Karl Rove proves he's not the sharpest tool in the shed

[ProSense]

The President's GOP Outreach Comes Too Late

A photo-op is not the same as compromising on policy.

By KARL ROVE

Last Friday, President Obama met with House Republicans in Baltimore. He took questions, parried criticisms, and allowed all of it to be put on television.

Framed as an opportunity for the president to hear from the other side, Mr. Obama's real aim was to portray Republicans as obstructionist and boost his own public standing in the process.

Afterward, Gallup found that Mr. Obama's approval hit 51%, up from 47% after the State of the Union address two days earlier. But in winning that small victory, Mr. Obama also further poisoned his relationship with Republicans by repeatedly saying things that are demonstrably not true.

For example, when Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling asked if the president's new budget would, "like your old budget, triple the national debt" and increase "the cost of government to almost 25% of the economy," Mr. Obama denied it. But that's exactly what Mr. Obama proposed doing in his budget framework that Congress passed last April, according to both Congressional Budget Office and White House documents.

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What a whiny pathetic asshole. Anyone who ever referred to this idiot as a genius should seek therapy.

On edit: It wasn't outreach, Turdblossom, it was a smack down of the highest order.

[midnight]

1. Well, I think compaired to bush's brain, karl's seemed more genius..

[eleny]

2. He's still catapulting the propaganda

[Robb]

3. "Karl Rove calls President a liar."

...You gonna sit there and take that, Mr. President? :D

[Bitwit1234]

4. What made rove seem like a genius is the fact that he knew

all the dirty tricks in the book. His mind was like a sewer. And just like this butthole O'Keefe he was constantly on the move with one trick after the other. If someone with a brain could have been right along side him they would have 'FOILED' his every move.

But no one could get close to the bush administration they kept everything top secret.

[depakid]

5. This "idiot" kicked the hapless Democrats asses for years- and got damn near everything Bush wanted

Then- after the chickens of their abject policy failures came home to roost, Democrats continue to pander to them, over and over- reinforcing their frames and narratives, while bungling their own legislation.

I mean, how does a party go from the verge of relegating Republicans to the fringe for a generation- and in a mere 7 months, losing a seat like Kennedy's in Massachusetts?

Instead of talking about gains in the House and Senate- the prospects now point to possibly LOSING the House and even the Senate?

Wow.

Any objective observer looking at this as a cultural anthropologist would have to be impressed with that.

[ProSense]

6. Yeah, the idiot and Judith Miller, the NYT and the rest of the complicit media

People are gullible and some are morons (see the last Mass election), but Rove is still a fucking idiot.

"Any objective observer looking at this as a cultural anthropologist would have to be impressed with that."

Speak for yourself. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't be.

[depakid]

9. I'm looking at OBJECTIVE FACTS not spin

Those people may be "gullible" and "morons" -but indications are that they're fixing to give Democrats a royal thumping come November.

Unless of course, the leadership gets a clue- and fast, as to why the dynamic is occurring (a good place to start is with folks like Lakoff and Westen).

[ProSense]

10. Objective? What genius was involved

in the Supreme Court selecting Bush, and then Bush using 9/11 to launch a war for political gain?

If you want to consider Rove a genius, go ahead, but please don't try to claim objectivity and facts in making your flawed assessment.

[depakid]

17. They managed to win elections for years AND they managed to get damn near everything they wanted

using whatever it took to get it through.

If that, as you say is the work of an idiot- then, to paraphrase Lincoln about Grant- tell me what brand of whisky he drinks, so I can buy a case for all of my generals.

[stevedeshazer]

7. What you said.

:fistbump:

[ProSense]

8. Yeah, Rove the genius helped Bush privatize Social Security.

Oops, didn't happen.

There are limits to what people can prevent when too many are complicit, but attributing genius to Rove because Bush was a fuck up who got away with a lot is the reason this asshole thinks he's still relevant. If he was such a genius, he'd have figured out how to sustain that permanent Republican majority he promised.

