The widely respected, subscription only U.S. News Bulletin (A joint operation between U.S. News and World Report and the Bulletin News Network) is reporting that Rove might well be experiencing his final days at the White House:

The rumors that chief White House political architect Karl Rove will leave sometime next year are being bolstered with new insider reports that his partisan style is a hurdle to President Bush's new push for bipartisanship. A key Bush advisor tells the US News Political Bulletin, "Karl represents the old style and he's got to go if the Democrats are going to believe Bush's talk of getting along." The advisor said a departure might come in "weeks, not months." A Rove ally, however, noted that he has a record of out-witting his critics.

In addition, I've heard/read that, although the result of the midterms reflected VERY poorly on Bush's Brain, the White House is forced to retain Rove through the conclusion of this administration for the simple reason that Rove knows too much.

To me that means the White House believes Rove is not above a tell-all book if the situation served him.

Halloween is past, but there is still a shadowy specter haunting the American political landscape.  Look over there behind that polling station!  It's Krazy Karl Rove and his insidious Republican GOTV machine!  We're doomed!

Many recent stories in the media have inflated the Republican's turn out efforts into a Godzilla-sized monster, ready to smash through any Democratic wave and carry Republicans back to their Washington lair.  And of all the terminology tossed around, none is given more mystical, magical significance than micro-targeting.

Sounds scary.  But just what the heck is micro-targeting anyway?

George Bush, how desperate you, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney are as this bitter and divisive 2006 campaign season draws to a close.  

When all else fails, as your mentor Rove knows, following lessons from his political patron saint Richard Nixon, when all else fails hurl all the mud possible at your opponents and hope enough sticks to achieve some slimy political victories.

Now John Kerry is the convenient target after making a comment relating to getting a good education or getting stuck in Ira    q.  Immediately you used words like "sickening" and "disgusting" pertaining to a comment you claimed denigrated the educational levels of fighting men and women in Iraq.

This is just the latest in a series of lies that you and your Republican partners in crime and destruction have unearthed.  The first thing one does in evaluating any comment is to place it in its most reasonable context.  Kerry has been supporting America's troops while lamenting the policies that put them in harm's way, attributing them to poor judgment, i.e., demonstrating a need for additional education.

The Nightmare Before the Elections
( with apologies to Clement Moore )


'Twas the week before elections, with a pall o'er the House
Not a preacher demurring o'er what Foley espoused.
The mockings were flung for Dick Cheney's repair,
In the hopes the electorate just wouldn't care.

The brainchildren all wrestled to tug in the threads
Of conservative visions all tattered in shreds.
And Dub went to worship, catapulting his pap...
I'm embattled and drained from his false terror flap.

The "marble ceiling" that has kept women and people of color out of the highest offices of leadership in the land is crumbling, at long last. Much of the 2008 speculation has centered on Sen. Hillary Clinton and wondering if America is ready for a woman to be elected President. But long before 2008, Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi will ascend to third in line of succession to the Presidency. If conservatives are going to use the potential of Speaker Pelosi as a scare tactic to rally their base, then they will have to accept her election as an undeniable statement by "The People's House," that we are ready.

Breaking the marble ceiling may be about more than just women in 2008. Since most marble (in DC at least) is white, this historic moment now has pundits offering an arcane and false choice between America being ready for Madame President or a President of Color? Why not both?

   

Illinois Senator Barack Obama is one reason Democrats will regain the majority this midterm election, his pitch perfect message and American Dream story is one of healing, intelligence, faith and grace at a time of GOP dissembling, war, and vulgarity.<!--break-->

   

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, the GOP bunker buster for marble ceilings, is caught up in some ugly policies right now, but could easily be on a short list as a running mate for a GOP Presidential candidate in 2008, given her diplomatic experience and electoral vote rich home base of California.

Alright, alright. So that's not 'breaking'... or 'news'... or even remotely surprising... but it does answer some lingering questions.

For example, I'm sure you've all wondered where Karl developed his keen sense of evil, feverish distaste for compassion, and astute ability to f**k people over.

Now we know. It was all those endless hours he endured stuffed in stinky high school lockers. All these nasty mental maladies were clearly born of his hours-long periods of reflection as he peered at passers-by, cripplingly crunched amongst the texts, notebooks, and various writing accoutrements.

During the height of cold war hysteria, when the tandem of Nixon and McCarthy questioned the patriotism of those seeking an alternative to an escalating arms race that could result in global destruction, Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic Party's voice of progressiveness and reason, made a wise observation:

"I hope it has not reached the point where it is more patriotic to advocate war than to advocate peace."

Stevenson's sagacious advice resurfaced this morning upon reading a New York Times article by Kate Zernike about the closely contested race in the 7th Congressional Distict located in Edgmont, Pennsylvania, an affluent Philadelphia suburb.

Joe Sestak, a former three-star admiral who worked as a national security adviser in the Clinton White House, was provided with advice from national Democrats and media consultants nine months ago when he was preparing to launch his campaign.

Joseph Lieberman's declaration in the wake of his Connecticut Democratic Party Primary defeat on Tuesday is reminiscent of an event linking President Richard M. Nixon and Secretary of the Treasury John Connally in 1972.  The cases are particularly intriguing in view of the ideological strategy ploys invoked in each case.

It was later learned that Nixon, who had been given the nickname "Tricky Dick" for a reason, was disenchanted with Vice President Spiro Agnew, his reelection running mate in 1972 in his race against Democratic presidential nominee Senator George McGovern of South Dakota.  

Nixon, who had handpicked Agnew four years earlier for his 1968 race against Vice President Hubert Humphrey, had privately lamented that "the guy doesn't have it" and jokingly referred to the man residing one heartbeat from the presidency as his "insurance policy against assassination."

