Karl Rove is ruthless
and that absence of mercy
gives him a temporary
temporal power--the power of a man
who exploits the scruples and rules
of other people
against them.
Yet he is not much of an academic.
Karl Rove is ruthless
like a boxer who hits below the belt or
the football player who gouges at the eyes
of his opponent under the pile
before the referees sort it all out.
Though he is considered a genius
by some, it's really the numbing power
of ruthlessness and gall
that leads people to think he's so effective.
His effectiveness for his party
will be seen as short-lived by history,
doubtless.
Meanwhile, in terms of the "no genius" thesis,
consider Karl Rove's academic attainments:
Although he attended a number
of universities, Karl Rove
never attained any degree.
His work as a student took lower priority
to his political activities. He also had
significant family and social issues, like
many students, in his college years.
Here are relevant passages from
Wikipedia's biography of Karl Rove:
College years at the University of Utah
In the fall of 1969, Rove entered the University of Utah as a political science major and joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Through the University's Hinckley Institute of Politics, Rove got an internship with the Utah Republican Party.
That position and contacts from the 1968 Bennett campaign, helped Rove land a job in 1970 in Illinois, helping on the unsuccessful re-election campaign of Ralph Tyler Smith for Senate.
Leaves College for position in the College Republicans
In June 1971, Rove dropped out of college to take a paid position as the Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee. . . .
being only a part-time student in the autumn and spring quarters of 1971 (registered for between six and 12 credit hours) and dropping out of the university in June of 1971.
Rove was a student at the University of Maryland in College Park in the fall of 1971 . . . but registrar's records show that he withdrew from classes during the first half of the semester. . .
In addition to the University of Utah and the University of Maryland, Rove attended George Mason University from 1973 to 1975, and the University of Texas at Austin in 1977.
He does not have a college degree; in July 1999, the Washington Post quoted Rove as saying "I lack at this point one math class, which I can take by exam, and my foreign language requirement."