Saturday, June 25, 2005

Rove's Remarks Were a Trap

Glenn Reynolds thinks Rove's recent remarks were a well-laid trap. I completely agree. Think about it.

1) The story becomes a story not when Rove speaks but when Democrats get angry.

2) Now that it is a story, Republicans can run around quoting all the stupid things groups like MoveOn, people like Michael Moore and other far lefties have said about 9/11 and our duty to respond with force.

3) This in turn links responsible, mainstream Democrats with the tiny minority of fringe lefties who treated 9/11 as an excuse to criticize America.

4) So now, instead of arguing about how they want to better defend us, Democrats are left having to prove whether or not they want to defend us at all.

Next time Rove opens his mouth, Democrats should just ignore whatever comes out.

7 Comments:

At 3:50 PM, Blogger AubreyJ......... said...

Oh yeah… The winds of 2006 start already.......
Let’s face it… Both sides, all sides have tried at times to take it just a little farther than need be. But as Robert will tell, (over and over again and 100% correct I might add,) “THAT'S POLITICS!!!”

 
At 9:01 PM, Blogger Alan Stewart Carl said...

Admiral,

Great thoughts. Rove's move was absolutely made because he fears support for the war has weakend. It was very skillful rhetoric. He pretended that because the left is opposed to the Iraq War that is was also de facto opposed to the Afghanistan war. That is, of course, historical revisionism. But it's skillful because it twists reality to make opposition to Iraq seem as unpatriotic and wrong-minded as was opposition to Afghanistan.

It was a a total lie that, to many, seems like it could be true.

I've always thought Rove is no more immoral (or amoral) than any other political consultant--almost all of them are divisive by nature with a casual relationship with the truth--but Rove is simply better at it.

But i don't think even Rove can spin more support for Iraq.

 
At 1:12 AM, Blogger Robert Rouse said...

Or . . . and this just may be a very tired mind at thought . . . perhaps Rove was trying to jack up the New York GOP into a feeding frenzy in gratitude for his nifty award!

 
At 7:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In response to number 3, being connected to those "mer-eh-ca haters" has nothing to do with Democrats getting angry at Rove. What he said was downright filthy and has no place in a national debate, ESPECIALLY since Karl Rove is not you're ordinary political hack, he is one of Bush's puppetmasters.

 
At 12:07 PM, Blogger Alan Stewart Carl said...

Micahel asked that his comment be removed because he was signe on with the wrong account. Here's what he said:

"I agree it was a trap. But it was a stupid, shortsighted, desperate move. Pick your issue: Social Security, CAFTA, Tax Reform, judges, Iraq, the President needs support from beyond his base.

Rove just slapped the "non-base" in the face. He needs Dems and Independents to advance the President's agenda, and he chose to slap Dems in the face.

Why? Because support for Iraq is dropping like a rock. Rove is solidifying the base by bashing Dems. They are so terrified now of a collapse in public support that Rove is in effect kissing off Bush's agenda in favor of staunching the bleeding. These guys have seen some poll numbers that scare them.

MIchael Reynolds
www.mightymiddle.com"

 
At 12:08 PM, Blogger Alan Stewart Carl said...

Admiral,

You're right. I may be giving Rove too much credit. Still, he's managed to spin this incident to garner maximum benefit. But will the benefit outweigh the negatives of such obviously divisive strategy?

My guess--no one remembers this in a month or two.

 
At 6:23 PM, Blogger Ma Tiny said...

Why in the world should we turn the other cheek when someone took the worst tragedy in our nation's history and used it to call half the country pussies?

That someone we're all paying a great deal of money said it doesn't open it up so other people can say it. Those who felt it already said it. And the fact that we're fighting back doesn't make it easier for people to say it.

I'm mad and I'm tired of putting up with all their dirt just because they've got Rush Limbaugh on their side. I don't expect moderates to jump in, and I don't think we should waste one second we'd normally spend talking about how to succeed in Iraq and what to do about the lies we were told to get there, but we have plenty of time after to that to say that Rove's scapegoating and filth are unacceptable.

 

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