To: TopCat who wrote (347483 ) 8/18/2007 7:41:15 PM From: tejek Respond to The nation's reaction to Karl Rove's departure:The Vallejo (CA) Times-Herald: "In the end, Rove's strategy didn't help his boss govern. The legacy of the Bush presidency will undoubtedly center on the administration's inability to convert that election savvy into effective leadership. "Whether he's leaving in an effort to escape a congressional subpoena, shape another Republican presidential campaign, cash in via book and speeches, or spend time with his family, the resignation of one of the president's most trusted advisers 17 months before the end of Bush's term is emblematic of just how weak this White House has become." Philadelphia Inquirer: "Rove, 56, had the undeniable political genius to guide a winning presidential candidate in 2000. But then he squandered his creation by advocating divisive politics over broad-based policy at nearly every turn. He charted a course in which partisan politics became administration policy." "Consequently, the war is all Bush has left for a legacy. For too much of Bush's presidency, Rove failed him as an adviser of what works here at home. And the Republican Party that Rove sought to strengthen is weaker for it." Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal: "But none of that is what is most important about Mr. Rove. It is acceptable and honorable to try to win political campaigns. And it is reasonable to concede that many policy decisions will be influenced by purely political calculations.In particular, he bears responsibility for his advice in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. National unity was possible and desirable, but he famously concluded that the fight against terror was an opportunity ripe for partisan Republican exploitation. Thus was born the reprehensible Republican theme that political opposition was disloyal, unpatriotic and a sign of weakness. But it has been a loss for the rest of us, too. That sense of common purpose and resolve we felt after 9/11 is gone. That is primarily Mr. Rove's doing." Even the Scaife-owned Pittsburgh Tribune-Review got in on it: "However, Rove, who too much melded policy with politics, is not the president. Bush is. We would be remiss to focus too strongly on Rove as Svengali, political strategist and lightning rod and too weakly on his boss.It may have been Bush's flaw to entrust too much of his presidency to anyone. By having deferred to Rove, the president reveals of himself a needy emptiness into which content is poured by others. In the seventh year of the presidency of George W. Bush, is this all there is? He is a poison and his departure from the White House is reason for celebration, but we can't rest until his approach to campaigns and governance have been expunged from our country's political life."
