Novak Mourns His BFF

by emptywheel

Jeebus. Yesterday's departure press conference was unnecessarily weepy. But this is embarrassing.

The most useless speculation today in Washington is whom White House chief of staff Josh Bolten might choose to replace Karl Rove. He is genuinely irreplaceable.

The whole column is steeped in deep resentment, resentment of those Republicans who have suggested that getting rid of Rove will help the Administration.

Rove was a principal target of congressional Democrats even before February 2005, when he became deputy chief of staff in addition to senior adviser to President Bush. But the combination of the duties intensified the assault on him. Prominent Republicans of late have privately expressed a desire that he leave government, hoping the move might diminish the intensity of the Democratic assault.

[snip]

Rove is one of the canniest and most successful managers in American political history. Yet he is viewed within his own party's ranks, especially on Capitol Hill, as part of the problem afflicting the Grand Old Party.

Which resentment Novak then turns on Bush himself. First, he portrays Rove's departure as a surrogate for a Bush impeachment (mourn not, Bobby! We're still counting on the impeachment itself!)

Since there will be no impeachment proceedings against the president, Rove has been the best available surrogate. No wonder that a leading Republican has been asking around whether ferocious Democratic partisans in Congress might ease up if Rove were no longer there to kick around.

But Novak's resentment of Bush comes out more clearly when Novak describes how Rove took a complete loser and turned him into President.

Rove is unique, a rare political mechanic with a comprehensive knowledge of American political history. As an obscure young campaign consultant in Austin 20 years ago, he embraced George W. Bush -- who had failed in both politics and business -- and gave him a plan to guide him into the White House.

Shorter Novak: "Bush, Rove made you, you little shit. And this is the thanks you give him?"

Aside from the ugly reflection of a man whose lifetime love object has been brought low, the column is interesting for the way it pinpoints the problem with Rove: both in his position as Deputy Policy Director (which portfolio Rove lost in April 2006, but Novak doesn't mention that), and more generally, Rove combined politics with policy.

The combination of party and policy was epitomized by the distribution in the White House of Republican National Committee e-mail accounts, with presidential aides given party BlackBerrys. This lethal melding was confirmed after the 2004 election victory, when Rove as deputy chief of staff took on policy as well as political duties.

There are other descriptions for that, of course--it's called politicizing our nonpartisan government, turning our country into a cronyist one-party state that Stalin would have loved, preferring loyal incompetence to independent competence. But that characteristic--the way Rove combined party and policy and politicized everything in government--seems to be one of the things Novak loves most about his BFF.

Is that the source of Novak's resentment? Was Rove forced out because the politicization of our government has become too much for some Republicans to tolerate? Is Novak so angry because some Republican big-wigs have decided to turn the trait Novak most loves about his BFF Rove, into his fatal flaw?

But wait. In much of this column, Novak speaks generically of "prominent Republicans" ... "within his party's own ranks." Multiple Republicans.

In the climax of this tragic opera, though, Novak turns his ire toward one Republican alone:

No wonder that a leading Republican has been asking around whether ferocious Democratic partisans in Congress might ease up if Rove were no longer there to kick around. That provides melancholy exit music for one of the most effective and most powerful of all presidential aides. [my emphasis]

Novak is pissed, above all, at this one leading Republican, who betrayed Rove's greatness in an attempt to make things easy for Rove's creation, Bush. Cue the melancholy musical tribute for the scorned hero.

Funny, that. Novak doesn't give this Republican's name. It's not like Novak to withhold the names of those whom he targets in his columns.

Comments

[Baked Alaska]

From your summary, Novak's lament reads like a crime-family melodrama. The ruthless but faithful retainer, who built his life around the protection and advancement of the Dimmer Son, finds himself suddenly shut out.

Didn't the Bushes just have a little meeting up in Kennebunkport?

If you can't immerse yourself in the perverse world of organized crime, it's impossible to sympathize with any of the characters. Novak doesn't seem to have that problem, but perhaps he should have saved his sad story for other insiders. Any playwright can tell you that if the characters are all evil, what befalls them can't be tragic.

