During the 1970 Alabama governor’s race between famed segregationist and former governor George Wallace and Albert Brewer, the incumbent, Wallace’s camp circulated ads feature a white girl surrounded by seven black boys with the slogan “Wake up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama.” They also spread rumors that Brewer was a “sissy,” that his two daughters had been impregnated by black men, and flamed fears of a “negro bloc” vote. The election, which Wallace eventually won, has been called one of the most negative campaigns in history and the “last openly racist” American political campaign.
As openly racist and nasty that race seemed, it’s not like we have reached some higher level of positive campaigning and colorblind voting. We’ve traded in openly-uttered slurs and clearly racist language with “coded” appeals to the sorts of people who vote based on that sort of thing. Since Wallace went no-hold-barred back in 1970, a more subtle racially-charged theme has run through governor, senatorial, congressional, and presidential races.
Cheaters always win. Especially sly ones. Because of this, everyone cheats slyly. The whole world’s had about eight years to fully grasp that concept. So, why is Salon making a big stink about how Karl effing Rove and Fox News are bedfellows in an article published today entitled “Karl Rove’s sly deal with Fox“?
The “most influential pundit” in America, as Fox likes to trumpet, should have to play by the same rules as other high-profile political analysts. For example, Paul Begala and James Carville are regularly identified as supporters of Hillary Clinton when they appear on CNN. But Rove has been able to act as an independent observer while criticizing Clinton and Barack Obama, McCain’s likely general election opponent.
Oh, Fox News is composed of underhanded jackasses who will do just about anything to promote the conservative agenda? Wow, where ever else could we have heard such news? Certainly not all over the goddamn Internet.
Jeeeeeee-zus! Is it any wonder conservatives love to throw out the term “crybaby” when talking about liberals when “progressive” Web sites are literally crying about “playing by the rules”?
At least the piece goes on to acknowledge predictability:
There is nothing shocking about Rove’s attacking Democrats, of course. And his operating with a duplicitous air of independence probably isn’t going to make or break Fox’s claim to “fair and balanced” coverage. But will the greater public catch on?
We’ve got some info for you, Salon: The “greater public” knows all about Fox News, because they watch it every night.
You know how Karl Rove has been described as the second coming of Jesus for cable news? And how he’s not just some blowhardy Republican operative, but a rational pundit worth of a soapbox? It’s because he says things like, “It’s a neat state with a lot of really neat people.” [video via Radar]
Karl Rove isn’t the shadowy henchman we always thought he was! That’s the takeaway from more analysis on his Fox News punditry, which goes along with his Newsweek and WSJ columns, and, perhaps, a new radio show (or maybe not). Rove is dutifully handing out analysis and political advice, the kind you can imagine he dished out in Bush’s Oval Office, or his tiny quarters down some hall, except … there are skeptics!
Maybe the advice Rove is giving to the Democratic candidates is exactly the opposite of what they should actually be doing. CONTINUED »
David Carr isn’t the only media critic drinking the Karl Rove Kool-Aid. Having had a chance to watch the former deputy chief of staff on his new Fox News gig, WaPo’s Howie Kurtz weighs in. His summation? Rove is “generally fair-minded in his commentary.” He even refuses to answer “yes or no” questions because “life is more complex sometimes than a binary choice.” It’s as if the most bias voice in all of Republica actually wears the most level-headed hat.
David Carr on the state of cable news’ election coverage: “Oddly, given its operational penchants, the only cable network to play the coverage relatively straight is Fox News. During what would have been his hour on Tuesday night, Bill O’Reilly was brought in, unleashed from the trunk of the car for 10 minutes and then thanked by Brit Hume for handing off his time before he left. And is it just me, or is Karl Rove one of the best things on television news right now? Graceful, careful and generous — he leaves the viewer better informed and wondering what he has done with the real Karl Rove.” You mean the real Karl Rove, who hates that dang liberal media and is always denying accusations about himself?
CONTINUED »
Once a top adviser to the Bush administration, Karl Rove is now airing his agenda all by himself. He’s lined up a Fox News gig, but his column in Newsweek is proving to be a prickly platform, too. And not because he’s using it to play politics, which he is, but because he’s going after the very magazine his article appears in.
Why then the media’s recent fascination with the supposed demise of the Republican Party? What are the reasons given for why, at least when it comes to the Republicans, “the party’s over,” as NEWSWEEK recently pronounced? First, we are told the GOP nomination has not been won “fairly quickly,” as in recent contests. This is a horrible misremembering of history.
