Reading about how Karl Rove directed the Federal government and taxpayer money to help Republican campaigns, you just have to ask: how would the Republicans like it, if this is how the Democrats operated?
Republican voters know that the Democrats are leading in the polls. If the Democrats win the White House in 2008, do Republicans want the entire Federal government, and their hard-earned tax dollars, contributing to Democratic campaigns? Of course not. And neither do we.
The government and the taxes we pay belong to ALL of us, regardless of who is in power. Which brings me to the subject of this diary, and a quote from a Bush official from the story on Rove's direction of Federal assets for Republican campaigns.
Aside from her home town of Denver, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton visited just five cities in the first two months of 2004, according to the public announcements. But that pace changed between June and November, when -- in visits to 37 cities -- she hit the target election markets 32 times, the announcements show.
Those visits occurred after Interior liaison William Kloiber wrote to White House political affairs aide Matt Schlapp to thank him for a briefing about the political landscape. In an e-mail obtained by congressional investigators, Kloiber wrote, "Sometimes these folks need to be reminded who they work for and how their geographic travel can benefit the President."
That's right, here's the Interior Dept. White House liason saying
Sometimes these folks need to be reminded who they work for and how their geographic travel can benefit the President.
Excuse me, sir. "These people" work for us, the American public. They work for all of us, not just for George W. Bush and the Republican party. That's why officials get away with saying they provide "service". They are reportedly providing this "service" to us, not just to their party. Party-only service is in places we used to call enemies, totalitarian states like Russia and China. This is not how the US operates.
This is an issue that will resonate with Democrats and Republicans and Independents alike, because everyone can answer this question. "When your party is out of power, do you want the other guy spending your money on their campaigns?"
Of course not. The government and the taxes we pay are supposed to be put to use for the "American people", not just for one political party.
Karl Rove is not a "genius". He is a corrupt, power-hungry political operative who is willing to do whatever it takes to win, including committing crimes, whether it's leaking the name of a CIA agent, or violating the Hatch Act and politicizing federal activities, or obstructing justice and manipulating prosecutors for political activities.
Those activities, I hate to inform the punditry, are not a sign of genius. They are the signs of what we common folk call "criminals". They do things that other don't do, not because they are brilliant. They do it because they don't care that they are breaking the law, and they are convinced they'll get away with it.
The public, and Democrats in particular, need to make sure that they don't get away with it. We need a government and political parties that don't strive to make this country a one-party state. We didn't "fight" the Communist one-party states for a generation to become them, did we?
It's time to put a stop to this nonsense right now, expose these crooks, remove them from power, and hold them accountable.
Or, as interior liason William Kloiber wrote, "Sometimes these folks need to be reminded who they work for..."
(Crossposted at The New Down)