WASHINGTON - Karl Rove, President Bush's close friend and chief political strategist, announced Monday he will leave the White House at the end of August, joining a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 18 months of the administration.
On board with Bush since the beginning of his political career in Texas, Rove was nicknamed "the architect" and "boy genius" by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House. Critics call Rove "Bush's brain."
"Karl Rove is moving on down the road," Bush said. "We've been friends for a long time and we're still going to be friends. Bush looked grim, standing with Rove on the South Lawn. "I would call Karl Rove a dear friend," Bush said, noting that his own term is running down. "I'll be on the road behind you here in a bit."
Rove, his voice quivering at times, said, "I'm grateful to have been a witness to history. It has been the joy and the honor of a lifetime."
"At month's end," Rove said, "I will join those whom you meet in your travels, the ordinary Americans who tell you they are praying for you."
A criminal investigation put Rove under scrutiny for months during the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name but he was never charged with any crime. In a more recent controversy, Rove, citing executive privilege, has refused to testify before Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys.
I'm guessing here that the political heat of the congressional investigations into the U.S. attorney scandal, and the possibility of the Congress issuing inherent contempt citations against Rove is a big reason for his stepping down now. Does Rove see the "lame duck" writing on the wall here for President Bush? President Bush's domestic agenda is pretty much shot; he's fighting the congressional Democrats on the subpoenas, the U.S. attorney scandal, and in keeping the incompetent Alberto Gonzales as his attorney general. And let's not forget about the Iraq war, and the thousand paper cuts it is inflicting on Bush. Does Karl Rove finally realize that his dream of a "permanent Republican majority" is now nothing more than a pipe dream, and that now is the time to get out of this administration?
Rove's departure is going to be devastating for President Bush. Karl Rove was the chief political adviser to Bush--he was Bush's brain. He was the guy to go to in order to "politicize" policy. I'd say that was the genius of Karl Rove. And I don't see how any two or three or four people in the Bush administration can take Karl Rove's place there. The second aspect that is probably going to be devastating to the country is that Karl Rove may have been a counterweight to Vice President Dick Cheney. I'll admit that I don't completely understand the inner workings of this Bush White House. But I would guess that if there was two people who had the president's ear at all times, they would be Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. These two individuals would have had the greatest influence on President Bush, perhaps even countering each other on policy issues. But now that Karl Rove is leaving the White House, this gives Darth Cheney even greater power to influence President Bush on such issues as...oh...invading Iran?
The Bush White House is sinking, while MC Rove plays karaoke among the deck chairs.
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