See that image above? Get used to it. Karl Rove aka “The Architect” will join Fox News as a contributer and likely be used for Super Tuesday coverage. Way to keep it Fair and Balanced, guys.
Matthew Dowd, that Democrat who helped who helped Bush get elected (no, not Gore), has scored a deal with ABC News as an on-air contributor and blogger.
Dowd will be joining Karl Rove, ex-communications director Nicolle Wallace and former speech writers Michael Gerson and Matthew Scully as old Bushies who were able to score media jobs after leaving the White House.
With Ted Kennedy nabbing $8 million for his memoirs, the Rover getting something like $3 million, we’re starting to think politics would have been a more profitable foray into journalism than majoring in English.
Well, what do you do after controlling the most powerful White House in recent history? Why, shop your tell-all, of course! Karl Rove has put his memoir on the auction block today.
Considering Ted Kennedy got $8 million for his proximity to power, Rove should score a seven-figure deal. The Bush White House little romantic appeal for housewives, but Rove’s alpha-man account should make a good beach read for plenty of men. Insiders are predicting a $3 million sale.
Does anyone else remember that study showed that no one reads anymore? And yet the publishing industry will pay $3 million for what will surely be a limp memoir. Maybe print deserves its death.
From NYT: “Embattled Attorney General Resigns Gonzales Made Call to President Bush on Friday.”
If true (and its already on Wikipedia so it just might be!) this means Gonzales will be joining the ranks of departing White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and the recently retired election winner/regime ruiner Karl Rove, a.k.a. co-founders of the “Let’s get the hell out of here” club.
And while the official reason for Gonzalez’s resignation is still unclear (unfortunately for Gonzales, Rove already invoked the “I’m leaving to spend more time with my son, and thereby ruin his freshman year of college” excuse) we’re almost certain this has little or nothing at all to do with that whole “dismissal of U.S. attorneys” controversy Gonzales reportedly knows remembers nothing about.
One thing we do know? CNN is only just now picking up the story. Presumably from Wikipedia, who’s had it up since approximately 8am.
One week after Karl Rove’s resignation (and with Bush’s approval ratings at an all time low) White House press secretary Tony Snow has announced his impending departure, citing his reasons as purely monetary.
“I’m not going to be able to go the distance, but that’s primarily for financial reasons.” Snow said. “I’ve told people when my money runs out, then I’ve got to go.”
For the record, Snow was previously diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005, however he claims his health condition has since stabilized. Meanwhile, his reported annual salary is a paltry $168,000.
[CNN]
Let’s face it, I mean, I’m a myth. You know, I’m Beowulf, you know, I’m Grendel. I don’t know who I am. But they’re after me.
–Karl Rove, President Bush’s (former) chief political adviser, complaining—as Alessandra Stanley puts it—that “Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill were Captain Ahabs relentlessly pursuing him as the big white whale.” [NYT]
• Introducing “Die Hard: The Puppet Musical.” Picture Avenue Q without the whole “gay is happiness” message, plus John McClain. And lots of guns.
• Dammit, Lindsay, if you don’t sweep the floors tonight we’re gonna have to cut off your supply of Beef Jerky and Gatorade again!
• Breaking: L.A. Studio City building smells like “poo!” Which is to say, “slightly worse than how everything in L.A. usually smells.”
• The new and improved Elle magazine is both “prettier” and markedly less annoying, despite the fact that Lindsay Lohan is on the cover.
• Reason #239 why interning for Karl Rove can never lead to anything good.
• Brit’s former assistant Shannon Funk denies OK!’s lesbian romp rumors, making us wonder if (sometimes!) paying excessively for stories doesn’t guarantee factual information.
At his emotional goodbye with George W. Bush on the South lawn of the White House Monday, Karl Rove painted a portrait of a presidency made of strong vision and epochal goals. Rove, his voice trembling, said of Bush, “I’ve seen a man of far-sighted courage put America on a war footing and protect us against a brutal enemy in a dangerous conflict that will shape this new century. I’ve seen a leader respond to an economy weakened by recession, corporate scandal and terrorist attacks by taking decisive action to strengthen the economy and create jobs. I’ve seen a reformer who challenged his administration, the Congress and the country to make bold changes to important institutions in great need of repair.”