[Ace Armstrong]

As a document that was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment and forged in a time of European colonial expansion, our constitution has had a difficult pasasage through the narrows of the national security state.
Although the framers had no knowledge of relativity or mutually assured destruction, they were more than familiar with the human traits of hubris, greed and autocracy. The Bush Roving Sons of Watergate are not a mutually exclusive phenomenon. Karl Rove is just the latest rendition of timeless charlatans who measure their sucess by obfuscation and duplicity. Primary among their tools is the intellectual ability to analysis a system to it's detriment and not promote its potential.
Truth be that the rovian rules of governanace are basically at opposition with our established political institutions.
In comparative analysis with the National Socialist's subversion of the Weimar Constitution, it is the strength of established political institutions that makes the difference.
As the history of Europe displays the transition from monarchy to democracy has been a bumpy road.
One of the glaring mistakes of the neocons in the invasion of Iraq was to ignore the consequences of absent political institutions and the historical signifigance of foreign invasion to the 'fertile cresent'.
And maybe Rove is more of a trotskyite that a stalinist. That would certainly explain his alliance with the neocons.

[Minnesotachuck]

For those of us who are unable to spend as much time as you and others do minimizing the space between ear and ground, can you give us a clue as to whom the unnamed evil (in Novakula's eyes) Republican is?

[Minnesotachuck]

Sorry about the graammar. Sentence structure changed in process and I hit "Post" before correcting it.

[joanneleon]

I've always wondered why anyone gave Novak a forum. He's been disgraced and discredited. But in this case, it sure looks like they're letting Novak write because he's bitter and resentful and as such, he's going to reveal things that this secretive administration won't. Immense egos are the strength of this party, and immense egos will be the thing that destroys them.

I'm amazed at this Novak article. There are so many Easter eggs in it! Woe is Rove, the Republican party now sees him as more of a liability than an asset. As if this should be a surprise?

Who is the terrible, horrible, no good "leading Republican" who is offering up Rove's hide to the voracious democrats investigating in Congress? Could it be the wily, non-trustworthy Specter? That's just a guess -- I really don't know and there are a lot of choices.

It's interesting that Novak mentions Armitage too. Just last week, Armitage appeared in the movie "No End in Sight." While watching it, I thought it was very curious that he was in that movie. I found his behavior to be a little strange too, in contrast to others who were interviewed in depth. It's telling. The movie was limited in scope and by no means meant to reveal everything. But it did strongly implicate those most responsible for the Iraq debacle.

Who else is Novak so angry at? How does he feel about Baker, for instance? Anyway, this is almost equivalent to the temper tantrum Novak threw, on camera, when he appeared on CNN with Carville. While I usually cringe at his words, or worse yet, his appearances, now I say, "Let the man talk!"

[Neil]

"Rove is unique, a rare political mechanic with a comprehensive knowledge of American political history. As an obscure young campaign consultant in Austin 20 years ago, he embraced George W. Bush -- who had failed in both politics and business -- and gave him a plan to guide him into the White House."

So it's Rove we can thank for guiding the proven failure "in both politics and business" to the White House. Terrific. Thanks KKKarl.

Karl is moving on to head up the out sourced GOP smear campaign of the Democratic front runner, and operate the wealthy persons favored special interest group in conjunction with his best client until January 2009.

BFF?

[joanneleon]

Ach, perhaps I missed the obvious "leading Republican" here. Cheney. I'm not sure why, but I was thinking of someone on the Judiciary committee.

[emptywheel]

Joanne

There is a strong anti-Capitol Hill bent here, too. I do wonder, though, whether it's someone like Tom Davis: who has his fingers in the investigation of politicization, who wants to run for state-wide office, and who Novak has quoted in hte past on related issues. Specter would work, too, though if Specter had his choice, he'd get rid of Gonzales.

Then again, we all know that Cheney, Mr. Fourth Branch, actually is part of Capitol Hill, too.

[Neil]

"Joseph Wilson did not know the identity of my source when he talked about "frog-marching" Rove into jail, setting a mindless pattern soon followed by bloggers and politicians alike. A talkative juror, after convicting Scooter Libby for perjury and obstruction of justice, expressed sorrow that it was not Karl Rove."

EW, I know you won't stand for being called mindless. Do you think Novak reads or is it all word of mouth? Have you sent him a copy of your book?

[Rayne]

Now that's funny, that a leading Republican would think we could be fobbed off with carcass of a beached white whale. As if. They truly have NO idea what they have done to this country, and no idea what a genuine offering of whale carcass really looks like. I take it they have never heard of a harpoon...

