TX: 'Mark of Rove': Attack, leave no trail

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/071305dntexoldrove.11c053e.html


As Texas' top political operative, Karl Rove honed an ability to damage an opponent without clear evidence that he was responsible.The pattern exasperated Democrats but always served Mr. Rove well – until, perhaps, the case of Valerie Plame.

In the 1986 governor's race in which he represented Republican Bill Clements, Mr. Rove announced he had found an electronic listening device in his office. The controversy, coming on the eve of a key debate, helped Mr. Clements unseat incumbent Mark White.

<snip>

In 1990, Mr. Rove recruited a little-known West Texas legislator named Rick Perry to challenge Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Stories leaked to newspapers questioned ethical practices within Mr. Hightower's agency, prompting an FBI investigation.

<snip>

Perhaps the closest parallel to the current controversy over the outing of the CIA official occurred more than a decade ago. In that political dustup, a newspaper columnist wrote a damaging piece in 1992 about Rove political rivals within the Texas Republican Party. Although Mr. Rove denied that he was the leaker, Republican leaders believed he was responsible and canceled his direct-mail contract with the Texas GOP. The columnist in that episode, as in the Valerie Plame case, was Robert Novak.

[goclark]

1. Pattern continues ...he must go NOW!

[maddezmom]

2. and how many other Novaks are on Rove's payroll?

:shrug:

[Talismom]

4. Novak is one of a kind! There are no others to match his slime!

:puke:

[lebkuchen]

6. Why isn't Novak in jail?

[lebkuchen]

3. Folks, it's very important to attack back--get on the horn to Congress

I just spoke to four members' aides a minute ago and will be writing letters to newspapers. Nail the GOP's butts to the wall on the WSJ editorial praising Rove as well. How does outing CIA agents improve the national security of our country, especially on the cusp of the recent UK attack?

Please call your representatives, and demonstrate outrage, because it is outrageous that a member of Bush's administration can "out" a CIA agent, and be praised for doing so in the Wall Street Journal no less~.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[sam sarrha]

9. I dont get what is News/Journalism in a story about 'Who" is a CIA Agent.

:shrug:

[lebkuchen]

12. How does making it "news" promote national security?

Ask your senators and please post what they tell you.

[jrthin]

5. It should be noted that Rove

was able to acomplish his evil deeds only with the help of "journalists".

[The Night Owl]

7. So, basically, Rove is the latest and greatest true believer in...

So, basically, Rove is the latest and greatest true believer in the concept that the end justifies the means.

Like a gambler whose luck has run out, Rove will be brought down by hubris.

One has to wonder... Is Rove feeling lucky today?

[cascadiance]

8. This story was covered a lot in "Bush's Brain" DVD

It extrapolated based on how much the battery was spent a few things like:

a) the listening device couldn't have been there that long without it being "serviced" with a new battery, which it would have been near impossible for the "planter" if it was someone from outside the office to do. It had only been on for 15 minutes before it had been "discovered".
b) the "leaked information" that supposedly was leaked through this device couldn't have been leaked through this device, since the age of the battery indicated it would have had to have been placed there earlier than what the battery showed it had been placed there in order to have captured this information.

Based on these two facts, it seemed highly unlikely that the political opponent would have been planting this device, given that it would have been useless for them, and more likely that it was a "planted" device to give the appearance that it was put in by the opposition. Since there were no fingerprints, etc. left though, there's no way to prove who actually left the device though.

The smear campaign obviously worked though, even though it was pretty much impossible that the opponent was responsible for it.

That incident had Rove's signature *ALL OVER* it.

[sam sarrha]

10. aslo when they found i, they took it our of the wall..it had a 4 hr Battey

[jobycom]

11. They left off the Gore/Bush debate tape scandal

Someone in the Bush camp mailed Gore's camp copies of Bush's debate practice, in an attempt to smear Gore and throw the debates. They managed to pin that on a woman working in an office hired by Rove. A Post Office camera caught the woman mailing the tapes. She claimed she had mailed a pair of pants back to the Gap for her boss. Her boss, a Rove friend, backed her story. Later, she pled guilty to obstruction charges. No charges were filed against her boss, who told the same story she did.

That was Rove, too.

One thing about him: he likes to create irony. The bugging of his own office was a mockery of Watergate. His debate tapes incident was a mockery of Reagan's theft of Carter's debate notes. He's a fan, and an abuser, of history, so he gets off on these types of parallels.

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. They forgot to mention swift boats, chambliss and mcCain.

3 more little mysteries that will no doubt eventually be pinned on that little fat worm.

[rainbow4321]

17. They did include....

more examples but the 4 paragraph rule got in the way :-(
I was trying to list the lesser known cases in Rove's history---and also to show he and Novak may have been involved previously in an alleged "leak".

The article includes McCain stuff, the Swift Boat connection (to that homebuilder in Houston and Rove's role in it), the smear job shrub/Rove did to Ann Richards, and what was "leaked" about a Dem running for TX railroad commissioner (no college degree like she had claimed)--her opponent was a client of Rove.

[Julius Civitatus]

14. Because of his nasty attacks on Hightower, Rove sent two men to prison

In his vicious, no hold barred attacks against Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, Rove leaked info to newspapers questioning the practices of the agency in the early 1990s. This prompted an FBI investigation that discovered a few technicalities. Rove insisted on prosecuting people on these minor technicalities to the maximum extent of the law.

Because of this, two people were sent to federal prison because of minor technical infractions that, otherwise, would have been ignored and no harm was done.

Yes, Rove's dirty tricks sent two innocent men to federal prison for nothing. And they served about two year sentences.

[crispini]

15. Yay, Wayne Slater weighs in!

AWRIGHT!

[IndyOp]

16. Current DU Activist Assignment: LTTE about Rove...

Pressure Congress by getting LTTE in papers across the country:
<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=17687&mesg_id=17687>

:kick:

[oxbow]

18. this story is very significant

it sets an independently confirmed pattern of leaking and using Robert Novak to do it. We should definitely do a media blitz on this. I'm sure [email protected], [email protected], at the least would be interested in this.

[Straight Shooter]

19. Rove has more enemies than he has friends.

To be wronged, to be smeared, to be sidelined, these are the things which men and women of power do not forgive and forget.

"The mark of rove" is a brilliant description, as it reminds one quite clearly of the phrase "mark of the beast."

edit: I wrote Mr. Slater to thank him for an objective, insightful glimpse into Rove. [email protected]

[rainbow4321]

20. And also ask the DMN editorial people why...

they chose ROVE as Texan of the Year for 2004 given his extensive, very public history of smearing/leaks etc....guess this has come back to bite their collective asses--bet they are wishing now that they had picked one of their other top 10 finalists---like TEXAS TROOPS who were also on the list!!


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