If indeed General Rove has plans to attack Iran (and certainly whatever his plans are they involve a foreign policy/military threat...this method has worked like a charm with the aid of the war faction of the opposition and has given Rove and his supporters unchallenged control of the government and the treasury for eight years), we can be sure that Lieutenant Lieberman, Major Beinart, and Sergeant Wittman will be there to rally the troops and shoot stragglers.

I believe that Rove would like nothing better than to use the so-called "War on Terror" to undermine Democrats in the 2006 mid-term elections. I wonder, though, if sometime we give him way too much credit. After all it took a Democratic blow-job and a black-robed coup to win the presidency back in 2000 and it took gay marriage decisions from the Mass. Supreme Court and the dingbat Mayor of San Fransico to win re-election in 2004. I am not sure that any of those things were planned.

What I do give Rove credit for, though, is his ability to realize political opportunities when they are given to him. An example is Kerry's breathtakingly stupid comment about voting for the war appropriations before he voted against them. Or about seizing on gay marriage to stir up the right-wing base in Ohio and other key states.

None of what Rove has done, though, is as impressive as what the Clinton people did in 1992 when they convinced America to make a person who had been vilified by the media and who was running against an incumbent president, leader of the nation. To my mind Rove hasn't been up against the first string yet, but his time may be coming.

Mrgavel

This latest "terrorist plot" story is a serious danger to my health -- it's actually going to make me laugh my ass off. And then what? What will I do then, people? With my ass no longer attached to the rest of my body? What?

We are living in Clown Town America, folks.

mrgavel

You raise a great point and one which is seldomly, if ever, raised at this site. If the general public were to read Reed Hundt or Larry Johnson on a daily basis they would likely be of the opinion that Karl Rove is the enlightened despot of Earth.

Is he? I don't know but my guess would be no. It's easy for Reed to dub him the "General" or "Svengali" but is that not akin, at least fundamentally, to Republican charges that ALL Democrats are "weak on defense?"

Remember, most states in the U.S. are red. True, the two most populated states are blue but there are an awful lot of people who are just simply conservative. For many it has very little to do with Karl Rove brainwashing them...

Perhaps Reed has been cast under Rove's spell himself unbenknownst...

J. McCutchen "JmacSF"

San Francisco. CA

Bush's approval ratings in the red states?

2/3 of Americans want to cut and run. Open your eyes. Nobody believes him any more. Few are even listening

J. McCutchen "JmacSF"

San Francisco. CA

Of all the scores of opportunities the Bumbling Bush has presented the Dems, none can equal this one.  Fitzgerald's decision not prosecute Rove at this time may well prove the decisive event of Campaign '06 provided the Duck and Cover Dems wake up and get with the Silent Majority - the Cut and Run Coalition is waiting with open arms.

The War in Iraq for the US is worse than you think, worse than the US media is reporting and will worsen each month between now and the election.  Studies confirm the hypothesis too obvious to need a study - the more the talk is about Iraq, the worst Republican candidates do.  George Bush is millstone around the necks of EVERY GOP candidate in this country. His failures, according to Amy Walter of the Cook report, are a drag on the election nmbers of ever GOP candidate.

 Karl Rove wants to nationalize the election.

Thank you Karl Rove.

... but it has a lot to do with many institutions in this country brainwashing them.

Tom

 "What I do give Rove credit for, though, is his ability to realize political opportunities when they are given to him. An example is Kerry's breathtakingly stupid comment about voting for the war appropriations before he voted against them. Or about seizing on gay marriage to stir up the right-wing base in Ohio and other key states."

 I agree completely with the above.  We Democrats just don't have a similar tactical leader who can convince our candidates to take advantage of much more serious mistakes by the Republicans.  We seem to continually select as candidates, men who prefer to demonstrate how well they can turn the other cheek.  You can watch that play out even here, where there is no enthusiasm for pressing for impeachment, for pushing to stop the occupation of Iraq, for even mentioning most of the lies by Bush and friends, and for labeling the Republican Congress a wimpish bunch of butt lickers.  With the shoe on the other foot Rove would have the Republicans all raising these points ten times a day.

