HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, KID

IF KARL ROVE WAS EVER ANYTHING, HE HAS BEEN THE MASTER OF THE LARGER STORY And He Had the Ability to Make Others Look Smaller in Denying His Big Lies. May Godwin strike me dead, but the only big rival to Rove in this would be a German man with a little mustache.  Before Rove was found out, he appeared omnipotent, a Genuis dark.  All bullies apppear omnipotent. That is how they chain the strength of cowards who sit back.  But once the Bully is found out, his beating takes a savagery those in honest fights will not fear.  We believed Karl Rove was a Boy Genius . . . because we were told he was a Boy Genius.  He is now revealed as something less, a liar, and worse, a has been.  What a long strange trip it’s been.  How the story gets told is as important as who tells it and what gets told.

Republicans are busy spinning away. The new official line comes from Ken Mehlman, who with a straight face says, “the information actually exonerates and vindicates.  It doesn't implicate.  It's wrong, it's outrageous, and folks involved in this, frankly, owe Karl Rove an apology.” 

Just because Rove himself has lost control of the microphone that tells this story, don’t look for Republicans to let Democrats have a chance to tell the truth unchallenged. The apologists for Rove will now call in every chit, will use every dirty trick the have to keep the wily Rove at the center of power.  In this they are mistaken because others will now zero in on how the rottenness at the center of power has produced so much other poisoned fruit.  This story will lead back to Cheney and Iraq every time it gets retold.

On another note, Time Magazine’s Matt Cooper has morphed from being a journalist martyr tortured by shades of gray into a read all over again white knight here to slay the dragons. Here’s looking at you, kid.

UPDATE: [AP] BUSH WILL FIRE ANYONE IN ADMINISTRATION WHO COMMITTED CRIME The snark in me says who would be left? But it turns out Bush is only talking about the Plame leak.  And it would have to be proven.  Which is progress.  Because these guys have done so much with unproven allegations before.

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RECOMMENDED READING
[NEWSWEEK]In the World According to Karl Rove, you take the offensive, and stay there. You create a narrative that glosses over complex, mitigating facts to divide the world into friends and enemies, light and darkness, good and bad, Bush versus Saddam. You are loyal to a fault to your friends, merciless to your enemies. You keep your candidate's public rhetoric sunny and uplifting, finding others to do the attacking. You study the details, and learn more about your foes than they know about themselves. You use the jujitsu of media flow to flip the energy of your enemies against them. The Boss never discusses political mechanics in public. But in fact everything is political—and everyone is fair game.
The Manichaean politics that Rove had perfected over three decades now threaten to engulf him, or at least render him as something less than what he has been to Bush: the mastermind of Republican hegemony. "He's in a tough spot, but he is the survivor's survivor," says Frank Luntz, a political consultant for many GOP candidates. Maybe, but Rove is not in control of his own story.

[ERIC BAI/NY TIMES] ON FRAMING THE STORY: Exactly what it means to ''frame'' issues seems to depend on which Democrat you are talking to, but everyone agrees that it has to do with choosing the language to define a debate and, more important, with fitting individual issues into the contexts of broader story lines. In the months after the election, Democratic consultants and elected officials came to sound like creative-writing teachers, holding forth on the importance of metaphor and narrative.
HAT TIP: [KATE/BROKEN WINDOWS]

TIMELESS SELF LOVE OF MATT COOPER
[COMPLETE MATT COOPER/TIME ARTICLE]
[TIME:MATT COOPER REVEALS DOUBLE SUPER SECRET BACKGOUND TO GRAND JURY]
ROVE: "I've already said too much . . ."  . . . COOPER: Is any of this
a crime? Beats me. At this point, I'm as curious as anyone else to see
what Patrick Fitzgerald has.
[TIME PRESS RELEASE] HAT TIP: [TALK LEFT]

[ENTERTAINMENT] ROVE:  I’m an idealist. I always hold out hope.

[DIGBY] The DC establishment has opened one droopy eye and they see that the Republicans might actually be vulnerable. So they pulled their guts from the storage box under the bed and tried them on for size. I wonder if they still fit after all this time?

Comments

[wanda]

I first became aware of Rove during the presidential primairies back in 00. He was the master mind behind the onslaught of lies and rumors that destroyed John McCains hopes of being the republican candidate. There is NO doubt in my mind, had he been McCain's advisor instead of Bush's it would be McCain in the White House today.
Rove is in my opinion the epitome of evil. He is the most amoral man in politics. There is no low too low, to lie to harmful, or too absurd to spread. He is the ultimate bully. The only thing worse than he, are the fools who willing follow like sheep his every taunting word.
The very idea that his own philsophy (take the offensive and stay there) is now being used against him. If only those on the offensive will remain strong and steadfast in their resolve to see this man pay for the many sins he has comitted.
No doubt the spin doctors are working overtime on this one. Lets hope there are enough of us out there who can resist the hynotic beat of the drums of defeat.
Actually I believe what Bush said was he would fire anyone found to be INVOLVED, in this 'affair'. I may be wrong, but that's the way I remember it.

[Night Bird]

Hey Kid, I like that one. I can call you kid, right??

So what is Scottie saying today??

Peace to you Dear Heretik! Always a pleasure reading your site.

[Michael Hawkins]

Matt's looking a little Stevie Ray Vaughan in that shot, Heretik. Unfortunately, no matter how many books he sells, he'll never rise to the level of Immortal Cool that Stevie forever occupies.

[Fred Dawes]

Soon people will all be yelling "Stop Prison Rape", you are next.

[Rob]

This mess is the best thing that could accidentally happen to Matt Cooper's career. (Accidental for Cooper, not Rove.) Always nice when a sociopath gives you a leg up.

If I had an actual award to give, I'd give it to you for using the word "Manichaean" in a sentence not dealing with religion. You get extra bonus points and a honey-baked ham if you can squeeze "Pelagian" into a sentence.

[RamonGustav]

Have you been turned down by other lenders?

[Antivirus_man]

You write well will be waiting for your new publications.

[school_dubl]

Happy New Year! Happiness and success in 2011.