The Bush – Rove Partnership is Safe
19 April 2006 4:20 pm by Taylor Marsh
The Bush – Rove Partnership is Safe –updated–
 |
| There's new talk… Keep hope alive. (photo via Needlenose) |
I just got off the air with my good radio pal Mike Bunge in Iowa. We always
have a great discussion. But today was jammed packed with political topics.
We talked about the generals coming out against Rumsfeld, which is a very big
issue, and the fact that Bush didn't waste any time in coming to Rummy's aid,
putting no distance between the policies that have led to the failures in Iraq
and himself. Iraq is now and forever President Bush's war, with no daylight
to be seen between Rummy and his presidency. Tim Russert had an interesting
take on the Bush
and Rummy alliance.
Then the conversation turned to Iran, where things got very interesting. That's
because the outcome depends with whom you speak or what you're reading.
People are all over the map on Iran, but everyone is petrified. One could speculate
even that the generals actually came out against Rummy because they're afraid
of what he might do in Iran. For good reason. As I said yesterday and repeated
on the air today: Do
you want Iran to look like Iraq? But to put a finer point on it.
With what Bush and Rumsfeld have done in Iraq, why should we trust them in Iran?
Rove came next.
Contrary to all the trumpeting of Rove's demotion and demise, I believe the
reality is much different. If anything, it's a head fake meant to excite the
base, titillate the opposition and distract the Democrats from what's really
going on. Rove
is not only safe, his partnership intact, but needed desperately by Bush. They
simply cannot afford to lose big in the 2006 mid-terms, which is something that
is a real possibility.
From TPM Muckraker,
we also learned earlier today that Joel Kaplan, who will be taking Rove's
policy position, was one of the “Brooks Brothers” riot boys back in
election 2000.
Get the picture?
For all we know, Kaplan could be a Karl Rove lackey, protege or simply his
lieutenant. Mike Allen describes him as an “wunderkind.” But since
Kaplan was involved in that charade of a protest down in Florida you can bet
he's capable of all sorts of shenanigans. He sounds positively Rove like.
In a second announcement that hit like an earthquake
internally, the White House said that wunderkind Joel Kaplan will be Deputy
Chief of Staff for Policy, taking over some day-to-day non-political turf
that once had been the province of his now-fellow Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl
Rove, who retains the title of senior adviser. The plan is for Kaplan to coordinate
and manage the policy process, while Bush has charged Rove with focusing on
big thinking about big issues, both strategic and tactical.The Democratic National Committee trumpeted that as
a “demotion” of Rove. But people close to the President said focusing
on the fine points of policy was not a good use of Rove’s mind, time
or expertise. “Karl could be called the janitor and his role with the
President would not change,” said a Bush friend. Bolten allies said he
wants clear lines of authority and accountability, and said the announcement
showed his assertiveness, since Card had deferred to Rove on many matters
that are traditionally the purview of the Chief of Staff.
The shuffling isn't over, but one thing stays the same. The partnership between
George W. Bush and Karl Rove isn't over and won't be until Fitz
drags him out of the White House, making him a “subject” of his investigation.
I'll believe it when it happens. (Come on, lucky number 7.)
UPDATE: Today's podcast is up.
