The Day of the Long Knives...

[orwell]

Karl Rove is very good at one thing. He sets up win-win scenarios for his clients. No matter the outcome of his political tactics, he has built contingencies on how to spin it to his client’s advantage. What he fears the most is the unscripted event that he has not planned for. Abu Ghraib is an example of this.

The political theater of these two votes yesterday, so close to the November elections is a classic Rove/Bush political set-up. The purpose is not to give the president some sweeping new power. They were already torturing and illegally detaining and would continue to do so no matter what the courts or Congress said or did. This is fundamental to their assertions of the power of the unitary executive, especially in times of war. To paraphrase a line from an old movie: “They don’t need no stinking badges.”

If the Democrats had voted as a block against both of these bills, as many here would want, it gives the Republicans all the ammo they need to further imprint the “soft on terror” meme that they have successfully branded onto Democrats through years of coordinated repetition. If they voted as a block for the legislation it allows them to say that “everyone supports the president” and remove the distinction the Democrats are trying to brand as central to their take back the Congress strategy. But if the Democrats voted piecemeal, as was likely and as they did yesterday, Rove knows he can splinter the activist, energized base of the Democratic Party. If yesterday’s hand wringing on this board is any example, many may be falling into this trap.

Most quickly forget how ephemeral legislation is. What is enacted today with one party in control can be reversed when another party takes the reigns, if not because of ideological differences, then purely to establish the new party’s legislative or executive dominance. The Eighteenth and Twenty First Amendments to the constitution come to mind. Even if you don’t think there is no longer any difference between the two parties, I can assure you that human nature and the realities of political power dictate that the party in power will always try to structurally crush its opposition, if only to maintain its power and control. The Republicans have been doing that with a vengeance for the last 6 years and the Democrats will return the favor eventually, whether they are both ruled by corporate interests or not.

I don’t believe in the party system. I think it is an antiquated, useless throwback that serves little purpose to a real liberal progressive. I believe in solutions to problems stripped of ideological baggage. But that is not the system as it is now constructed.

Rove wins if you feel defeated.
Rove wins if you are arguing among yourselves when you should be getting out the vote or offering to help a Dem candidate in a close race.
Rove wins if you don’t show up at the polls and pull a straight Democratic ticket in November.

He has set up another distraction, win-win scenario for Bush/Rove. The way you defeat it is to not act predictably. To do that you must strip your emotion out of the tactical equation. This is critical to effective political warfare. The way you defeat your anger and despair is to work twice as hard to gain at least one house of Congress, no matter what you think of yesterday's vote. We need one house. Like it or not, that is the only effective way to gain political push back against the current regime.

The Dems have the long knives sharpened, not because the parties are so different, but because they can be so similar...

[Warpy]

1. Rove had help,

the dirty dozzen. Remember, he can't do squat unless conservative Democrats play along.

They did so yesterday.

[orwell]

3. My point is...

...that this is not relevant. He didn't really care what the outcome was. He had a contingency for all of them. He set up another win-win scenario. The important thing is to remove one of his "desired outcomes" by not feeling dispirited and splintered. Work harder not less.

You can't "clean house" until you control one.

[bunny planet]

2. K and R

the thing Rove wants more than anything is to keep control of Congress in 06. And the way to get it is by suppressing the Democratic vote, that more than any other shenanigi is the best way for him to steal elections. Rove would like nothing more than to have the Dems split, demoralized, and refusing to vote for Democratic candidates because of the torture vote. Its his wetdream. Let's NOT give it to him.
Time to deal with spineless Dems later.

[orwell]

4. Keeping control of both houses is critical...

...especially with a lame duck presidency. Without it, the R's can achieve very little. They also open themselves up to some very damning investigations.

[AX10]

17. Let's just say we get the House and a 50/50 GOP Senate.

Bush's Presidency is done for. All of his bills will die in the house committees. The chairs will make sure of that.

[alfredo]

5. Fight as though or freedom is at stake

because it is.

[orwell]

6. Hey...

...that's my line... ;)

[alfredo]

8. OK, just to make you feel better, you can use some of my

ideas from this letter to the editor:


Why did Bush push so hard for immunity from the 1996 War Crimes Act?

More importantly for our state, why did Senator Mitch McConnell introduce such a law? It seems to me that a person that enables criminal activities or gives aid and comfort to war criminals is just as guilty as the one committing the crimes. Even if he isn't liable under international law, he has brought shame upon our great state by becoming a stooge for a man who has openly admitted to wanting to be "the dictator."