In 1971 Nixon, one year removed from a pivotal election, tapped former Texas Governor John Connally, a protégé of Lyndon B. Johnson and leader of the state Democratic Party's conservative wing, to become his Secretary of the Treasury as America was mired in a recession.  

As Senator Joseph Lieberman seeks to secure the Democratic Party's nomination in Connecticut a question must be asked, one that becomes more increasingly relevant with each passing day.  With Lieberman expressing concern that so many members of his party on the important issue of values, he has made a prominent new ally.  

This new alliance not only begs an important question, it presages a more involved discussion of the direction where Senator Lieberman is taking America.  It lies at the heart of where the Democratic Party stands and the ideological ground it should encompass in the future.  

It must also be asked whether Lieberman and others like him are part of a unilateral disarmament movement to enable the Cheney-Bush style of radical Republicanism to reign unchallenged.

As has been noted, Lieberman has made a recent ally of Fox News right wing Republican commentator Sean Hannity.  On one of his recent appearances Lieberman expressed concern that so many in his party do not understand traditional American values.  The Fox commentator was only too happy to agree.

It was a veritable champagne popping occasion at the Weekly Standard after Robert Luskin, lawyer to Karl Rove in the continuing CIA Leak Case, announced last Tuesday that that he had been told by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald that his client will not be charged.  

The Weekly Standard's editor, Fred Barnes, could not contain his glee in stating that Rove's "vindication" was a blow to Democrats in the 2006 campaign and welcome news to the White House in particular and Republicans in general.

Barnes was correct as far as the political spin is concerned arising from Luskin's announcement, and politics is the area of the right wing Republican journalistic partisan's concern, which gives him something in common with Rove.  

If there is one area where Karl Rove has made himself abundantly clear, it is in the all-important area of spin control and the valued place it holds in a Cheney-Bush political strategy context.

One of the interesting U.S. Senate candidacies of the 2006 primary season along with Ned Lamont's challenge against Senator Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut is that of James Webb in Virginia.  Should Webb win the Democratic primary his opponent would be Senator George Allen, a Cheney-Bush Republican currently seeking to run away from his roots, given Bush's recent dismal polling numbers.

If one Democrat of all those seeking office at this stage of the 2006 political sweepstakes could be selected who would typify everything that strategist Karl Rove fears as a candidate it would figure to be James Webb.  

An even cursory analysis of Webb's personal and political biography reveals why Rove and the Republican attack machine would have significant reason to worry in the face of a Webb candidacy in the fall election.

James Webb is a Naval Academy graduate who fought in the Vietnam War and won medals for courage and valor.  Webb served with the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam as a rifle platoon and company commander, receiving the Navy Cross, the second highest award in the Navy, along with the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts.  

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post is reporting that Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, "was stunned...when journalists started calling to ask about an online report that he had spent half the day at his law office, negotiating with Patrick Fitzgerald -- and that the special prosecutor had secretly obtained an indictment of Rove."

Instead of Luskin simply affirming or denying the report, Luskin was prepared to assassinate the messenger:

The "claim that President Bush's top political strategist had been indicted in the CIA leak investigation was written by a journalist who has battled drug addiction and mental illness and been convicted of grand larceny. That didn't stop more than 35 reporters -- from all the major newspapers, networks and newsmagazines -- from calling Luskin or Rove's spokesman, Mark Corallo, to check it out."

Seems Luskin did his homework before making his statement - and went a little bit overboard for a representative of an administration that has likely used such onine media outlets to their advantage in the past.

Perhaps Jason Leopold came a little closer to the truth that Luskin have would liked.

President Bush, modelling the new Rhetorex/Teflon fiber blend protective gear which will be issued to all Team Bush drivers this year

Washington, DC (APE) - President Bush yesterday made an appearance at the RNC's NASCAR themed kickoff event and reportedly netted the party $17 million for the upcoming races in 2006. In stark contrast to the lower income "base" for which the event was calculated to appeal, over 800 people showed up with many donating much more than the $1500 entrance fee for an average of over $21,000 per person. The security staff for the DAR Constitution Hall, where the event was held, was documented as chipping in together for over $100,000 according to RNC accounting. RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman stated that, "The car seems to be running pretty good right now. We had some problems earlier with a loose, "squishy" rear end and a definite pull to the left. But our phone banks say we've got 'er dialed in pretty good now, and if we can just work on keeping fresh rubbers all around, we should be very competitive this year."

Karl Rove warns American Enterprise Institute against seditious book




Washington, DC (Rotters) - Karl Rove made a rare public appearance at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday as the blogging world continued to buzz with speculations of his impending impeachment. If the "scoop" from little known investigative reporter Jason Leopold from Truthout.org is to be believed Karl approaches a 24 hour deadline today in which he will need to turn himself into Federal authorities and be charged in his alleged role in the outing of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Last week's incredulous activities once more revealed how Bushspeak seeks to divorce America from reality and how the mainstream media is willing to carry out spin control based on fiction disseminated from the White House and the Cheney bunker.

Scott McClellan was a worth successor to Ari Fleischer, whose own father bemoaned how low his son had stooped to earn a prosperous living.  As resident White House spin disseminators it was their responsibility to deliver lines that would make any non-practitioner of Bushspeak choke.  

Who can forget Ari Fleischer displaying righteous indignation by tartly declaring that White House policy decisions were not based on politics?  

That day there were not enough Armstrong Williams style paid cheerleaders in the audience to prevent an eruption of laughter from the assembled reporters, upon which an offended Fleischer stormed angrily out of the room, abruptly concluding the news conference.