Opinion
Rove's 9/11 political game: Strategy or insanity?

By Cathy Garger
Online Journal Contributing Writer

June 29, 2005—In the latest display of political partisan grand showmanship, D.C. swamp mud is being slung in typical dirty fashion between W's political strategist and alter ego, Karl Rove, and a virtual "Who's Who" list of Democratic congressional characters.

While such mud-slinging is normally just "business as usual" in any given week in the nation's capital, this time the mud's being slung far lower than ever below the Belt-way.

In rare form at the New York Conservative Party's Annual Dinner last Wednesday evening in New York City, behold Karl Rove's newest attacks against Democrats: "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."
Rove continued "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." He went on to say, "No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals," and added, "Conservatives saw what happened to us on
9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies."
Politics being the dirty game it is, admittedly, we "liberals" are quite accustomed to being attacked with totally groundless, unsubstantiated "low blows." Such discourse is actually Washington "par for the course," all being fair in love and war in the typical back and forth banter that exists between the two frequently sparring political parties.

But this time the man often credited with actually being Bush's brain has done the unprecedented, the unthinkable, the actually unspeakable because Mr. Rove sunk so low last Wednesday night as to attack "liberals" over 9/11.
Not in quite some time have we actually witnessed the GOP attack "machine"
sink quite this low.

In contemplating this degree of despicable political tactics, one is even tempted to question if indeed Rove has perhaps gone stark-raving mad? Has even the political genius with a well-deserved reputation for playing dirty political tricks and opposing Democrats with utter contemptuous vengeance totally gone off the deep end?

Has the mastermind of the White House become so delusional (or so absolutely
desperate) to even imply such a horrendous thing as liberals being sympathetic to terrorists?

In the Democrats' defense, it's only natural and fitting that prominent party leaders have taken issue publicly over Rove's remarks. Senator Kerry called Rove's remarks "disgraceful" and spoke of Rove's remarks as "a cheap, divisive, political applause line from anyone who speaks for the president of the United States."
According to Kerry, ''It is really hard to believe that last night in New York, a senior adviser—the most senior adviser to the president of the United States—is twisting, purposely twisting those days of unity in order to divide us for political gain."

Similarly, US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi had this to say about Rove, "His shameful comments trying to revise history insult the victims of
9/11 and all of us who support them. President Bush must repudiate these remarks."
Pelosi added, "For Karl Rove and his Republican allies to try to exploit
9/11 for political purposes—once again—just shows you how desperate Republicans are to change the subject to distract Americans from their failures."
And only fittingly, New York Sen. Charles Schumer chimed in by claiming that Rove "took something that is virtually sacred to New Yorkers"—the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks—"and politicized it for political, opportunistic purposes."

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, asked that President Bush "immediately repudiate Karl Rove's offensive and outrageous comments."Rove, he stated, "should also apologize to the people of this country and particularly to the people of New York for his efforts to divide the country."

As would be expected, the White House is emphatically stating that no resignation or apology is necessary. In typical fashion, presidential adviser Karl Rove is being defended against Democratic demands that he apologize or resign for implying that "liberals" are wishy-washy on this matter of the Sept. 11 terrorists.

In fact, White House press secretary Scott McClellan went so far as to say there was no reason for Rove to apologize because he was "simply pointing out the different philosophies when it comes to winning the war on terrorism."

McClellan replied, "Of course not," when asked by reporters whether the president would ask Rove to apologize. To round out the GOP game even further, last Thursday we heard Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman assert, "I think what Karl Rove said is accurate and reflects a big difference between the two parties."

He added "I think they [Democrats] have a pre-9/11 world view and I think that's one of the biggest reasons President Bush was re-elected because the American people understood they wanted a president and a philosophy that took on the terrorists abroad to keep us safer at home and guide our ways,"
he said.

Admittedly, it's almost disappointing that this back-and-forth political banter came out so late in the week, as Congress' wildly flying insults effectively ended for the week Friday. Quite honestly, it's been a rather jolly good show.

