Bush a divider, not a uniter
Yesterday, I made an argument for why Karl Rove, as the poster boy for what might be the most ruthlessly divisive White House in history, is bad for the United States.
I wish I could have found a better title for the post ("Why Rove is a threat to the United States"), but I couldn't. Plain and simple, it says what I meant it to say.
No matter what our individual political affiliations or opinions, as Americans living in a democracy, we have to be able to find a place where civil dialog is the rule of the day. And that, my friends, is what the United States Constitution is all about.
When the guys at the pinnacle of that democratic system play dirty in order to bring down opponents who have legitimate views worth considering, our nation is diminished in very tangible ways. The war in Iraq, the budget deficit, the energy crisis, the environment, trade policy and jobs, the education of our children to meet the challenges of a 21st century global economy, the health of all citizens and the right to retire in dignity - these are just a few of the issues that the Bush administration has bungled - not because solutions can't be found, but because of the divisiveness and attacks that originate in the White House.
The experience of the last few years give lie to Bush's claim during the 2000 campaign that he was a "uniter, not a divider." Nor, can we believe his claim that, "I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another."
In the wake of revelations about Rove's tactics behind the scenes, well, we can just flush that claim down the toilet now can't we! George W. Bush is not blameless in this. Unless he's just a puppet for Rove, he bears full responsibility for Rove's behavior, and for the dirty tricks coming out of the White House that weaken the foundations of our nation.
Last night, I got around to reading Paul Krugman's July 15 column, "Karl Rove's America." His remarks paralleled my own:
What Mr. Rove understood, long before the rest of us, is that we're not living in the America of the past, where even partisans sometimes changed their views when faced with the facts. Instead, we're living in a country in which there is no longer such a thing as nonpolitical truth. In particular, there are now few, if any, limits to what conservative politicians can get away with: the faithful will follow the twists and turns of the party line with a loyalty that would have pleased the Comintern. ...
What we're getting ... is yet another impressive demonstration that these days, truth is political. ...
Ultimately, this isn't just about Mr. Rove. It's also about Mr. Bush, who has always known that his trusted political adviser - a disciple of the late Lee Atwater, whose smear tactics helped President Bush's father win the 1988 election - is a thug, and obviously made no attempt to find out if he was the leaker.
Most of all, it's about what has happened to America. How did our political system get to this point?
Finally, courtesy of (or curses to) The Hoolinet, Karl Rove now has a theme song:
We Lied
(To the tune of the theme from "Rawhide")
Rove in, Rove in, Rove in
Though the truth is showin'
Keep that Karl Rove in
We lied
We said he did nothin'
But we were bluffin'
Always he is by Bush's side
All the things we denied
No comment since we can't hide
We're hopin' you forget that we lied
Deny facts, don't discuss
Don't discuss, deny facts
Deny facts, don't discuss
We lied
Shut 'em out, distract 'em
Distract 'em, shut em' out
Shut 'em out, distract 'em
We lied
Keep Rove in, Rove in, Rove in
Though the truth is showin'
Keep that Karl Rove in
We lied
Don't try to clarify it
Just smugly deny it
Soon they'll forget how much we lied
For truth they're waitin'
So keep on obfuscatin'
And never, ever admit we lied
We lied!
We lied!
posted by Schroeder @ 9:19 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I prefer the Mr. Ed song.
A source is a source, of course, of course.
And no one should give up a source, of course.
That is, of course, unless the source
Is the "evil" Karl Rove
A journalist should protect his source,
Unless it's a powerful right-wing force.
Then they can drop the rules, of course,
When the source is Mr. Rove.
Liberals yakkity yak a streak,
And waste your time of day.
But Mr. Rove will never speak,
Unless he has something to say.
The left is beating a long-dead horse,
If they think that Mr. Rove's the source.
And they will never show remorse,
At slandering Karl Rooovvve.
You can't unite people who don't want to be united ala Howard Dean, who HATES Republicans and everything they stand for. Democrats have been in a snit ever since Republicans took away their slaves.
Very nicely done Lone Ranger!
After reading several posts on your blog, I must, of course, respectfully disagree with your politics. Howard Dean (or any other Democrat for that matter) doesn't "hate" Republicans, he hates *many* (not all) Republican policies. Howard Dean is more centrist than you might like to admit if you actually took a minute to do a little research.
What Dean, other Democrats, I hope Republicans, and any other red, white and blue American should hate, is precisely that: hate - the hatred of partisan politics, of opportunistic lies spewed forth with buckets of spittle and gnashing of teeth by the likes of Karl Rove, Tom Delay, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, etc, etc. I could go on and on.
I say clean out the whole lot of bastards in the halls of Congress and the White House (except for Russ Feingold). No lobbyists allowed back in.
Yeah - the Democrats are a pack of lying bastards too, but they're better for the country than the lying pack of Republicans who, in addition to being liars, have - at least since the demise of the Fairness Doctrine - become dangerously uncivil.
I don't know, this Hoolinet seems like it is pretty unpatriotic, attacking poor Karl Rove like that.
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