Funny, all we see is wartime country on the heels of a recession and a myopic, egg-shaped man who needs to have his eyes checked.
Going through Karl Rove withdrawal? [Ed: Really? Why??] In any event, Rove’s announcement in yesterday’s WSJ that he plans to step down threw many of us for a loop. The kind of loop that’s wholly unexpected (but joyous!) and comprised of gumdrops and rainbows and everything happy.
And for those of you not content to simply ACCEPT the good news, dammit, and not question Rove’s undeniably sinister motives, Washington Post White House reporter, Peter Baker was on hand to field your questions. Here’s his response to “Bethesda MD” (Great name!) who says he doesn’t buy Rove’s “close-to-the-family” excuse.
“Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas,” writes the WSJ, in its first huge scoop since being taken over by genocidal tyrant, Rupert Murdoch.
“I just think it’s time,” Mr. Rove said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editor, Paul Gigot. “There’s always something that can keep you here, and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.”
Coincidentally, leaving is also a great way for Rove to whitewash that whole ugly Senate Judiciary Committee scandal! Either way, our consolations to the White House administration for losing what WH press secretary Dana Perino describes as, “a great colleague, good friend and brilliant mind” Or, as Queerty puts it, “Bush’s lead shithead.”
Over the past year, Karl Rove has proven himself to be a negligible dancer, an argumentative adversary and the unrequited pen pal of heretofore forgotten-about “musician,” Moby. But did you know that in the 80’s Rove wasn’t nearly the debonair “ladies man” you see in front of you today? In fact, Rove apparently spent his Saturday nights holed up in his room, wearing velour tracksuits, and listening to David Bowie records while eating frozen dinners and watching Chevy Chase host SNL, in the good old days before he stopped being funny.
And not dating Southern belle-slash-Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings.
EDUCATION Secretary Margaret Spellings got blindsided by the Washington Post last week when she went in for an interview about the state of the nation’s schools and was first asked to explain why she turned down President Bush’s deputy chief-of-staff, Karl Rove, for a date back in the early ’80s. Pausing to get over her shock, Spellings responded: “Have you met Karl Rove? He was so inept . . .”
Which almost made us like Spellings for a moment…until we remembered that she has helped draft, implement and enforce the ineffectual “No Child Left Behind Act” legislation, she’s been a key figure in the Bush administration for over six years, she’s a self-described “anal-retentive chowderhead,” and the only reason she turned down Rove (a.k.a. her “political protege”) was that she that kept hoping W. would finally come to his senses, ditch Laura, swoop Spellings off to Camp David, and murmur, “It’s always been you, Marge. Oh, and Condoleezza, of course.”
Ever wonder what the day-to-day activities of Karl Rove include?
We would think 1) biting his nails over the war in Iraq 2) planning a new swift boat controversy for the 2008 election 3) worrying about that blasted Office of Special Counsel and 4) when he could get home and get some from his wife Darby.
It never would have crossed our minds that he would waste our tax-paying time to become pen pals with now forgotten singer Moby. See, apparently Moby has a half-brother whom Moby “joked” might be related to Karl Rove. Naturally, Rove felt it necessary to follow up with handwritten letter on personalized White House stationary.
Page Six has the scoop, after the jump.
Apparently swayed by the hard-nosed “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time” precedent set by celebrity offenders Martha Stewart, Joe Francis and Paris Hilton, a court has reportedly sentenced White House “fall guy” Scooter Libby to 30 months in the slammer for taking the blame for a much larger scale Bush administration conspiracy lying to federal investigators and obstructing justice.
Reports CNN:
I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators in the CIA leak case. He also was fined $250,000. Libby was found guilty in March of lying about what he told reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame.
While Scooter is said to be unhappy with the court’s decision, he has already scheduled an appointment at a top D.C. day spa for a “John Edwards” haircut, a facial and full chemical peel, and a session with a top makeup artist “Christoff” immediately prior to becoming a guest of the state, and plans to spend the bulk of his 2-3 years behind bars commencing work on his next erotic novel.
Our advice for Scooter? Tell everyone you’re going to rehab instead. It’s much more en vogue, and with luck, most people won’t figure out that you’re actually incarcerated for at least another year or two.
Of course, if all else fails, just have your bestie/former drinking buddy George W. cut you a presidential pardon.
Or, you know, suck it up. We hear the trick is to kick someone’s ass the first day or become someone’s bitch…
Editorial Director
