Maybe Rove Really Is The Evil Genius
Rove criticizes liberals on 9/11 (Patrick D. Healy, New York Times)
Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.
"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.
Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."
Dems say Rove should apologize or resign (Jim Abrams, AP)
Democrats said Thursday that White House adviser Karl Rove should either apologize or resign for accusing liberals of wanting "therapy and understanding" for the Sept. 11 attackers, escalating partisan rancor that threatens to consume Washington.
Rove's comments — and the response from the political opposition — mirrored earlier flaps over Democratic chairman Howard Dean's criticism of Republicans, a House Republican's statement that Democrats demonize Christians and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin's comparison of the Guantanamo prison to Nazi camps and Soviet gulags.
Leaving aside the question of whether we are offended by one set of remarks or the other (which will almost certainly track significantly but not completely with whether one identifies as a conservative or as a liberal), the whole dustup might give liberals more reason to think of Karl Rove as even more of an evil genius than they already do.
Why?
Because while Dems like Sen. Durbin are calling American soldiers Nazis and solidifying their position as the 40% party, Karl Rove now has Democrats demanding his resignation for criticizing those who are soft on terrorism and terrorists (liberals, he said, and not Dems per se).
In other words, Rove's on the 60%+ position in both instances.
Prominent Dems probably should have let Howard Dean wave his arms and complain (his credibility really can't sink any lower), and ignored the comments themselves. Sometimes, they just make it easy for the evil genius.
Jeff Harrell and Orrin Judd have more on all this.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/05 18:12 | American Politics | Technorati
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Comments
It's probably a good thing I wasn't President on that day, because a large amount of the middle east would be a smoking radioacive crater right about now. I agree, tolerance and understanding were not at the top of my to-do list that day. Still isn't. We are still a superpower. We still have the capacity to wipe anyone we so choose off the face of the planet in under an hour. Unfortunately, too few of us have the spine and brass ones to accept the responsibility that capability brings with it. If you are unable to bring yourself to use the tools you have at your disposal to achieve your ends, you have lost the moral right to have ends.
Posted by Rorschach @ 13:40 on 06/24/05
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