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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, August 13, 2007

Karl Rove to Resign

Good Morning.

It's been a long time since the first headline of the morning made me smile.

(Has anyone else noticed Rove is leaving Washington before Congress returns to subpoena him?)

posted by mikevotes at 7:45 AM

10 Comments:

  • A very clever man. I'm sure he has good reasons for leaving. Wonder if we'll ever know what they are?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:32 AM  

  • Unless he signs with another campaign, probably not.

    I don't buy the "write book" excuse because Rove has a fair amount of money from his pre-George Bush direct mail business. (Unless the Plame lawyers ate too much up.)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:56 AM  

  • This seems so out of character. With Bush's popularity in the basement, it just looks bad having "Bush's Brain" ditch him in the final 17months of the Bush presidency. Why? To what purpose?

    Rove could pursue any activities he'd like and still be officially Bush's aide. Right? So why make a public announcement of parting ways? This is just weird. I don't pretend to understand the minds of political Machiavellis, but doesn't this make the Bush presidency look like it's floundering? Doesn't this open the door to other high profile departures?

    What ever the reason, when it comes to the Bush administration, my antennae start tingling whenever these sort of dramatic changes occur. Like smelling a thunderstorm in the air...

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:44 AM  

  • Yes it makes it look like they're floundering. The media question appears to be, "Is this presidency over?"

    I really think they're trying to hide him from the US Attorneys/Hatch Act violations.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:53 AM  

  • I don't follow how his resignation now has any bearing Congress' interest in him regarding criminal acts in the past? As an adviser, it's not like they could impeach him in the first place... He's still a viable witness, isn't he?

    My tin foil hat is twitching even more, now that I find he will be leaving in less than three weeks... curiously before the administration's be September war push.

    By Blogger -epm, at 1:23 PM  

  • Yeah, he is still subject to subpoena and whatever, but his being out of the administration, and down in Texas makes the politics of hunting him harder.

    Instead of stopping ongoing corruption, it looks more like a witch hunt.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:43 PM  

  • "Instead of stopping ongoing corruption, it looks more like a witch hunt."

    I don't know... Then the same could have been said about Harriet Miers or any other recently former official, but I haven't heard it raised. Besides, I think most Americans realize Rove is a witch, or more specifically, a master of dark political arts. As such I think there's little sympathy to be had whether his in Texas or DC.

    It may make him more of a flight risk, but I don't think it affects the process. But that's just me.

    I'm still suspicious about the timing and the relative urgency of his departure. I just can't shake this feeling that there's something bigger than the AG scandal going on here. I keep coming back to thoughts of a "September Surprise."

    By Blogger -epm, at 3:46 PM  

  • I really think it's the closing circle of the Hatch Act violations, where Rove and his staff were illegally briefing the departments about how to aid "our candidates."

    That's big time illegal, and he seems to have been clearly behind it.

    And, on the witch hunt, I'm not arguing it is or isn't, it's just the administration's lever to try to kill the investigations.

    We're trying to move forward, and the Dems are concerned about the past.....

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 4:05 PM  

  • Wow, yeah, what a pleasant surprise. As for the reasons... I do think this will somewhat lessen the impact, both on the administration and on Rove himself, of the AG firings investigation. So it's a logical tactical move.

    Then too, in part it could be that Rove doesn't particularly want to go down with the ship. And it could also be that Bush may have realized (as with Rumsfeld) that Rove is now more a liability than an asset.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:41 PM  

  • I don't see Rove jumping from "the sinking ship" because he's savvy enough to know it's too late for that.

    The second one I might buy. Rove will become a focal point for alot of the criticisms, and everytime the White House fights to keep him back, it gives energy to the charges.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:46 PM  

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