Makes that teary scene between the BFF's yesterday so much more suspect; were tears part of what they perceived as an obligatory offering, some sort of ablution that was supposed wash away their criminality? Good gravy, how history will view this.

[Boo Radley]

BFF = Best Friend Forever

[joanneleon]

Marcy,
I don't get the sense that it's Cheney. Though it's very in vogue to blame everything on Cheney, "leading Republican" would be a strange way to describe him. And while "Cheney made me do it!" is becoming a popular excuse, it doesn't look like Novak is sticking to the talking points anymore.

"Leading Republican," it seems to me, would better describe either someone running (or thinking of running) for office, someone who is strong in the RNC or the party in general, a thought leader in one of the think tanks, or a ranking member in one of the Congressional committees. I suppose it could also be one of the minority leaders in the House or the Senate, but neither of them seems particularly strong right now. We'll have to watch to see who speaks out the most in the coming weeks and who seems to be wielding a lot of influence. In a party that's crumbling, power and leadership might be coming from an unusual suspect.

I first suspected Specter because of his strange behavior in committee hearings. While he doesn't seem to be one of the "in crowd" or a thought leader in the party, he's on the judiciary committee, and that's really important right now. Judging by his behavior, I could easily believe that he's been going around trying to broker deals. In his own mind, he is a giant, and at this particular moment in history, he might have some Republicans convinced that he's got an advantage that others in the party don't have.

[emptywheel]

Joanne

It coudl be either Mitch McConnell or, even more likely except that he shares paleocon ideology with Novak, Trent Lott. They're pretty smart at getting what they want.

[Jodi]

A lot of what Novak says is true. However in all these kinds of momentous events there are a lot of pluses and minuses on either side of a decision.

The net result I believe is that Rove will benefit, Bush will benefit, the Republicans will benefit, the Democrats will not benefit.

--> benefit - as used here is a sum of pluses and minuses. Indeed more than that. It is a resultant vector.

[Pete]

Jodi - I'see you are still bitter. The political landscape is shifting (though not in the way that Rove said when he predicted decades of Republican domination). Get used to it.

[radiofreewill]

Neil at 9:56

That's a talking point to set-up Rove's book. Novak is pre-viewing Rove's POV on the Plame Affair.

This is one of the down-stream problems that's going to keep climbing out of the coffin in the future because Rove wasn't indicted with Libby - an indictment would have spiked any of this kneepad stenography revisionist history that paints "Rove as the Victim."

As most of us at TNH and FDL know, Rove and Libby were tag-teaming the Press to plaster the town with the scandalous news about Joe Wilson's boondoggle, arranged by his CIA wife - a smear campaign under Cheney's direction, authorized by Bush.

Certainly, Novak knows that Rove was 'as involved' as Libby in the compiling together of his hit-piece - Novak made sure of his bullets by routing a pre-publish copy to Rove via Hohlt. Rove and Novak were in it up to their necks together.

But no, Novak says that Wilson didn't know who Novak's sources were when he accused Rove, and Rove wasn't indicted, so instead, Rove was persecuted by bloggers and politicians alike with the false meme of a witch hunt.

"He's a good guy," says Robert Novak, the columnist best known for 'outing' national security asset, Covert CIA Operative and WMD Proliferation Manager Valerie Plame Wilson as part of a political smear to neutralize Joe Wilson, a legitimate critic of Bush's Rush to War in Iraq.

[dalloway]

No Republican in Congress is powerful enough to push Rove out. And nobody could push him out if he wanted or was able to stay. He's Gonzo times a million in terms of Bush's loyalty to him. The only explanation that makes sense for his abrupt departure is that some big hammer is about to fall on KKKarl and he was forced out to protect the remaining bunker-ettes in the White House.

[Pete]

Maybe one of the reason Rove left is that had he continued his activities within the government he would be violating the law and could be in deep shit. I think he will continue to focus on manipulating the 2008 elections, if nothing else for saving his and Bush's skin. But I think that he is overrated.

[Zhtwn]

Hmmm...just realized that when Libby asked Judy Miller to source him as "ex Hill staff", he was missing the Fourth Branch argument. If Fouth Branch is part of Legislative as well as Executive, why couldn't he just ask Miller to call him "Hill staff"?

Or would that claim have been too far out even for Miller to accept?

[chrisc]

Novak isn't into truth. At least not the reality based kind of truth. There is ample evidence that Alberto Gonzalez is incompetent and corrupt. There is bi-partisan clamor for his resignation, yet he is still there. So, why would Bush react because the Dems (and a lone GOPper) are after Karl?

