Endgame: The Elephant Gambit Denied

Is Harry Reid an undiscovered "grandmaster"?

Some of the recent developments in the web of intrigue surrounding the Bush Administration reveal a shift in advantage from the entrenched Republican majority in Congress to the Democratic minority. The recent stream of cascading events and revelations that have pummelled the Republican powers on several fronts have been too compelling, too constant, and too convenient to chalk up to mere coincidence. Rather, these occurrences imply a brilliancy in the engagement of a politcal high-stakes game of chess the likes of which have not been seen in many a year.

Follow me below the fold for an analysis of the currently unfolding engagement in the public arena.

A round of chess between high-level players often displays levels of strategy and tactics reminiscent of an elegantly choreographed ballet.

Player moves can alternate between the bold and the sublime in a game of "cat and mouse" involving levels of strategy, tactics, and subterfuge worthy of the best spy thrillers ever penned. It's no wonder, then, that the resulting terminology often creeps into everday parlance, particularly when the topic is political intrigue.

An unpublished work that I recently perused likened the political events of the past 15 years to a serious round of chess, assigning various terms to strategies and theorizing on recent developments. While I'm not at liberty to quote directly from the work, I do have permission to reference it indirectly, and do so here in order to explore the concept that perhaps the perception of the Democrats as completely passive until only recently may be false, and the sacrifice of Libby may have been in response to behind-the-scenes moves.

The author referred to the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. as "The Elephant Gambit". He believed this is a failed strategy signifying the start of the endgame, which could result in a smothered mate. It appears that the leaders of the Republican majority also sense this potential outcome, as many now seek to distance themselves from their embattled "King".

From Wikipedia:

Elephant Gambit: In this gambit, Black ignores the attack on his e-pawn and immediately tries to wrest the initiative from White. It is generally considered unsound, because if White plays accurately Black does not get sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn.

Interesting, also, is the author's premise that the Democratic leadership may have shown a definitive brilliancy in gameplay, through the use of a combination of quiet moves in and on the periphery of the political arena orchestrated to expose several focal points where the NeoConservative usurpation was vulnerable to attack.

If the author's premise is correct, then the Democratic strategy appears to have worked surprisingly well.

The overextended positions that many Republican "leaders" find themselves in, particularly after the indictment of Libby and exposure of Rove as an overworked piece, have resulted in multiple "double attacks.

Where does this leave us? Well, investigations on several fronts must proceed toward their conclusion in order to assess the playing field and develop the ongoing strategy. Both Markos (Realignment, not impeachment) and Stirling Newberry (Impeachment in Seven Reasons) have proferred some pros and cons on the question of impeachment.

In the meantime, I'm going to take a step back, and try to gain a broad overview of the game in order to ascertain what other moves and strategies may be in reserve, ready for play as alternatives or continuations of the current board.

We are, I believe, entering the endgame on a resounding note: "Elephant Gambit Denied".