He's an idiot and a failure.

[depakid]

11. Hey- Dems and moderate Republican won one (out of several hundred) whoopie!

They also managed in one of their few other victories to sustain a filibuster on the Enzi Bill (which would have left a 100 million with high deducible, high copay junk insurance- with no state mandates).

And then- lo and behold, their own health care bill degenerates into much the same- except now it's got unpopular mandates for its rallying cry!

That's the ticket- turn popular legislation into very unpopular gift for insurance parasites. Gonna sell about as well as defending the banksters while they're passing ut 7 and 8 figure bonuses.

[ProSense]

12. The Republicans have been getting their butts kicked since 2005.

Rove failed. His permanent Republican majority lasted four years. He failed, get used to it.

[depakid]

14. LOL- they're STILL getting "favorable" policies through- and Dems are STILL kowtowing

and spreading their narrative.

Even after two disastrous wars- the drowning of a great city and the biggest economic meltdown since the great depression (not to mention dozens of other abject failures).

And now they're even winning elections again- and look to make large gains- if not take back the legislative branch!

There's a failure there alright- but it's certainly not with Rove politically but with the Democrats own leaders and "strategists."

[ProSense]

18. "they're STILL getting "favorable" policies through" What the hell are you talking about?

"There's a failure there alright- but it's certainly not with Rove politically..."

Damn, you really are impressed by him, aren't you?

[depakid]

19. I'm impressed by results

In this case- you have to make the distinction between substance and procedure. What gets passed is far less important to the analysis than whether and how it gets passed.

Even far out of power, they've managed to screw the Dems now on the half measure stimulus (note the "favourable" employment numbers) on health care (letting Dems publicly sell out their constituencies- that was a beaut) -it goes on an on.

Frankly, that's pretty amazing in comparison- and there's a lot to be learned from it.

[ProSense]

20. You're impressed by his failures? n/t

[Cha]

21. rove wouldn't have a bully pulpit to tout those failures

without the corporatemediawhores in bed with the gop.

[depakid]

23. Seems you'll never learn- much like those you spin for apparently

Inability to step back- get perspective and look at things objectively is one of the major reasons why.

Put the shoe on the other foot. Think the Bush administration wouldn't have gotten a priority like the public option through last summer or like effective credit card regulation done- and put in place promptly?

Think they would have empowered (or tolerated) every two it extortionist in the Senate who tried to block their initiatives?

[ProSense]

24. Rove is writing whiny op-eds because the Democratic President smacked down his party and

you're here trying to spin Rove as a genius.

[depakid]

26. He's paid big money to spin

and based on the record, he's no more an idiot than people like Goebbels or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays">Edward Bernays.

[boppers]

13. His genius is spinning all the failures as successes.

Take a look at the track record:
WMD in Iraq: failure.
Peaceful, rapid, Democratization of Iraq: failure
Peaceful, rapid, Democratization of Afghanistan: failure
Maintaining a GOP congressional majority: failure
Balanced budget: failure
Stable economy: failure
Domestic safety: failure
Stable dollar: failure
Jose Padilla: failure
Missile shield: failure
School prayer: failure
TIA: failure
...

It's a HUGE freaking list.

Any slight gains made, on any front, were/are trumpeted as massive success (a single MA Senate seat, for example, being granted absolutely mythic levels of meaning), while the constant, repeated, chronic failures are ignored, or spun as success anyway... and some people still buy into it.

[depakid]

15. The list is so long- it's hard to remember all of the policy failures

Turning a trillion dollar surplus into a record deficit in a few short years- and then successfully using the resulting deficits as a wedge against Democrats (whose leader actually managed to balance one) really is an impressive feat, no matter how you look at it.

[yellowcanine]

16. Rove may not be the sharpest tool but he is a tool.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. he's a has been

but he wasn't that good anyhow

[ChicagoSuz219]

25. Compared to the rest of them...

...he's a rocket scientist. At least, he can speak in full sentences.