His Fingerprints Are All Over It
The breaking stories about the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys continue. The person on the hot seat now is "hopefully", the soon to be former Attorney General of the United States Alberto R. Gonzales. Even though I think he’s in the middle of this scandal, in no way do I think he’s the mastermind of this plot. This is clearly the maneuverings of one Karl Rove, Assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff and a senior adviser. Not a bad title for a political thug. An article by Wayne Madison before the 2002 midterm elections illustrates the tactics and lengths Karl Rove would go through to win. Mr. Madison was even a little prophetic when he wrote: “In all seriousness, rewarding the GOP on November 5 will only increase the appetite of Rove to amass more and more power into the White House. The advent of a Democratic-controlled Senate and House might even begin to spell the end of the road for Segretti's star pupil.” Before the Democrats took control of the House and Senate, the firing of the eight U.S. Attorneys would have been something Rove and the White House would have completely gotten away with.
Why would Rove and the White House even bother to fire these U.S. attorneys? Sydney Blumenthal in his article in Salon wrote: “Rising to the White House as Bush's chief political strategist, Rove well understood the power of U.S. attorneys to damage Democrats and protect Republicans, and he paid close attention to their selection.” Rove wanted the U.S. attorneys to go after the Democrats. The method the Republicans favored was voter fraud. Blumenthal explains how the tactic was used.
In 2002, the first midterm elections of the Bush presidency, Republicans systematically raised charges of voter fraud involving Native Americans in the hotly contended U.S. Senate race in South Dakota. Though the accusations were never proved and the GOP failed to depose the Democratic senator, Tim Johnson, the campaign served as a template. By the election of 2004, Rove became a repository of charges of voter fraud across the country, from Philadelphia to Milwaukee to New Mexico, all in swing states. In the campaign, unproven voter fraud charges, always aimed at minority voters, became a leitmotif of Republican efforts.
Even if it wasn’t voter fraud, the Republicans wanted Democrats to be indicted, especially before an election so it could be used against them. That’s why Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico wanted David Iglesias fired, because he wouldn’t indict some Democrats before the 2006 election. Rove perfected this tactic in Texas, using it to help destroy the Democratic Party in Texas. Blumenthal writes: “From the earliest Republican campaigns that Rove ran in Texas, beginning in 1986, the FBI was involved in investigating every one of his candidates' Democratic opponents.”
Now we are beginning to see how this operation was handled. This wasn’t an isolated incident done just to punish a few U.S. attorneys who wouldn’t play ball. Using 9/11 as an excuse, this administration is always grasping for more power. The New York Times writes in its editorial: “Time and again, President Bush and his team have assured Americans that they needed new powers to prevent another attack by an implacable enemy. Time and again, Americans have discovered that these powers were not being used to make them safer, but in the service of Vice President Dick Cheney’s vision of a presidency so powerful that Congress and the courts are irrelevant, or Karl Rove’s fantasy of a permanent Republican majority.”
With a Democratic controlled House and Senate trying to practice oversight, something the Republicans didn't do the past six years, we might discover most of the dirty tricks this administration has used to try to create a unitary presidency ruled by one party. Whatever else is exposed, one thing we can be sure, Karl Rove’s fingerprints will be all over it.
Why would Rove and the White House even bother to fire these U.S. attorneys? Sydney Blumenthal in his article in Salon wrote: “Rising to the White House as Bush's chief political strategist, Rove well understood the power of U.S. attorneys to damage Democrats and protect Republicans, and he paid close attention to their selection.” Rove wanted the U.S. attorneys to go after the Democrats. The method the Republicans favored was voter fraud. Blumenthal explains how the tactic was used.
In 2002, the first midterm elections of the Bush presidency, Republicans systematically raised charges of voter fraud involving Native Americans in the hotly contended U.S. Senate race in South Dakota. Though the accusations were never proved and the GOP failed to depose the Democratic senator, Tim Johnson, the campaign served as a template. By the election of 2004, Rove became a repository of charges of voter fraud across the country, from Philadelphia to Milwaukee to New Mexico, all in swing states. In the campaign, unproven voter fraud charges, always aimed at minority voters, became a leitmotif of Republican efforts.
Even if it wasn’t voter fraud, the Republicans wanted Democrats to be indicted, especially before an election so it could be used against them. That’s why Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico wanted David Iglesias fired, because he wouldn’t indict some Democrats before the 2006 election. Rove perfected this tactic in Texas, using it to help destroy the Democratic Party in Texas. Blumenthal writes: “From the earliest Republican campaigns that Rove ran in Texas, beginning in 1986, the FBI was involved in investigating every one of his candidates' Democratic opponents.”
Now we are beginning to see how this operation was handled. This wasn’t an isolated incident done just to punish a few U.S. attorneys who wouldn’t play ball. Using 9/11 as an excuse, this administration is always grasping for more power. The New York Times writes in its editorial: “Time and again, President Bush and his team have assured Americans that they needed new powers to prevent another attack by an implacable enemy. Time and again, Americans have discovered that these powers were not being used to make them safer, but in the service of Vice President Dick Cheney’s vision of a presidency so powerful that Congress and the courts are irrelevant, or Karl Rove’s fantasy of a permanent Republican majority.”
With a Democratic controlled House and Senate trying to practice oversight, something the Republicans didn't do the past six years, we might discover most of the dirty tricks this administration has used to try to create a unitary presidency ruled by one party. Whatever else is exposed, one thing we can be sure, Karl Rove’s fingerprints will be all over it.
posted by kbear | 11:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home