Running through a few news articles, wishing I could break my writer's block, I came across a conversation by George W. Bush and Karl Rove which caused Bush to be less evil in my eyes but even more likened to a puppet with an evil bunch of puppet masters. Before stamping the second tax cut by this Administration, Bush allegedly asked, "Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?" (Good question, George, but let's get some advice first.) Karl Rove, evil mastermind inside the Bush office, responded by saying, "Stick to principle. Stick to principle." Down came the stamp of approval and damage was done. I soon wondered to myself, who is Karl Rove exactly?

Straight out of Texas is Mr. Rove, shrewd political strategist with over thirty years under his belt for the Republican Party. This man has seen his fair share of Republican presidents come and go. We're talking Richard Nixon (Watergate), Ronald Reagan (Iran Contra), George H. W. Bush (Kinder, gentler America), and now George W. Bush (With him or against him). He has been top advisor to many of these men before they were president including the Bush boys, and a whole host of Texas political pundits. The list of dirty deeds this man has been involved in is as long as my arm and I have a pretty long arm (Thirty four inches from finger to shoulder). Now picture this. It's the election season of 1970. Enter the young Karl Rove. The teenager appears at the campaign headquarters of Alan Dixon, a Democrat running for state treasurer in Illinois. Legend has it that Rove left the room that day with hundreds of stolen pages of Dixon letterhead. When boozers and homeless people showed up at a ritzy promotion dinner for Dixon it all became clear. This was obviously not Dixon's attempted support base. Rove had invited hundreds of people to the party in on the premise of "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," all in Dixon's name. To Karl Rove's chagrin, an embarrassed Dixon still won the election but thus began his illustrious career as a sleazy neo-conservative.

In 1972 Rove was involved with Nixon and the dirty tactics resounded. Riding waves from the Watergate scandal, Rove (ironically) dropped out of college to become the chair of the College Republicans in 1973 at the same time that George H. W. Bush was chair of the State Republican party in Texas. This would not be by far the last time they would cross paths. Rove would go on to head Bush's campaign against Reagan in 1980 only to suffer defeat at the hands of the up and coming Reaganites. Rove then formed Karl Rove & Company and waited out the Reagan years doing business with Texas state political figures. (The business reminds me of Shakespeare & Company from the Hemingway years. The only difference is that Karl Rove is an evil strategist and Sylvia Beach liked books.) Rove's work would prove to be a huge success in advising and winning elections. It would prove to be successful in sleazy campaigning.

When 1982 rolled around Rove found himself fighting hard for Republican control in Texas. The use of intimidation tactics in minority districts came into play for the Republicans there. Armed guards and threatening signs showed up around the voting locations encouraging minority voters to stay away. The first draft of a voter purging system was also implemented and 8,000 names were taken from the voter list. Most of the attempts seemed unsuccessful though as many of the elections were lost. The masterminding of these illegal tactics would come back again though to collimate in a huge way years later.

Finally Rove helped campaign for Bush Senior in the 1988 election bid but he couldn't keep him in for a second round. Rove waited out the Clinton years and stuck with more Texas politicians. Along comes George W. Bush in his 1993 campaign for Texas governor. This is where Rove starts looking like a miracle worker. Bush Senior had been director of the CIA, Vice President, and quite a skillful politician and money maker. Rove could hone his image and advise him well but it had to have come a little easier than most. Bush Junior however was a buffoon. How Karl Rove could turn this alcoholic cocaine addicted frat boy into a Governor has to be one of the great unanswered questions of the late twentieth century.

At last we arrive at the 2000 election of George W. Bush for president. The 1982 Texas scandal seemed to teach Rove and his buddies a good lesson. So with the help of a well placed governor Jeb in Florida and a list of 60,000 people to be purged, the intimidation and illegal election manipulation extravaganza began again. Of course we all know how well that plan worked. It wasn't the first time it was used and possibly not even the second time. Rove secured a seat as top campaign advisor when Bush was appointed to the presidency and the rest is just history I guess.

So anyway. When I read quotes like the one above from Bush I start to soften up to him and feel sorry about the situation. The reason I'll never vote for Bush is not that he's a buffoon or an illiterate ape, or even because he's a Republican. These days I start to feel like he is a reasonable man. Not a very intelligent man by far, but not necessarily a bad man. (I'm talking about a guy who doesn't read the news and instead lets his advisors keep him informed.) I will never vote for Bush because he's such a puppet. Rove, Cheney, Ashcroft, and Rumsfeld? Boy, what a crew Bush has pulling on his strings. In the age of digital media, Rove is probably one of the sleaziest campaign organizers in history and he's running the show for the 2004 re-election attempt. You can see his influence pour out in every advertisement and twisted message. You can see his smile behind every slanderous attack on the Democrats or their families. This neo-conservative excels at one thing and one thing only. Karl Rove excels at sleaze and he'll be dishing it up wholesale come November.