Is Rove Back? It's On!

Well, looks like the Bush circle is finally feeling some heat about all the bad news coming down at the same time. Never has the inner sanctum been so bedeviled by a host of accusations about malfeasance, incompetence and lack of vision from just about all quarters. I really feel sorry for the guys.

Of course I don't feel sorry for the Bush Administration -- they're reaping what they sowed. The chickens have come home to roost.

But judging from the administration's new aggressive posture, I suspect that Karl Rove is feeling clear of the Plame affair and is once again whipping up the team with his old tricks. That which does not kill you makes you stronger, and Rove is feeling mighty mighty.

So the new approach it thus: Are they blaming you? Blame them! Plenty of Democrats authorized this war as well, now they're offering critiques... well, it was your fault too! You can't have it both ways.

This is Classic Rove. Never mind that the Democrats acted on "intelligence" coming primarily out of Cheney's special department outside the CIA. Rove will put the Democrats on the defensive yet again, using the actual fact that they DID vote for the war, most of them, although I have to believe that some of them could smell this stinky dish of cooked intelligence; nonetheless, they still thought it politically expedient to vote for the war anyway, responding to some childish "Don't-Look-Like-a-Pussy" perceived political pressure, remniscent of schoolyards.

During the Plame inquiry, notice how the White House sat strangely silent as the damning evidence of incompetence and malfeasance was heaped upon it. Rove was tied up in in the Plame affair... he had his hands full.. and it really seems that nothing gets done without Karl directing traffic. Bush was left to get a taste of the south at the Latin American Conference. Beloved Argentinian soccer star Maradonna called him a murderer and other not nice things.

With Rove kicking the administration back into offense (NY Times subscription) -- pointing out that the Democrats supported the war too -- the Democratic critics will either come off looking like backpedalers or dupes, with neither one likely to help their image. Once again, a prime opportunity to seize the initiative will be subverted by a Rovian end run, while the Democrats dither about what to do about the Iraqi overseas morass. This particular form of political ju jistu is Rove's specialty, bolstered, of course, by the daily talking points dutifully repeated ad nauseum by Fox News commentator flaks. Never mind the fact they created this mess, now they challenge the opposition: "how you gonna clean it up, tough guys?"