The political showdown of our lifetime

Ian_rd

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Fri Jul-15-05 08:42 AM
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The political showdown of our lifetime

How many bodies has Karl Rove left bleeding on the hot, cracked asphalt of politics? Working behind the scenes, he has destroyed his opponents - not through the promotion of better policies, but by shameless, no-holds-barred "rat-fucking" that not only targets politicians, but their families as well.

Rove has always won not only because of his genius, but also because of his willingness to do things that his opponents could not ethically allow themselves to do. Looking back on some of the news reports and political attacks from the 2004 campaign, one could get the mistaken impression that Bush was running against Teresa Heinz Kerry and not her husband John. And who else but Rove would have the intestinal fortitude to attack John McCain by spreading rumors that his ordeal as a POW in Vietnam made him mentally unstable?

But now the game is different. In this fight, Rove is not behind the scenes where he is most effective and comfortable. This is no longer a game where Bush can ride the high road and vocally lament the dirty politics of our times while his mastermind Rove spreads rumors about Texas Governor Ann Richards' supposed preference for women, or John McCain's ungodly sexual affair with a black woman.

In 2003, Rove made a gamble. He exposed the identity of a CIA agent to a friendly reporter to retaliate against her husband. Rove didn't get someone else to do it. He did it himself. And because of that, he's lost his greatest tactical advantage - his relative anonymity. No more sitting in the background while his charismatic pretty-boy of a president speaks the words he crafted. More and more, the news cameras are beginning to point over Bush's shoulder, and adjust their focus onto Rove sitting in the shadows along the back wall.

But perhaps an even more important factor contributing to Karl Rove's potential epic downfall is that he is not going up against some lightweight. This is not John McCain, who can be trusted to take a beating and then fall into line like a good Republican soldier. This is Joe "You fuck with my wife I fuck with you" Wilson, and he has been on the attack for two years and shows no sign of letting up.

Even after the White House did a "work-up" on Joe Wilson to prepare themselves for a fight, they appear empty-handed. They have no substance; just half-baked talking points, a laughable parsing of words, and obvious lies as their response.

In the end, Rove might win as he always has. Wilson's wife might be morphed into an agent of America-hating Liberalism who operated within our intelligence community to weaken the United States against the terrorist threat, but was cleverly exposed by the brave whistleblower Karl Rove who would not be swayed by her shameless, lying attack dog of a husband. It could happen. As soon as someone underestimates Karl Rove, they find themselves looking around in confusion, wondering how they could have lost what seemed to be guaranteed victory.

But this time, Rove has to do some of the actual fighting himself. And standing in the ring next to Wilson, he just doesn't look to be in fighting shape.

So come on out, Karl. It's time to start boxing.