Inside Karl Rove's Diary: "Things Aren't Going So Well"

[Oilwellian]

<snip>
Dear Diary:

Things aren't going so well. We were on a good two-year roll there after 9/11. Our in-your-face hardball politics had so frightened and flummoxed the opposition that it looked like we were going to get everything we wanted, not the least another term in the White House.

Now there's: Iraq imploding on us; the economy still in the tank, with 2,500,000 who've lost their jobs since we took over; investigations proceeding on the 9/11 cover-up, and maybe also on our outing of Wilson's wife as a CIA agent and our lying about the air-quality in Lower Manhattan for nine months after the WTC collapsed; and a pack of mean Democrat dogs out there yapping away at our domestic and war policies.

The total control we've exercised over the mass media -- conglomerate ownership sure has paid off for our side -- is beginning to crack. We hear that even some conservative GOP stalwarts are beginning to see vulnerabilities in our approach and are wondering whether to hedge their bets and start looking for others to lead the fight.

Granted, President Dim Bulb isn't what we would have wished for -- someone with some brights who can articulate our vision and not mess up all that often -- but he's a nice enough guy who still thinks Cheney and I are geniuses, so he does what Dick and I tell him.

The problem is that Rummy's nice, tidy Iraq scenario that the neo-cons had worked out (in their heads!) isn't playing out that way on the ground. They told us what the Iraqi exiles told them: that the U.S. forces would be greeted as liberators and that the Iraqis would cooperate with us in getting Iraq back on its feet in joint projects with our American corporate friends.

<much more>
http://www.crisispapers.org/Editorials/rove-notwell.htm

[liberalhistorian]

1. Wouldn't you just love to see what

REALLY goes on behind-the-scenes with KKKarl and the Bushistas, and their spin sessions?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. "... even some conservative GOP stalwarts..."

Yep, like Henry Hyde. I'd say this diary entry is fairly accurate. :evilgrin:

[Champion Jack]

3. There's even serious re-thinking among some conservatives

about the huge tax cuts we gave ourselves and our friends. I couldn't believe our luck when the Democrats didn't stop us; thank God the populace is scared silly and doesn't care what we do as long as there are no al-Qaida attacks inside our borders. But that acceptance can't cancel the criticism about us being incompetent bunglers, with the economy, the war, the veterans, whatever.

The scary thing is that it's not just the Democrats making those charges; a lot of Republicans are starting to voice doubts about how we're handling the war and the economy -- and even some traditional, small-government conservatives are looking at Ashcroft's Patriot Act with amazement and anger.

A lot of GOP politicos look at Bush's re-elect numbers, around 40% now, and the likelihood that Wesley Clark will jump into the race, and they're scared they'll lose their own re-election bids in 2004. Hell, even the new Clinton, Dean, might be able to beat Bush. (Oh, diary, this is good! I'm salivating at the idea of secretly helping Kucinich get the nomination!)

I keep trying to tell our GOP scaredy-cats that we've covered all the bases. We'll take care of the Democrats in California and Texas and Florida and Colorado and elsewhere. There still isn't a lot of mainstream agitation about our friends in the computer-voting industry -- but why in hell did that Ohio computer-voting executive get caught promising to deliver the vote to the GOP in that state? And we can arrange for a good ol' patriotic surprise that will reinforce the support-the-president-during-wartime mood before the 2004 election.

The problem is that even though the Cheney-Rummy-Wolfy agenda calls for another big move in the Middle East -- using our leverage in Iraq to get the other Arab leaders to do what we want or there may have to be another "regime change" scenario -- we may be so bogged down in Iraq that we won't be able to initiate it with the required force behind our threats. And then there's that crazy midget in North Korea that could upset all our apple carts with his nuclear chess game.

The result of all these things going wrong is that I'm having to use up a lot of my political ammunition and threats way too early. But The Genius will just have to do what I know works: When on the defensive, get on the offensive as quickly as possible, by hook or by crook. Take the heat and attention off the scandals. Get Schwarzenegger into the race. Report some more terror alerts. Trot out some heart-tugging 9/11 stories. Have Bush visit a few more national parks to counter his environmental record. Denounce gay marriage and cry over the Ten Commandments case to lock up the South. Whatever it takes.