Hoppy in Sacramento

Are Bush/Rove supporters as dumb as they seem, or is it true in Red States "any strange beast there makes a man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lazy out ten to see a dead Indian. " (Shakespeare, The Tempest)

Translation, description of racists who gladly pay to kill 'injuns', or in this case 'hajis'.

What actual tangible accomplishment has Bush/Rove achieved in 6 years ??

Why would even a fool think Rove and Bush give a crap about protecting the nation when they staunchly and unwaveringly avoided military service themselves in wartime in Vietnam? Is there another country on earth that would elect, and re-elect such a blatant bunch of liars and charlatans?

Bronto

From an ethical point of view your are correct. There exists no moral argument in which the policies of the Bush administration carry their own weight (in price or blood).

The didactic logic, however, goes to show that the economy is everything; and when the economy is perceived on the basis of the supply-side paradigm, one can easily deduce that Bush is merely attempting to accomplish two things.

First, his connections just so happened to be CEO's, VP's, and board members of the most powerful industries in the nation (indeed the world). Halliburton, Exxon-Mobile, etc. will all profit handsomely from Bush's two terms in office. These accusations are not new; the left has been pointing them out since the 2000 campaign season.

The second reason, however, is the true rub of this debate. Supply-side economics, which has been the primary working model of the U.S. economy since the Reagan years, provides that there will never be a shortage of goods so long as their is demand for them. It doesn't matter what the goods are, only the most expensive tend to stick out (oil).

Living in Los Angeles is truly amazing in terms of analyzing the current political situation. On the one hand this city is, by design, the anti-Beltway capitol of the United States. The government, no matter which side is in power, is typically despised. That Bush is strikingly more unpopular here than most presidents belies the fact that Los Angeles, more than any other city in the world, relies on oil.

People in L.A. love their cars and love driving them even more. Unlike New York, Boston, or even San Francisco the public transportation system here is almost completely ignored by everyone that can afford a vehicle. It is precisely this phenomenon which makes Los Angeles unique.

Americans love material goods. Computers, iPods, plasma televisions, etc. But what they love most (or rely on most) are their cars. And for cars you need gasoline. And for gasoline you need oil.

There is the academic 'proof' needed to justify the actions of the Bush administration. True, Americans are at the mercy of the oil companies because it is this pseudo-monopoly which forces them to rely on oil. Yes the Federal government plays a part in this paradigm; an important one at that.

Yet this paradigm was not designed by the Bush administration. In fact, its seeds had taken root well before the post World War II economic reformation in the United States. No, this paradigm is a product of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the steam engine.

Bush can be accused of being an enabler; akin, indeed, to someone who sells cocaine, at bloated prices, to an addict. What he cannot be considered, however, is the author of this tragedy. He may be considered a bad and inconsiderate 'dealer' but this 'addiction' was around before he was even born.

Yup, I remember that one. The classic scene was the guy goes on an "attack" talk show like the old Joe Pyne show and gets clobbered by the host verbally to the point where he attacks the host - really ruined his credibility.

Lot of good actors in that one.

As for "conspiracies", well, just look at the constant stream of bios of people in the Bush administration and in government in general - or the crew of pundits that show up here - they ALL have the same general background, all know each other, all went to the same schools, all worked at the same organizations, yada, yada.

It isn't a "conspiracy" - it's how things work - which, in fact, IS a "conspiracy" - to keep things working for the benefit of a certain class of people - and everybody else can go to hell.

Re: That Bush is strikingly more unpopular here than most presidents belies the fact that Los Angeles, more than any other city in the world, relies on oil.

Actually, Bush's unpopularity is attributable to his wrong-headed policies since the run-up ion teh prifce of gas is due partly to his bellicase policies in the Middle East.

