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No Charges For Rove Means He Focuses Full Attention On Political Role »
Karl Rove Escapes By The Hair On His Chinny-Chin-Chin
WP: Rove Unlikely to Be Charged in Leak Probe
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald tells top White House aide he does not expect to seek charges against him, Rove’s lawyer said today.
9 Responses to “Karl Rove Escapes By The Hair On His Chinny-Chin-Chin”
I’m somewhat surprised. Lots of unanswered questions.
I’m surprised as well. Five visits before the grand jury and no indictment?? Is it possible that it was blocked by the Justice Dept?
Rove IS key to retaining the GOP majority, which is key to blocking investigations into the executive’s abuse of power and our entry into Iraq?
Rove has lost his golden touch as of late. In fact, he never really had much of a golden touch. Remember, it was Rove in all his brilliance who decided to make Social Security “reform” the top domestic priority after the 2004 election, setting Bush into the downward plunge that he’s been unable to reverse. Karl Rove is the most overrated politico in Washington. He’s nothing but a brutal Macchievellan pile of garbage and a blight on the American landscape. But he’s no “genius” as so many on the left make him out to be. As if Republicans on the campaign trail in ’06 need Rove’s advice on how to fabricate charges about their political enemies? That’s part of the GOP DNA, not an invention of Karl Rove. Hopefully he will face the same fate as his mentor and spiritual advisor Lee Atwater – and see his own faults along the way…
I’ll believe it when Fitz makes a “Shermanesque” statement that he will not seek charges. That statement would still leave wiggle room, even had it come directly from Fitz and not Ruskin.
As to Rove’s golden touch, it was always campaigning (and dirty tricks), not policy. Policy is the creation and promotion of something. His forte is in image destruction. Machiavellian indeed.
Rove being indicted was always a stretch. Even if Rove was involved, Fitz would need to find a canary to sing, and that was not likely. He doesn’t have enough on Libby to get him to commit career suicide like that, assuming Libby even knows anything. Star never could get anyone to rat out the Clintons – assuming there was anything to rat out – and Fitz has less leverage than Star did.
Good points, Brian.
Don,
That’s true to a large extent, but Rove was never just a pure campaign manager or strategist. He was the link between conservative ideologues and the GOP. He was always closely tied in with policy, though the mix didn’t work out for the White House since 2004. Rove was successful for the GOP in 2002 because Bush himself was in the mid-60s in popularity. Now everybody must run from Bush with his ratings in the low 30s. What does that do for Rove, who made nationalizing the election around Bush such a success in 2002? In many ways Republicans are going to run away from Rove because he is associated with Bush’s “lenient” immigration policy that Republican House members abhor.
Our long, long national nightmare continues!
Tom In Maine….
I could not have said it better.
I know that in my state, Maryland, Senate candidate Michael Steele is running against the administration’s policies. Steele a conservative black Republican, was recruited by Karl Rove to try and win Paul Sarbanes seat (who is retiring).
Maryland has historically elected Democrats, but has a large black population, who as a whole highly dislikes Bush. The Bush/Rove/Cheney machine has raised about 1/2 million for Steele, but several times he did not attend the fundraisers-not wanting to be seen as tied to Bush.
This seems to be the strategy for ’06 for a lot of Republican congressional elections. I think Rove is still a dangerous weapon for the GOP, as he has absolutely no scruples.