But lest we believe for too long that this is simply just another politics-as-usual blame game designed to amuse and entertain those of us who get off on keeping score of inside-the-Beltway insults, let us not forget for a moment that Rove is no mere madman. On the contrary, Rove knows precisely where he is going with his newest game of strategy.

While observing these charades one might be tempted to side with political analysts who suggest that Rove's insensitive comments have been put forth to change the subject on the president's failures in Iraq and recent increased fighting of insurgents in Afghanistan.

Yet other Washington insiders are saying that this is Rove's form of political tit-for-tat retaliation for Durbin's comparison to the Gitmo prison camp to the Nazis' and other oppressive regimes. Or this could be retribution for Pelosi's calling the liberation of 25 million Iraqis a "grotesque mistake" and claims that America's involvement in the War in Iraq has been "without success."

While indeed these analyses are simplistic and fit nicely into the normal prescription of political fighting and theatrical grandstanding, upon further contemplation, we can't help but notice there is more going on here than meets the eye.

In last week's accusations, the "brain" of the White House is indeed making it look like just another political game as he positions the Democrats as the bad guys, sympathetic to terrorists.

But, this time the difference is that Rove's game plan is not merely political; but is, perhaps the administration's most brilliantly clever U.S.
psychological maneuver of all.
Despite outward appearances, Rove's real game in Washington is nothing less than a full-scale operation devised to keep Americans reminded and focused on the carefully-manipulated media image of September 11 as being perpetrated by 19 Muslim terrorists with box-cutters under the central command of that old "evil-doer" himself, Osama bin Laden (from a damp cave in Afghanistan).

Indeed, there exists sufficiently valid reason for the administration to perpetuate these carefully orchestrated psychological maneuvers. Thanks in good part to alternative media and through the outspoken voice of respected
9/11 researchers and writers such as theologian David Ray Griffin, recently featured on C-Span and author of "The New Pearl Harbor" and "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions."

Americans in great numbers are being asked to consider that those who planned and carried out the three separate attacks on September 11 were perhaps not the same individuals that the 9/11 Commission would have us believe.
Rove's recent insults aimed at "liberals" indicate what is possibly a very carefully planned psychological tactic to get Americans who've heard whispers or read claims that bin Laden didn't do it to go back in time and believe once again in the official U.S. government account of what happened on September 11.
By shouting loudly and vigorously that the Democrats are on the side of the "terrorists," the psychological ploy Rove and friends are using is to get our minds back on the elusive guy hiding out, ostensibly in some cave, along with his merry band of hijacking "terrorist" Muslims.
There is just a itty bitty problem with a thing called Proof, though. No definitive proof has ever been presented that bin Laden ever actually planned and carried out the attacks.

With at least seven of the 19 hijackers reportedly still alive and independent researchers blowing holes wide open in the 9/11 Commission Report, the president's Brain has much more to attend to than merely keeping up with distracting political games.

In fact, Mr. Rove has now the far more challenging task of swaying public opinion and attention back around to the belief that Muslim "terrorists"
indeed actually did 9/11.

Naturally, our Democratic leaders realize all of this already, for after all, it was the very chairman of the DNC himself, Dr. Howard Dean, who stated on May 22, 2005, on Meet the Press:
"But the thing that really bothered me the most, which the 9–11 Commission said also wasn't true, is the insinuation that the president continues to make to this day that Osama bin Laden had something to do with supporting terrorists that attacked the United States. That is false. The 9–11 Commission, chaired by a Republican, said it was false. Is it wrong to send people to war without telling them the truth."

While we will undoubtedly continue to watch partisan poison darts flying back and forth wildly, like a spirited game of ping pong, the real question
remains: Just how long this administration can keep Americans sufficiently distracted into continuing to buy into the whole 9/11 terrorist-as-evil-Muslim-boogeyman "official story?"

And so to Karl Rove, spinning his spin and flinging typical GOP discourse, liberals must now ask Rove the all-important question: Are you really sure you want to attack us over the subject of September 11? Do you really, really want to GO THERE with the "liberals," Mr. Rove?

No doubt about it. Soon we will get to see just how good Karl Rove's brain really is.

A truth activist living not far from the DC Beltway, Ms. Garger can be contacted at Savorsuccesslady@yahoo

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