J. McCutchen "JmacSF"

San Francisco. CA

Speaking of Rove not Bush?

C'mon.

Republicans do propaganda better- white supremacist terrorist arrests are not announced by the Attorney General or the President. Why, because it is not in their political selfinterest to do so! Wackos like Krar likely far outnumber any other evildoers in the USA, they also constitute a large portion of the Bush base. link

William Krar, 62, with ties to white supremacist groups, pleaded guilty to possessing a chemical weapon and faces life in prison, while 54-year-old Judith Bruey could get five years. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess illegal weapons. "They certainly had the capacity to be extremely dangerous," says U.S. assistant attorney Wes Rivers. What agents found at a storage facility shocked them. Photographs obtained by Dallas CBS station KTVT show illegal machine guns, boxes filled with 500,000 rounds of ammunition, homemade bombs, bomb-making instructions, antidotes for nerve agents and a Ku Klux Klan calling card. All of it discovered after fake documents Krar mailed to an alleged New Jersey militia member were actually delivered to a New York address...

© MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

white supremacist terrorist arrests are not announced by the Attorney General or the President.

Then how did CBS find out about Krar?

Wackos like Krar likely far outnumber any other evildoers in the USA

Is that why you had to refer to a Jan.7,2004 article to make your point? Must be a really safe country you live in. What country is that?

they also constitute a large portion of the Bush base.

You belong in an institution for the deranged.

May I humbly suggest that we continue to refer to Rove as "General Rove?" It is not any tackier than "cut and run," or "blame game."

Jan Knaus

Karl Rove has a simple rule, they say: When you are falling behind, attack your opponents at their strongest point. In the upcoming election, the Democrats' strongest point should obviously be Iraq.

Excellent point.  So what is Bush's "strongest point?"  Even though it is completely BOGUS, his strongest point with those who  think about their votes (and are therefore Swing voters) is the Bogus War on Terror. 

Forget about the "voting base," which consists of far-right religious people who fall for every wedge issue they pull out of a hat, even though the "financial base" are the only ones who Bush delivers for.

Democrats have to show that the War on Terror has only been accelerated by the misadventures of this gang who cannot shoot straight.  Swing voters need to be aware that the danger is directly related to the pathetic policies of this administration.  Our country has lost stature and is in debt beyond our imagination, and it is only because of the idiosy of this administration.  It only takes showing the facts for those who want facts.

So,  refute their "strongest points" -->  The war on terror is a distaster, thanks to Bush and company. 

Jan Knaus

Look for Bush's Saudi buddies to try to drive the price down right before the November elections by increasing supply temporarily.

Tom

Since 2004, or 2003, or 2002..., how many Jihadists with 1/2 million rounds of ammunition, cyanide bombs, machine guns, fake gov't ID's have been apprehended in the US?

The FBI only discovered the guy due to an alert citizen who turned in misdelivered mail. The story was not once brought up by the AG or POTUS, as were any number of fake or BS arrests, like the Jihadist uniform seeking non-muslims recently in Miami. White KKK males don't fit the script for the GWT.

The UN is 'trying to take our guns away' NRA kooks, the save the white race crowd without doubt comprise a significant part of the Bush base.

Recent piece on our homegrown selfinterested terrorist nutcases:

"Light infantry is your branch of choice because the coming race war and the ethnic cleansing to follow will be very much an infantryman's war," he wrote. "It will be house-to-house, neighborhood-by-neighborhood until your town or city is cleared and the alien races are driven into the countryside where they can be hunted down and 'cleansed.' "

He concluded: "As a professional soldier, my goal is to fill the ranks of the United States Army with skinheads. As street brawlers, you will be useless in the coming race war. As trained infantrymen, you will join the ranks of the Aryan warrior brotherhood."

