Joe Hack

George Bushs brain (as he is generally known) Karl Rove appears unlikely to slip quietly into retirement. Bush ’strategists’ in the last two elections plumbed new depths in dirty tactics and we wait uneasily for the tidal wave of black propoganda in the run up to the next election but it seems that there is every possibility that in the coming weeks Rove will begin to direct attacks on Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton. You would think this was  a just another sign that Bush is running scared but  is it as straightforward as it seems ? With Rove few things ever are. Is  he is worried about Clinton? Or is there a calculation that the attacks on her will get Democrats to rally behind her because Bush is even more scared of the other contenders ?

“The Democrats are going to choose a nominee. I believe it’s going to be her,” President Bush’s departing political adviser said on Sunday. Rove, not an elected politician or accountable in any way to the public, nevertheless found it necessary to appear on THREE Sunday talk shows after announcing last week he was leaving the White House at the end of the month to spend more time with his family.  Asked why he was helping Clinton by saying she would headline the ticket, Rove said disingenuously: “Didn’t know that I was. Don’t think that I am.”. Yeah right Karl ! You’re just a babe in the woods at negative politicking. We all believe that.

Rove followed up with harsh remarks about Hilary Clintons negative public opnion ratings. Well lets think back a little, shall we ?  In 2004 Bush’s re-election team aimed its harshest comments at John Kerry, the eventual nominee, because it wanted Bush to take on Kerry rather than Edwards, then a senator from North Carolina. Thats not my opinion.  Thats what Bush’s former pollster and strategist Matthew Dowd reportedly said at a 2004 Harvard University conference, that Bush’s re-election team went after Kerry because they were more afraid of Edwards. Don’t you just love honest politics ?

Asked whether he was attacking Clinton because the GOP feared Obama, Rove replied: “I read that in the LA Times this morning. Those, those guys out in LA have got to get clued in. I mean, come on.” Asked for his opinions on Obama, Rove demurred. “I’ve said enough,” he said.  You have to laugh. Right again Karl. You wouldn’t ever want to manipulate public opinion or anything, would you ?

At a Democratic debate in Iowa on Sunday, Clinton responded to Rove’s criticism. “I don’t think Karl Rove is going to endorse me, but I find it interesting that he’s obsessed with me,” she said. She said no candidate will escape the “Republican attack machine,” and added: “I know how to beat them.”

Last week, Clinton’s campaign ran a television ad saying struggling families and U.S. troops are “invisible” to Bush. White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino called that “unconscionable.” Rove said that was laughable.  Hmmm .. but are the thousands of struggling American families and the neglected and ignored troops really laughing Karl ? I wonder.

Rove, in the news recently over the unamerican dirty tricks that saw Scooter Libby handed a jail sentance, also commented that he doesn’t think he owes an apology to Valerie Plame who was ‘outed’ as a CIA operative by newspaper columnist Robert Novak’s in 2003, shortly after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, began criticizing the administration’s rush to war in Iraq. Rove said he had indeed talked to Novak about Plame, but said he did not confirm that she worked for the CIA only that he, too, had heard that she did.

Predicting that Democratic-led investigations into  U.S. attorney firings and other matters would follow him after he quits the White House , a decision he insisted was not in response to probes on Capitol Hill, Rove said .. ..”They’ll keep after me,” . Well lets really hope so Karl. There are a LOT of questions still to be answered about the Valerie Plame scandal that saw the life of a loyal American CIA operative put at risk for political revenge and about the rumbling scandal of the US attorney firings that is not about to go away. The country needs some answers.

Rove appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

-Tags:Bush CIA operative Clinton karl rove Political News presidential candidacy republican Republicans whitehouseBush, CIA operative, Clinton, karl rove, Political News, presidential candidacy, republican, Republicans, whitehouse

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In a move that reeks of hypocrisy and double-standards, the Bush administration has signed a deal that will provide Israel with $30bn (£14.8bn) of military aid over the next 10 years. Lest we forget, it is the Bush administration which has so vehemently condemned what it alleges are Irans atempts to provide small-scale military asistance to insurgents in Iraq and those opposing Israels occupation of Palestinian land. You would have wonder, as an objective observer, what the Bush administration would say if any other country tried to supply $30billion dollars of killing machines to any opponents of Israel in the middle east.

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has said the aid will preserve his country’s military advantage over other countries in the Middle East. The new military aid package represents a massive 25% increase from present levels. The Bush administration also announced multi-billion-dollar arms deals with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other Gulf states last month. Washington says it wants to help its allies in the Middle East meet their security needs and counter the growing power of Iran in the region. Opponents say that the USA is engaging in a dangerous escalation of arms supply which will undoubtedly inflame an already desperate situation.Mr Burns, with sinister echoes of George Orwells 1984, called the $30 billion package of killing machines an “investment in peace”. The money must be used to purchase military equipment from the US defence industry, although Israel will also be permitted to use 26.3% to buy equipment from local companies. So coincidentally an indirect boost to Bushs friends in the weapons industry at the expense of the American taxpayer ? The arrangement requires Congressional approval, but Mr Burns said he thought there would be little opposition. Sadly, he is probably right.

Now I do not for one moment dispute the right of Israel to exist, although I firmly believe that its illegal occupation of Palestinian land remains a festering sore in the middle east that will fan the flames of conflict for as long as it goes on. It is quite likely, although not proven, that other countries like Iran and Syria are supplying various resistance groups .. insurgents .. call them what you will .. with very low-level assistance in terms of hardware, A few rifles, bits of explosive, certainly nothing large-scale like warplanes or tanks or cluster bombs or other sophisticated weaponry. It is an indisputable fact, however, that the Bush administration is pouring huge and unprecedented levels of weaponry into Israel which will do nothing but perpetuate the present desperate conflict. In terms of meddling where it has no business, America stands head and shoulders over any other power in the middle-east. But the truth is that for as long as Israel has the overwhelming military and nuclear superiority that it enjoys over its neighbors there is very little incentive for a moderate compromise to be reached. I am painting no-one exclusively as the bad guys because in the first place I do not go in for such simplistic bullshit and secondly because there is genuinely fault on all sides, but one-sided massive injections of killing machines is NOT the solution.

The only power on earth that might bring peace to the middle east right now is America and since he was elected president Bush has stubbornly and steadfastly refused to do a damn thing to help . All he seems to be capable of doing is to pour even more weapons into one of the longest-running and most bloody conflicts in modern times. It is exactly like throwing gasoline onto a fire. Whatever your feelings about Israel, and I know some Americans have a strange loyalty that defies logic or morality, what Bush is doing is really NOT the answer. In fact, it is the problem.Tags:al quaeda atrocity Bush civilian killing Israel Political News republican terrorism war on terroral quaeda, atrocity, Bush, civilian killing, Israel, Political News, republican, terrorism, war on terror

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The hilarious Bill Maher speaks directly to patriotic Americans and gives some basic ground rules for how to explain reality to Bush and his supporters. Humour is a great way of getting the truth across and few do it better than Bill. Really sharp, on-the-money stuff and no, he is no more kind to the ‘retarded child-emperor’ George W here than he ever is. Not new, but just as relevant now as ever.

-Tags:al quaeda bill maher bin laden Bush cheney democrat Dick Cheney George W Bush Guantanamo Bay iran iraq conflict iraq war Political Rants president republicanal quaeda, bill maher, bin laden, Bush, cheney, democrat, Dick Cheney, George W Bush, Guantanamo Bay, iran, iraq conflict, iraq war, Political Rants, president, republican

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