Joe Hack

America can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, marking a turning point for the Bush presidency. Mr. Rove’s departure removes one of the White House’s most hated and polarizing figures, and undoubtedly signals the end of the lame duck administration’s role in shaping major domestic policy decisions. Mr. Rove, generally known as ‘George Bushs brain’ recently revealed his plans for quitting to the The Wall Street Journal.

A Whitehouse spokesman said “Obviously it’s a big loss to us, “he’s a great colleague, a good friend, and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed, but we know he wouldn’t be going if he wasn’t sure this was the right time to be giving more to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president’s greatest friends.”

Mr. Rove, 56 years old, has been embroiled in many White House controversies in Mr. Bush’s second term, and faced investigation — but somehow miraculously escaped indictement — in the scandalous White House leak case that brought down Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. He also has become a target of intense scrutiny in Congress over the firings of a number of U.S. attorneys in an alleged attempt to subvert the American justice system, a charge far more serious than that which saw Nixon booted out of office. Mr. Rove and his political operatives in the White House had some involvement with the decision, but the extent of their role remains murky, because the White House has shamefully asserted executive privilege in refusing to comply with congressional demands for documents and interviews, including with Mr. Rove. Mr. Rove’s departure is likely to lessen the intensity of that potential constitutional clash.

Mr Rove was allegedly the mastermind behind the unholy alliance between the Bush neo-con camp and the loony-toon religious right that swept the republicans to power initially but which has since degenerated into bitter bickering over failed expectations. Whenever there were dirty tricks to be played in the political arena, reputations to be ruined, decent men and women to be smeared, there are those who claimed to see the hand of Karl Rove at work. So his departure will be seen by many as a serious loss to Bush, but a huge victory for America and the American people.

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Justice ! Free and fair. Equal and available for all. The bedrock of any civilized society. Not in America ! For over four years the American judicial system has run its course in the case of , former chief of staff for the Vice-President Dick Cheney. At last, after the most painstaking and mericulous review of the facts by the FBI and by a grand-jury hearing Libby was convicted on five counts of felony and sentenced to two and a half years in jail. A relatively mild punishment, many would think, for acts that endangered the security of the nation and bordered on treason. Immediately the sentence was announced, however, up popped Libby’s former paymaster, George W Bush, to use his presidential power to reject the courts verdict and decree that Libby should not spend a single day in jail. This, you will recall, is the same George W Bush who favours tougher sentencing and enthusiastically suports the death penalty. But of course thats only for folks like you and me. Not for his cronies. Oh hell no !

This is the most extreme and shocking act of disrespect to the American legal system that any of us can ever remember. Sure previous presidents, including Bush senior and Clinton, had granted dubious pardons but this outrageous act of cronyism goes far beyond any of those. It is fundamentally different. Libby was convicted of lying to the court and obstructing justice.  Lets recall the circumstances. Bush decided to wage war on Iraq on the basis of lies, in particular the false assertion that it had ‘weapons of mass destruction‘. One of the few people to expose that lie was a former US ambassador, Joseph Wilson.  Bush’s cronies, as part of a smear campaign of revenge on Wilson for telling the truth, leaked to the media that Wilson’s wife was a covert CIA operative, thereby putting her life at risk. Libby was a key player in this shameful episode and lied to cover it up. What he and bush’s aides did was to break all previous conventions regarding the naming of CIA operatives and thereby put at risk the life of a government employee. It was reckless, deeply nasty, and as close to treason as you can get. By any standards it was a very, very serious crime. Thats what ‘Scooter’ faced jail-time for, although of course he was just the monkey and the organ-grinders - who should have faced the courts were Bush and Cheney.

So what is the result of Bushs breathtaking intervention ? Well for a start this decision makes a mockery of the basic principle of the seperation of power between the executive and the courts. The sentencing guidelines of the US courts have been disregarded. Prospective CIA operatives will think twice, knowing that they can be publically outed for political reasons by any whitehouse aide with a grudge. The American public, bar a few far-right headbangers, is outraged, with 67% recently being oppoosed to any form of pardon for Libby. Bush is now, according to polls, the most unpopular president *ever*, with ratings for unpopularity that have set completely new records. However as one Bush aide dismissively said , ‘the President can take the heat’. Thats a measure of just how contemptuous and arrogant this administration has become.  The real damage though is not to Bush. He’s a lost cause anyway.

The real damage is to America. The cancer of corruption has been starkly exposed in a government that is now rotten to the core. The rest of the world looks on in disbelief that a nation which so prides itself on its systems of justice and fairness should have sunk so low. No-one outside America can possibly take seriously anything the present American government says about ‘freedom‘ or ‘democracy’ or ‘justice’. The Libby case demonstrates yet again that in Bush’s eyes he and his cronies are above the law. Public tolerance for that kind of arrogance has ebbed though, washed away by the bloody mess of the middle east and the increasingly obvious corruption in government. Its just not fixable as things are. The hard fact is that when you have a cancer it has to be removed for there to be any chance of survival.   So lets hope the shame that this latest episode brings America will not be a totally negative thing.  Lets hope this will be the final outrageous act of corruption that signals the beginning of the end.

The nation under Bush has become deeply sick. Lets all hope for a speedy recovery, but first the cancer must be legally removed so that the healing can begin.  Impeachment anyone ?Tags:administration America arrogance Bush chief of staff CIA operative Clinton convicted corruption crime death penalty Dick Cheney FBI felony freedom George W Bush government Impeachment Iraq jail Joseph Wilson judicial system justice legal system legally Lewis Scooter Libby Libby media middle east obstructing justice outrageous pardon pardons Political Rants punishment ratings security shame society treason unpopular president unpopularity US courts weapons of mass destructionadministration, America, arrogance, Bush, chief of staff, CIA operative, Clinton, convicted, corruption, crime, death penalty, Dick Cheney, FBI, felony, freedom, George W Bush, government, Impeachment, Iraq, jail, Joseph Wilson, judicial system, justice, legal system, legally, Lewis Scooter Libby, Libby, media, middle east, obstructing justice, outrageous, pardon, pardons, Political Rants, punishment, ratings, security, shame, society, treason, unpopular president, unpopularity, US courts, weapons of mass destruction

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