That makes this Rove spew an official shitstorm. When a sanctioned “good Democrat” who is known for his support of the war and his moral rectitude says that Karl needs to apologise, the somnambulent establishment wakes up. (If only he’d step up on torture and presidential lying to get us into the war we might really get someplace.)
The big question is whether we are seeing miscues by the administration or whether they are simply trying to rile up the base to change the conversation. Some signs point to a tactical decision. Bush himself recently gave quite a petulant little speech recently in which he blamed all his troubles on the Democrats (I guess having a majority in both houses just isn’t what it used to be) — although he didn’t stoop to puerile Ann Coulter level snottiness as Rove did. The message is pretty consistent:
President Bush on Tuesday unleashed his harshest criticism yet on Democrats for thwarting his second-term agenda, demanding they put forward ideas of their own or “step aside” and signaling a more aggressive administration strategy of attack.
[…]
Bush said the Democrats, in contrast, were employing a “philosophy of the stop sign” and an “agenda of the road block,” and warned: “Political parties that choose the path of obstruction will not gain the trust of the American people.”
He issued a challenge to the Democrats: “If leaders of the other party have innovative ideas, let’s hear them. But if they have no ideas or policies except obstruction, they should step aside and let others lead.”
Their timing is off, though, if this is by design. In the post below, I wrote that Durbin’s forced apology was just the most recent ritual humiliation of many.It’s a patented technique — outraged phony sanctimony over something obscure and misunderstood. It’s theoretically possible that because of the very recent strong-arming of Durbin, a very popular senator, that the Democrats are still smarting and have decided to pull out their big guns and go for it. I don’t know how many of you saw John McCain’s very smug and threatening “prediction” last Sunday that Durbin would apologise, but it was kind of chilling. It was obvious that the Republicans were going for blood, and they luckily found good old meathead Richie Daley to be their useful idiot for them.
For Rove to go after the Democrats so explicitly by saying that liberals wanted to give bin Laden therapy and understanding after 9/11 is throwing down the gauntlet. Those are fighting words and they know it. Check out the gaggle to see just how ridiculous it is to try to spin them. Also check out the video over on Crooks and Liars to see how nervous and flat Rove sounds. Perhaps he always sounds nervous and flat, I don’t know. But his remarks didn’t seem to penetrate to the crowd, so maybe the red meat isn’t working all that well. Or maybe it’s because he chose conservative New Yorkers who aren’t quite as convinced that liberals are all traitors. They likely know quite a few. In fact many of them are probably intermarried with them and everything.
The press looks like it’s willing to chase this story and the White House is acting very flat-footed. Look for Bush to dig in his heels, however. He does not like to be challenged. I suspect that yesterday’s Frist freakshow was a function of Bush simply refusing to accept reality. He had to jettison Kerik and I think he’s still pissed about it. Bolton is also his boy — a snarling bully. (How much do you want to bet that Bush would love to rip off that rug and rub that bald head until it shines? Just as a show of manly affection … and to make sure he knows who’s boss.)
If Rove is crumbling publicly, I’d love to see what’s going on behind the scenes in the White House. Social Security privatization, a Rovian pet project, is dead. The polls are showing serious weakness only 6 months into his second term. Being a lame duck for three and a half years would be excruciating, particularly with a dead albatross named Iraq around your neck. Let’s just say I don’t think they are able to “compartmentalize” very well.
Now’s the time for reporters who have so carefully maintained maintained their access, to call in some chits. This is when all the whoring is supposed to pay off — when things go to hell on the inside. I’ll be watching for it with bated breath.
In the meantime, it’s probably a very good idea to communicate with your representatives on this as Atrios and others are advising — and not just the Republicans. The Democrats also need to know that their constituents are behind them.
Or, if you’re so inclined, sign the Fire Karl Rove petition.
Update: According to John Aravosis, who is as astute about these things as anyone around, says this is a coordinated plan. It’s risky. They are going to try to bludgeon their way through these poor poll numbers and convince people that Bush is a great president because he is so tough and strong. The question is whether they can squeeze out one more drop from 9/11. My sense is that this is pretty thin gruel and the people are tired of it. We’ll see.
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