In reading the transcipts of today's Lies with Scotty, I feel that the dam has finally broke on Karl Rove's treachery.
Karl's revelations of a CIA's agents identity for political gain is treasonous. There isn't a single self identified Kossack who would disagree.
The Republicans will try and try and try to mitigate the damage from Rove. We must not let them. In the short term, I am hopeful that their efforts will not be effective.
What I am worried about is the long term.
(follow the link for a cathartic rant->)
And what I want to do is as follows:
I want to make sure that Karl Rove is name is forever enshrined as one of America's all time great crooks, liars, and traitors.
I want Rove to be as despised and hated as Benedict Arnold. As General Sherman. As Rasputin (only foreign reference, but I see Rove as a 20th Centrury American Rasputin). As Joe McCarthy or Alger Hiss or Whittaker Chambers or the Rosenbergs (your pick). As Lt. Calley or Jane Fonda (your pick). As McNamara, Kissinger, Agnew, or Nixon. As Jonathan Pollard or Aldridge Aimes. As Linda Tripp or Monica Lowinski (again, your pick).As Ken Lay or Bernie Ebbers.
And I want Rove to be hated more than any and all of the above. Combined.
I want him shamed out of public life, forever. I want any association with Rove to be seen as toxic. As radioactive - as in face melting, lukemia causing neutrons off the chart radioactive. I want any Republican candidate or elected official who even mumbles in his or her sleep that he or she would like to employ Karl Rove to immediately drop into low single digit approval ratings.
I want it to be impossible for Rove to go on the lecture circuit or to be on discussion panels because of heckling inside the auditorium and a sizable crowd of protesters outside the auditorium.
If and when Rove finally goes away, we should never, ever, ever forget the damage he has done to our Republic and to the Republican party.
I don't want a rerun of Iran-Contra, where the protagonists got cushy think tank jobs, or became media celebrities, or were recycled back into the Republican party and ultimately the government after a 'suitable interval'. Whether or not Rove testifies in front of Congress is immaterial to me at this point. It is way to early to make any judgements there. But a rerun of Iran-Contra is unacceptable to me. I want a Watergate rerun.
Rove is behind the Republican use of the Dobsons and Farwells and the Religious Right. He is the reason that the phrase 'moderate Republicans' is now an oxymoron. Rove is responsible for so called "values" voters phenomena, for having to deal with ridiculous church-state separation issues 200 years after the Enlightenment, for the gay bashing and the flag burning, and all the other wedge issues that elect Republicans while preventing the body politic from reaching national consensus on the real challenges that our country faces.
Rove is uniquely responsible for degrading,debasing, and coarsening political discussions and debates in our country.
We should never forget that the Republicans have brought us Karl Rove. Far right Republicans actively supported Rove and the moderate Republicans stood by silently while benefiting from Rove's filthy acts. No Republican should be given a free pass on being from the same party as Karl Rove.
As long as the Republicans continue to practice the politics of religious supremecy, of nationism and jingoistic hate-riotism instead of patriotism, of division instead of inclusion, Rove should and must be the face of the modern Republican party. As long as the Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, and O'Reilly engage in their hate speech against tolerance, inclusion, and liberalism, Rove must be the face of their party.
Any efforts to rehabilitate Rove must be seen as futile even before it is attempted.
Any attempt by Rove to do a Chuck Colson conversion should be politely noted and then dismissed. I don't want to see reconstructed Rove doing penance in a Buddhist monestary or building houses for Habitat for Humanity or lobbying for the ACLU. I want my Rove as he is now, encased in amber, caught in his lies, an example to those in the future who may be tempted to confuse hardball politics with lying, deceit, dirty tricks, and ultimately, treason.
Rove has been playing hardball Nixonian dirty politics for his entire career; Rove downfall will probably be as hard and as Shakespearean as Nixon's. I am reminded of Nixon's farewell speech to the White House staff where he said:
"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."
I doubt Rove understands these words of Nixon's yet.
I don't hate Rove. But I don't want him around politics anymore, ever.
That is my hope, and, dare I say, my prayer for Rove and for America on this day, July 11, 2005.