Everyone seems to want to figure out why Karl Rove resigned. What’s he got up his sleeve? Even the Washington Post‘s Dan Froomkin weighed in [Another Rove Fake-Out?]. He and others he quotes wonder if Rove’s recent attacks on Hillary are an attempt to solidify her as a candidate – the one they want to run against. Many people echo Frank Rich, "Karl Rove’s departure was both abrupt and fast… Inquiring Rove haters wanted to know: Was he one step ahead of yet another major new scandal? Was a Congressional investigation at last about to draw blood?" Is he on the lam? Is he up to something? Will he be in constant phone contact with Bush? or the Republican Party? I even developed my own theory right after he resigned. I surmised that he told Bush and Cheney that the Republicans couldn’t win in 2008 if they didn’t back off on the War, back off on Iran, and get rid of Alberto Gonzales. They said, "No," No," and "No." So he got out while the getting was good. That was my last week’s theory.
“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
"I didn’t know her name. I didn’t leak her name,"
There’s an old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It’s more famous these days because Bush couldn’t even remember how to say it. These people have fooled us so many times that our shame knows no bottom. Surely there’s something they’ve cooked up by having Rove resign now, while Bush is on vacation, while Congress is in recess. Surely everything Rove says is some attempt to get us to think something or another. Obviously what he or Bush say has nothing to do with whatever is actually going on. But, why should we care anymore? We know all we need to know – that George Bush and Karl Rove have been a huge blotch on American history. We know that whatever they say or do is an attempt to manipulate public opinion in their favor. And the biggest thing we know is that whatever they’re up to, it is not something that is designed with the general welfare of the American people in mind. That’s all we need to know at this point.
The only thing that matters between now and the 2008 elections is that we do everything in our power to minimize the damage Bush can do in the time he has left, and to marginalize his impact on the future political process in this country. We know the dirty tricks will come next year. They’ll attack Hillary using Bill’s infidelity. They’ll mock Edwards and Obama. It’s hard to imagine that Rove [or at least Rovian methodology] will disappear with his resignation. It’s all they’ve got right now. So I don’t object to people keeping an eye on him and his proteges. But I do revolt at the thought of having to spend any time caring why he resigned now, or caring about what he says about any Democratic candidates.
Karl Rove is a tragic figure. He has a classical character flaw, apparent in his earliest days as a College Republican – the kind of flaw Aristotle described in his Poetics centuries ago. And now he’s choked on it. His dream of an enduring Republican Dynasty is in shambles, as is his reputation. He may think he’s winding up for another run as a political pundit, but I really doubt it. His best future is avoiding indictments. This whirlwind of appearances on the talk shows may look like a triumphant exit march, but in the end, Karl Rove struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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