Rove can be successful for two reasons (a) Democrats don't know how to speak with a unified voice or to hammer away repeatedly at the obvious. You could pick five talking points, from a failed Iraq policy, to a foiled plot to eliminate Social Security, to the debt this Administration has piled up for all of our kids, to the Katrina disaster, to the resurgence of the Taliban. And by repeatedly playing them back, in a unified voice, the roar would begin to drown out the Republican voices. And would put them on the defensive. And (b) the second reason is the Democrats seem to be expecting someone else to do their dirty work for them; just by pointing out inconsistencies or stupidities, the expectation is the Republicans will self-destruct. Not so.

Actually, I would recommend ignoring all online polls from here on out. Since they're useless as opinion-measuring tools, you'll notice them less and less on more serious sites without some sort of registration requirement.

This leads me to think that polls (especially this poll) are used nowadays to attract page hits. It's possible that the parent poster is trolling for hits, but not certain.

I'm not going to click on the link to see if it's pertinent to the topic (Rove's "master plan"), so I'll be generous and assume it's on-topic until proven otherwise.

I don't read this as "excusing" Bush.  But maybe that's me. 

To suggest he's not the first in a line doesn't exonerate him.  It suggests that even in his sins he's not original.

The shorter version (which I think is a pretty funny abbreviation of Gettysburg's post) still leaves George Bush described as an excretory valve.  This may be, however, a slander against excretory valves, which do provide useful functions. 

Mike

I want to go back to the time --pre-2000 when the news and scandal is just about Monica and the blue dress and the world was laughing at america for being a prude.

The other news were so boring-reunification signals of N and S Korea Sunshine policy, Iran helping US in Kosovo, Arafat and Israel Peace talks, Surpluses never seen before.

Today, everything is so orwellian. It is like evil is winning. Maybe I am just readig too many blogs and being too much informed.

 Does anyone think that among the reasons Rove's tactics are a "clear and present danger" to the republic can be found in the deeply philosophical treatise entitled The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf? Eventually Americans are going to develop a callous on their altertness from these stories of aspirational terrorist attacks, and if the real thing pops up, a ho-hum response will not be a good thing. So maybe we need to

Hmmm, interesting comment. Actually, what I am finding is that fear appears to have resulted in a state of suspended cognitive reasoning on the part of much of America. To the point, that many are willing to convict the clowns in Miami of 'terrorism' despite the clear lack of evidence to show 'intent' under the law. Lawabiding citizens are willing to say...'yes, but we cannot wait,...it is a pre-emptive strike mentalirty....sheer cowardice.

I find this incredible but nevertheless this is a very prevalent view.

Fear works, is the bottom line...thus the rash of stories on 'terror interdiction'

Inotherwords...

In other words, you're completely misrepresenting what Reed is saying.

But why should the agencies fighting terrorism even be interested in "public successes"? Why do they need publicity?

When we hear about "aspirational" terror plots being stopped, is it really do hard to figure out this is a White House marketing ploy?

Are you really afraid of the guys in Miami? Well, they did have paintball guns, I guess.

Fighting terrorism is like computer security. No one knows when security works. Only when it fails. That's the nature of the business, and that's the nature of the FBI and CIA's business. And, yes, unfortunately, when it fails, it's announced in destruction and death.

If someone doesn't like that, they're in the wrong line of work. It's not a "feel good" business to be in.

They should be fighting terrorists, not holding press conferences.

Have questions about the Cafe? Try here.

jasmine

You are reading too many blogs. If everyone in the U.S. read posts at this site they would lock themselves in their homes and cry that the Apocalypse is upon us.

Bush has two years left then he's out. Not a big deal. Our Constitution will still be here...

Does anyone think that among the reasons Rove's tactics are a "clear and present danger" to the republic can be found in the deeply philosophical treatise entitled The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf?

You read my mind.  Yes, I've been thinking that for some time now. And I don't think he really cares; I suspect he'd see the terrible result of ho-hum response to  a real threat as a good thing -- one more opportunity to cow the political opposition and increase the Republican Party's grip on power.