Category: Karl Rove

News About News

I was watching the Democratic Iowa “debate” Sunday on ABC-TV. I qualify the term because 1) the questions were designed intentionally to provoke – the “some say Obama’s not ready to lead; what do YOU think, Hillary?” or “some say Clinton can’t win the general election; what do YOU think, Barack?”; and 2) the so-called minor candidates were given short shrift. So I was surprised to see the results of an unscientific survey – I was stunned to see this as of 4 pm yesterday:

Who do you think won the Democratic debate?

Dennis Kucinich 11,821
Barack Obama 8,721
Hillary Clinton 5,546
Joe Biden 3,338
John Edwards 3,150
Nobody won. I’m voting Republican. 1,639
Nobody won. I’m waiting for Al Gore to get in the race. 1,145
Bill Richardson 1,109
Mike Gravel 1,044
Chris Dodd 201
Total Vote: 37,714

Dennis Kucinich, whose first chance to comment was about 30 minutes in. Kucinich, who had 2% of the vote in the polls in Iowa going in (Clinton, Edwards and Obama all have about 23% each). Kucinich, who provided my favorite moment in the event. When each candidate was asked about God and prayer. Dennis Kucinich said, “I’ve been praying to God for the last 45 minutes that you would call on me!” In spite of the flawed process, some things that the Ohio Congressman said hit a nerve. I’m not quite sure what, because my local ABC News affiliate cut off the 90-minute event after an hour in favor of its scheduled program, Teen News.
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I’m feeling sorry for poor Bill Plante, not about the row over the CBS News White House correspondent’s remark at that Bush bye-bye for Karl Rove (“If you’re so smart, why did you lose Congress?”, he yelled), for which he’s been labeled a rude liberal and adversarial, among the nicer terms – here are Plante’s thoughts on that controversy. Rather, because he’s ALSO been cast as another brainless MSM TOUTING Rove here. And what praise did Plante bestow on the outgoing official? “He’s not only the mastermind behind everything – he’s the president’s senior advisor…” But he WAS considered the mastermind, or as Bush put it in 2004, “the Architect”. He HAS been a Bush advisor for decades. I think Plante was just stating fact, not fawning over power.

And speaking of Rove, I heard him on Meet the Press on Sunday. As Chris Matthews was recently criticized for saying, he DOES talk really fast. I think he’s very good at manipulating information to his political advantage, but judge for yourself.

ROG

ROG

MOVIE REVIEW: Once


I don’t recall any recent movie that was as critically acclaimed as Once. Last I checked, it had a 97% positive rating on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes. It’s been billed, correctly, I think, as a musical for those who like music but hate musicals. I mean, there’s no Ewan McGregor from Moulin Rouge, merry murderers from Chicago or even Jennifer Hudson from Dreamgirls, all of which I’ve seen, by the way, breaking into song to advance the plot. All the music comes from their “real” situations, and works, perhaps, because musicians who could act were cast, rather than actors who could sing.

Carol and I got a babysitter and went to see Once last month at the Spectrum in Albany, when it was down to two shows a day, as it turns out the week before it closed. It’s the story of a Guy (Glen Hansard) in Ireland who is a busker with a guitar, an aspiring singer/songwriter and vacuum cleaner repairman who meets a Girl (Marketa Irglova), who’s also a singer/songwriter as well as a pianist. They end up making beautiful music together in an “organic” way. But it doesn’t play out exactly how you might think.

Incidentally, I capitalized Guy and Girl, because that’s how the characters are billed; likewise Guy’s Dad (Bill Hodnett) and Girl’s Mother (Danuse Ktrestova).

I really don’t know how to describe this any further without giving out key plot points, except to say that we too were charmed and captivated by Once. It has a running time of 85 minutes, and it’s rated R, almost certainly for the substantial use of the F-word. In fact, much of the scene before the credits even pop up is laced with that word; it lessens considerably after that, but you may want to watch this with other adults.
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Gay Prof says something snarky about the impeding departure of Karl Rove so I don’t have to.

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ROG

Rove Must Go 2

The RNC says that the “extreme left is attempting to define the modern Democrat[ic] party by rabid partisan attacks, character assassination and endless negativity.” Actually those last three phrases seem to describe Karl Rove!

It Appears That Karl Rove Is In Serious Trouble, by John W. Dean, who knows something of Presidential scandals.

Rove Leak is Just Part of Larger Scandal By Daniel Schorr, who covered that Presidential scandal Dean knows so well. (The Christian Science Monitor)

What W REALLY calls Rove

ROG

Rove Must Go

In Rogerland, Karl Rove quits the W White House, or preferably, he is fired (which would break poor Georgie’s heart.)

In Rogerland, Karl Rove is indicted for outing CIA operative Valerie Plame, which Robert Novak prints.

In Rogerland, leaky Novak retires in shame.

Will the real world coincide with Rogerland? TIME, and its reporter, will tell. (But jailed reporter Judith Miller of the New York Times will not, bless her “Freedom of the Press” heart…)

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