http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_69430.aspI am not sure what happened in the Karl Rove/Joseph Wilson/Valerie Plame Affair or subsequent events, but let's look into the hypothetical crystal ball. In the last six years that I have known Karl Rove, I have observed that he never gets caught with his pants down. I will say it again: Karl never gets caught with his pants down. Here is what has happened. The media has jumped all over Rove, he denies wrong doing and competing camps are becoming established---the resign or don't resign crowd start their vigorous campaigns. The camps are broken down neatly among political lines. There are those either for or against Karl--and unlike local politicians such as Ward Crutchfield or Chris Newton---Rove knows what to do, and when to do it and he will step down on his own accord. Unless there is a criminal indictment, Rove does not have to go anywhere. It makes it hard for people to call for the resignation of an un-indicted official when there are so many indicted officials and party leaders in Tennessee who have remained silent. It must be a hard time to really bite that tongue or there are a lot of hypocrites out there.
Make no mistake if Karl Rove leaked Plame's name and the US Attorney indicts him he should go, and the President needs to keep to his word and remove him. However, there has probably never before been a prosecution under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Questions of how Rove got the information initially probably do need to be asked. However, if or when it is proven that Rove really did not do anything wrong. People will scratch their heads and ask themselves why Ol' Joe Wilson went on a trip to Africa to investigate whether Iraq had tried to obtain enriched "yellowcake" uranium from Niger, probably with pre-determined outcomes in mind. The trip may even have been arranged by his wife a CIA weapons of mass destruction specialist or was she at least involved having knowledge in orchestrating it? Wilson and Plame may be true patriots for all we know or political opportunists waiting to cash in.
Dr. Frist, the noted heart surgeon, a man untouched by scandal, becomes the front runner in 2008 and Rove ends up more powerful than ever. Hillary Clinton can never win on health care issues, look at TennCare for example, which Tennessee Governor Bredesen has not fixed and clearly Frist owns the issue--he is even bucking the President on Stem Cell Research. Hillary is either loved or hated. She has to run against herself. The more Democrats or the media bash Karl Rove the better it is for the Republicans and it keeps the focus off of Iraq, social security, world-wide war on terror, and anything else people deem as important. The media seems overtly eager, perhaps politically motivated, to go after Rove on this issue, yet there is no evidence that he broke the law. This may spark discussion at the corner bar but it will not address real issues confronting our country.
In 2008, we are likely to see Rove versus James Carville. The Ragin' Cajun is exciting, nevertheless Rove wins every time. Carville, he will make you think he is winning. Rove does one thing extremely well and that is: he wins! Think about it, some of the crystal ball is certainly plausible. The old saying, what does not kill you makes you stronger certainly could ring true for Karl Rove. The Democrats would be better served finding a messenger and getting their message out. What ails Karl Rove will not kill him. In the end, it seems to me like a media generated uproar. The backlash could be felt in 2006 and 2008. Karl Rove should have perhaps exercised better discretion, but Democrats seemed poised to make the same mistake.
JC Bowman
flapolicy@hotmail.com
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
:boring: :boring: :boring:
