Karl Rove – The Authoritarian’s Architect and “Bad Barrel” Builder Par Excellence

Let’s start with this quote from John Dean’s Conservatives Without Conscience, “But Karl Rove has all the credentials of a right-wing authoritarian, and if he has a conscience, it has hardly been in evidence …. He is conspicuously submissive to authority, exceedingly aggressive in pursuing and defending the policies and practices he embraces … and he is highly conventional. As a political strategist, Rove appreciates the values of fear, so it is not surprising that he proclaimed that the 2006 midterm elections would be won or lost based on how frightened Americans are about terrorism.”

Now for a summary of Karl’s authoritarian experience at building “bad barrels.” The first examples are excerpted from Right Web’s profile of Karl:

In 1970, Rove stole 1,000 sheets of letterhead from the office of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon, who was running for state treasurer. Rove printed the message “Free beer, free food, girls, and a good time for nothing” on the sheets and distributed them as a supposed invitation to a Dixon rally. Though the rally was disrupted, Dixon won the election. Rove owned up to the stunt many years later, saying: “It was a youthful prank at the age of 19 and I regret it” (Washington Post, July 23, 1999).

Rove went to work for the College Republicans National Committee and became involved in the Nixon campaign, which brought him to the attention of then-CIA director George H.W. Bush. In a 2003 article on Rove, Robert Reich reported: “It’s no accident that Karl Rove was one of Richard Nixon’s moles. Using techniques developed by his first mentor, dirty-tricks strategist Donald Segretti, Rove infiltrated Democratic organizations on behalf of Nixon’s infamous 1972 campaign.

Karl Rove and Another Law Breaker –
at the 4 min mark

In 1986, Rove, in Texas and working on a campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Clements, declared that Democrats had bugged his office. The accusation, which spurred an FBI investigation, never panned out, leading critics to charge that Rove had bugged his own office.

In late 1999, there was wise speculation that Rove was behind the whisper campaign alleging that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), then a leading contender for the Republican nomination for president, was in danger of cracking from stress of having been a POW in Vietnam (Nation, March 5, 2001).

In 2002, the BBC reported: “The White House has acknowledged that Rove took part in meetings that helped shape the Bush government’s energy policy, while he still held Enron shares and stock in other energy companies—though the administration denies that the meetings were specific enough to raise conflict-of-interest.”

Widely believed to be involved with the leak that revealed CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity [2003], Rove is being sued by Plame and her husband; also named as defendants in the suit are Vice President Dick Cheney and I. Lewis Libby, as well as Richard Armitage, who admitted in September 2006 to being the actual source of the leak (Washington Post, September 13, 2006).

Rove is also believed by many to be behind another, perhaps more vicious whisper campaign against McCain during the race for the presidential nomination (Democracy Now, September 3, 2004). “Anonymous opponents used ‘push polling’ to suggest that McCain’s [adopted] Bangladeshi-born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. …”

During Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign, Rove was accused of being connected to the so-called Swift Boat veterans whose efforts to denigrate John Kerry’s Vietnam record seemed cribbed directly from the “Rovian” playbook.

Rove Rap

From Rove, Still In the Mix, by Michael Isikoff of Newsweek, “Deputy chief of staff Karl Rove participated in a hastily called meeting at the White House two months ago. The subject: The firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year. The purpose: to coach a top Justice Department official heading to Capitol Hill to testify on the prosecutorial purge on what he should say.”

Rove and Molding Testimony to Congress

In addition to helping the Justice Department with Congressional testimony, Karl’s assistant, Timothy Griffin, has been promoted by President Bush as the US Attorney for the Eastern district of Arkansas. According to Greg Palast, BBC television reported that Mr. Griffin , “was the hidden hand behind a scheme to wipe out the voting rights of 70,000 citizens prior to the 2004 election.”

Another assistant to Karl, Susan Ralston, had to resign last year when a congressional report said she had passed inside White House information to Abramoff while she was also accepting his tickets to as many as nine sports and entertainment events. Ms. Ralston was also a former assistant to Jack Abramoff and reported to him while working for Karl, “I now have an RNC blackberry which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH email.” There is also suspicion that Ms. Ralston may have some direct knowledge of how the results of the 2004 presidential election may have been manipulated. More recently, Ms. Ralston, pleaded the 5th before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Rove Admits Committing a Felony

For a more complete history of Karl, refer to Frontline’s chronology. He had a major part in putting the Republicans in control in Texas. Here are some excerpts:

… At age 9, Rove is a vocal supporter of Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign — so vocal, in fact, that an older girl, a would-be Kennedy voter, beats him up.

… Often seen at school carrying a briefcase and wearing a coat and tie, he hones his skills in debate tournaments. He is good at intimidating his opponents — sometimes bluffing by bringing boxes of index cards that are actually blank. …

… During his first year of college his parents divorce and not long after, he learns that Louis Rove, the man he thought was his father, is not. He does not meet his biological father until he is in his 40s.

… Politics has become his passion. But because of this, Rove never gets his college degree.

Shortly after his move to Texas, Rove marries a Houston socialite, Valerie Wainwright, who is friendly with the Bush family. But Rove’s busy schedule keeps him away from home much of the time. She files for divorce in 1979. Two years later, Rove’s mother commits suicide.

Rove … drafts a memo that foreshadows future Rove campaigns. He quotes Napoleon, advising candidates to put forth “a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive, [sic] followed by rapid and audacious attack.” In a later memo, he tells his candidates to focus on suburban voters, emphasizing education, traditional values and lower taxes and to take pains to appear “compassionate.”

… Rove allegedly arranges for the printing of anonymous fliers viciously attacking Harold See, his own candidate for a state Supreme Court seat. The ploy makes See’s opponent look bad, and See wins the race. [Sound familiar? Refer to Right Web entry above for 1970.]

… As he did with Bush’s gubernatorial campaign, he brings in teams of experts to tutor the candidate. He also ensures that reporters see Bush talking with luminaries from across the country ….

In June [2002], a PowerPoint presentation written by Rove — and describing the war on terror as a crucial campaign issue — is mysteriously found in Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

In his [2004] acceptance speech, Bush thanks Rove, calling him simply “the architect.”

“Everyone in the room knew what that meant,” says Washington Post reporter Mike Allen. “He was the architect of the public policies that got them there, he was the architect of the campaign platform, he was the architect of the fundraising strategy, he was the architect of the state-by-state strategy, he was the architect of the travel itinerary. His hand was in all of it.”

With Bush re-elected, Rove is thinking long-term. He intends to use both politics and policy to create a permanent Republican majority. He designs a legislative agenda that he hopes will lead to future Republican gains. High on the list: an overhaul and partial privatization of Social Security, and the appointment of “strict constructionist” judges who will reverse what many Republicans see as judicial activism. “I think what they are trying to do is bigger than the Great Society, and approaches the New Deal,” says Washington Post reporter Thomas Edsall. “They aren’t kidding around.”

View the complete Frontline program online.

EW emails reveal Rove involved in firings

 

 

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About Andy Hailey

Vietnam Vet, UT El Paso Grad, Retired Aerospace Engineer, former union rep, 60's Republican now progressive, web admin, blogger.

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