us. The current Administration has a woeful record when it comes to our veterans. As president, I will fundamentally change direction with a sweeping effort to reform veterans' care, resolve the administration's awful backlog, attack the signature injuries of this war, like post-traumatic stress disorder, and solve the bureaucracy that plagues our veterans. These steps will bring justice to our veterans' care. And I call on all Members of Congress - Republican, Democrat, and Independent - to speak with one voice, and say 'no' to a draft."

Read The Full Article:
http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20070813-veterans/

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MC Rove! Redeux

post from Crooks and Liars on 13 August 2007 04:01:06 PM. © Crooks and Liars

I’ll try to find some older Rove clips….I had to start with this one….originally posted on 03/28/07At the annual Radio/Television Correspondents’ Association Dinner last night, comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of Whose Line Is It Anyway? brought Karl Rove up on stage for a tribute rap song. Not as good as Colbert’s roast of [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/13/mc-rove-redeux/

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The End of Rove

Celebrate my liberal friends!! Bush’s brain is leaving the White House!< I Quit!!!The Washington Post said:“Karl Rove, the architect of President Bush’s two national campaigns and his most prominent adviser through 6-1/2 tumultuous years in the White House, announced today that he will resign at the end of the month.”Mr. Rove’s role in the [...]

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http://liberalcollegekid.com/2007/08/13/the-end-of-rove/

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Rove is Beached

There is something off about the out-of-the-blue announcement of the departure of Bush's "brain," Karl Rove.

Rove likes to cast himself as the GOP's "Moby Dick".... the favorite target of Democrats who he says are "after me." "Rove: Departure Unrelated to Investigations" (WaPo) is how he likes to frame his departure. He doesn't want to leave the impression that he was chased out of town with the posse on his heels.

Still, the announcement and hastily-called press conference today in front of the president's departing helicopter seemed awkward. As the joke goes about guests who have over-stayed their welcome, "here's your hat and coat, what's the rush." It felt like that.

When Rove departs the White House at the end of the month, the loudest sigh of relief won't come from Democrats who accuse him of many devious and untoward things, but from a GOP anxious to turn the page on the sullied record of this administration and its enablers.

Rove was Bush's political brain who engineered for his buddy two terms as the governor of Texas, and then two terms as president. But count the cost.

He wasn't able to engineer for Bush a shining legacy, or public approval above abysmal.... nor, to build a powerful Republican party which instead he now leaves in a shambles.

Will he join another campaign? Maybe. But probably not publicly.

In the end, Bush's "Turd Blossom" was harpooned by his own hand. Few will be sorry to see him go.

Read The Full Article:
http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com/2007/08/rove-is-beached.html

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Speaking of ... Well, Things I Didn't Actually
Speak Of

But when someone writes:

I like Will Marshall...

You know that they can be ignored, if not laughed at and mocked, by all sentient beings until the end of time. Marshall was one of the prime "Democratic" forces behind the invasion of Iraq, has nontrivial responsibility for the hundreds of thousands dead, and who, along with Bill Kristol, should have his image spat upon by schoolchildren during their "moment of quiet reflection" for generations to come.

Note how I made it "nonpartisan" or "bipartisan" or whatever by throwing Bill Kristol in there. Advantage: me!

Read The Full Article:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_08_12_archive.html#8420579282997540419

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