Novak's spin is absurd. Bush/Cheney have never responded to political pressure. Hell, Karl Rove was what made them immune to political pressure. Karl knew how to twist and turn every arm, how to promise support or threaten demise for any Congresscritter who didn't vote the Bush/Cheney way. He turned the entire government into a means to those ends. And now he is stepping away because of political pressure? No way.

Rove may be "canney" and "successful" but he is also one mean spirited vengeful dude. And he isn't timid about using a shill like Novak to deliver a threat. Somebody better watch his back.

[zhiv]

First guess is Specter, but Davis is an interesting possibility. Specter is relentlessly going after Abu in his own weird way, and it's hard to tell how he feels about Rove, who is clearly the source. Specter sees Leahy gaining strength and power (and attention) from speaking the truth, and he has to twist into a knot for his own reactions. But Davis has to sit next to Waxman, and he hasn't turned the corner onto Criticism St. yet.

In all of the coverage of Rove and the timing, etc., I can't help but think about (and fear) how his whole plan would have worked all too well if it weren't for Cheney and Rumsfeld and Iraq. It's a big if, of course, but it seems like Rove's politicization policy and construction of the PRM (permanent republican majority) was on a nice Stalinist track and could have set itself up nicely if, say, Colin Powell had been put in charge of the response to 9/11. Rumsfeld would have been confined to Afghanistan and Cheney would have been, well, a vice-president. Since this more logical (but very scary for the domestic future) scenario was preempted by grandiose neocon fantasies made real and tragic, it's hard not to see Rove's departure as the final lightening of the load to allow the 4th branch unencumbered access to the driver's seat for the last 500 days. Rove had run out of relevance, and was staying one step ahead of the rule of law, and he has a lot of work to do spinning out a twisted version of "history" for Bushco. And Cheney can do so much more damage in the endgame and is just the greater of two evils, that's all.

[Pete]

Bingo. Nonbody could have pushed Rove out. This is just a not too subtle hint to the Repubs in the Congressional committees to take the heat off.

[mk]

Possibly another reason for Kkkarl to step down? Talking Points Memo has linked to a Matt Apuzzo AP story that says:

"Five journalists must identify the government officials who leaked them details about a scientist under scrutiny in the 2001 anthrax attacks, a federal judge said Monday.

"U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered the reporters to cooperate with Steven J. Hatfill, who accused the Justice Department and FBI of violating the federal Privacy Act by giving the media information about the FBI's investigation of him.

"The reporters named in the opinion are Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman of Newsweek, Allan Lengel of The Washington Post, Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today, and James Stewart, formerly of CBS News."

Hmmm. Isikoff? I dunno, but where Mikey has been, Karl's never far away, right?

Maybe Judge Walton is partly responsible for Rove's stepdown? (Not, of course, that there is any lack of possible reasons...)

Thanks, emptywheel, for your continuing analysis and insight.

[zhiv]

Reading through other sites, CHS and Digby in particular, and pondering Rove saying "I'm Moby Dick." Digby lays out the big dots that might be connected between Watergate opponent surveillance and today's warrantless wiretapping/TSP/domestic surveillance, and she suggests that the slow bleed of Hatch Act violations might act as cover for larger egregious political activity. So does this fit ew's exhaustive research into the TSP and the investigation of its illegality from 01-05? Again, I feel like Fred Fielding is the key man, orchestrating the game of bluff and dodge, and he should have the best sense of how long they can hold out.

[radiofreewill]

I don't know, this has the feel of a sea change.

Bush and Cheney can't smother the truth of the Hospital Visit, the Abramoff Corruption Case, the CIA Leak investigation, the USAs, the RNC e-mails, the Tillman Investigation, Torture, Domestic Spying, the DC Madam's Client List, and more - it's too late. The Dem Leadership has the "truth telling cards" that would big-foot any 'parlimentary obstructing pretence' by Fielding and utterly destroy Bush and any hope for his legacy.

The good guys are holding at least one Ace, if not more.

BushCo is melting. Rove and the women and children, are fleeing. Now, only the Kookiest of the Kool-Aid drinkers would commit political sepuku by continuing to support Bush and Cheney's failed policies.

Our National Nightmare may have turned the corner back towards the Rule of Law.

Let's see if they throw Gonzo off the Bus next...