America has survived much greater threats without having to resort to dictatorial rule. Why are we so willing to surrender all power to an authoritarian ruler? Have we become a nation of cowards?

[orwell]

9. Thanks...

...for the post. I agree that part of this legislation was aimed at inoculation for past sins, although it is clear that absent a complete surrender by the anti-American forces that are now gathering globally, the Bush Administration will be seen by historians as one of the worst in American history.

As to your other point, and it is one with which I concur, the rise in authoritarianism is a predictable backlash to the inevitable march of liberalism across the globe. A system of rule that has been in place for millennia is not going to go quietly into the night, even though the handwriting is clearly on the wall.

We are cowards because we have been mediated into a profound slumber, propagandized and massaged by a corporatocracy that needs us as pliant, unquestioning consumers.

People are capable of great courage when called upon. Witness the bravery and humanity of the people of New York during 9/11 and the continuing struggle of the Iraqis in the face of overwhelming adversity.

[alfredo]

13. I wanted to wake people up. I also

made sure that certain words and ideas were repeated. (criminal, war criminal, crimes, dictatorship, authoritarian rule, dictator, law, international law) I want those words out there, I want people to think them, I want them to use them in conjunction with bush and his junta.

You know, it takes courage to stand up to bush. Following him blindly is not courageous.

[Jersey Devil]

7. kick for a terrific post and recommended

Thank you for succinctly stating what many of us have been trying to say but were unable to put into one clear and simple post.

[orwell]

10. Thanks...

It is far too important for to take our eye off the ball now. The thought of Rove playing us for chumps yet once again is simply unacceptable.

Let's not get mad, let's get even...

[truthisfreedom]

11. rove could not predict another pedophile 'thug resigning...

his knees are knocking today.

[orwell]

12. Exactly...

...so he will probably release another "distraction bomb" ASAP to get everyone to take their eye off the ball.

The image of the holier than thou Republican, joined at the hip with the almighty, has taken many years to craft. So even though there is abundant evidence that these creeps are as purient as any other subgroup, the masses still perceive the learned association. This is how * gets away with blatant warmongering, lying, and torture and he is still seen by a significant portion of the voting public as "a man of God." This is all done through careful control of perception through language, images and associations.

So the more Foleys we can expose the better. Eventually reality will change perceptions. It just takes a very long time.

[samsingh]

14. this is excellent advice that we must heed

[ddeclue]

15. We lose because we don't stand up for our values...

Given a choice between Republican and Republican-lite, people are going to choose the original every time.

We need to give the voters a real choice and not be afraid to do so.

I'm tired of the triangulators.

Doug D.

[orwell]

18. That's actually beside the point...

...the point is that we can't get distracted. I'm tired of the triangulators as well. As I stated in my post I don't even believe in parties. I think they've devolved into little more than mob rule.

I'm even not that interested at this point on how someone voted on this noxious legislation. All I care about is a Democratic Party majority in either of the houses of Congress. Any less will mean two more years of effective dictatorship.

The first step is to stop the bleeding...

Thanks for the post.

[bleever]

16. Play to win.

Suck up the sorrow and disappointment, don't be distracted, and win the House AND the Senate.

Great post.

[orwell]

19. Thanks...

...I only hope to keep our eyes on the prize.

The House AND Senate would be great. Bush and Rove would need a change in underwear...

[bonzotex]

20. I'm with you orwell, except....

I don't think Rove is that smart or this was a master plan to distract and split the Dems. Rove and his skanky band of opportunists are in free-fall and still Democrats are trying to hand them parachutes instead of anvils.

I think the republicans really do want to hand unconstitutional detention and torture powers to Chimpy. Sometimes you have to believe what they say. Dems that voted against The Military Commission act are going to flay their opponents with it. You disagree. Ok, we'll see.

Even if the puke administration already are defacto using such powers, trying to give it the veneer of legality is sleazy and easily countered. A principled stand against that abomination would not have hurt any Democrats in close races. Obviously some Democrats either felt it would or they actually agree with the legislation. This was a plate of wet shit no American should eat for any reason.

That being said, You are correct, first priority is get the Repukes out of power, no matter what. We can straighten out the wayward Democrats later. I'm still giving money, still walking the walk and I'll be there at the polls with everyone I can drag that will punch the Democratic ticket. It's still the right thing to do and the best short term option.

I'm not defeated. We are not defeated. My knives however are plenty sharp and my memory long and clear. There will be a price to pay for this.