Sunday, March 14, 2010

History: A Rovian Rewrite


"There's a good reason why Rove's memoir is titled 'Courage and Consequences' not "Truth or Consequences.'"

Frank Rich
from this morning's New York Times

On the eleventh of March I received the following e-mail from the nice folks over at the Bush-Cheney Alumni Association:

"We're excited that you are interested in staying up-to-date on the activities of President Bush, Mrs. Bush, Vice President Cheney, Mrs. Cheney and other former members of the administration by receiving occasional updates from the Bush-Cheney Alumni Association. As a supporter, we thought you would be interested in Karl Rove's new book, Courage and Consequences."

Wasn't that sweet of them? You would not believe some of the mailing lists I am on. One of my secret, demented delights is getting information delivered straight to my inbox by these assholes. It sure keeps things interesting! It is always amusing to see that disgusting administration portrayed in a positive light. But their efforts to keep me informed were not in vain - not at all. You see, I am very interested in Rove's new book.

For people like me, the thing that makes American politics so much fun is the massive, seemingly bottomless gold mine that is chock full of unintentional humor - generously provided to us by the likes of Dick and Liz Cheney, Sarah Palin and Karl Rove! Seriously, this quartet is the gift that keep giving and giving and giving! You might very well want them to go away - but not I! They bring so much laughter to my life that I'd miss them if they were gone from the national spotlight. It would be like when ABC Television canceled the show "No Soap Radio" back in 1982. It was the funniest program I had ever seen - before or since. When they took it off the air after only four or five episodes, it took me a year to adjust. I thrive on the stupidity of these people; I really do!
A personal message to Mr. Rove: Stick around for a while....for me. Please?

I need you like a schoolboy needs his pie
River deep and Mountain high
Yo, baby!

It's going to be an absolute scream in the next few years watching the Bush Mob try to rewrite history with the flood of books that are sure to come out. The latest screed by Rove is merely the tip of the iceberg. They have quite a chore ahead of them no doubt. Putting a positive spin on the worst administration in American history? I imagine something that tricky would be the equivalent of trying to put a smiley face on a decomposing pig:

"Well, lookie thar, Martha! Ain't that purdy?"

To paraphrase what I wrote on the very first posting on this site way the heck back in June of 2006, In 2000 when the people of the United States stupidly sent George W. Bush to the White House, we effectively pointed the proverbial loaded pistol at our own collective heads. Four years later, on Election day 2004 - make no mistake about it - we pulled the trigger.

"Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job."

George W. Bush

So let me give you a crash synopsis of what the Rove book is all about: The Bush Mob were wildly successful - in fact they were the most competent administration in American history - and President Obama is undoing all the good work they did with his filthy Socialist ways. Basically our boy Karl is hoping that the American people will once again exhibit symptoms of the mass amnesia for which they are justly famous. After six long years of the executive and legislative branches of our government being controlled by the extreme fringe of American politics, the very idea that the electorate is now seriously considering going back in that loony direction must fill Rove with joy.

The revisionist history that is now being peddled by these clowns is astounding in its audacity. They are now trying to sell the fiction that it was the inattention of the Clinton administration that led directly to the hideous attacks of September 11, 2001. What is being conveniently ignored by the revisionists (They "conveniently ignore" a lot of stuff. Did you ever notice that?) is the fact that when Clinton's National Security Adviser Sandy Berger had his first face-to-face interview with Condoleeza Rice during the transition in the winter of 2000, he bluntly told her that al Quida had been his number one focus and that it would be her's, too. After the meeting Berger came away with the distinct impression that Dr. Rice didn't even know what the hell al Qaeda was. George W. Bush, you might remember, thought that the Taliban was a rock 'n' roll group. Brilliant bunch, this lot.

Of course having spent the better part of seven years violating international law, the Bushies are now desperate to put a positive spin on their use of torture techniques. Rove is now trying to make us swallow the utter fiction that those techniques - outlawed by the Geneva Convention over seventy years ago - worked fine and dandy, thank you very much. Here's what Rove conveniently ignored (There he goes again!): While they might have been able to get some bits of useful information via the torture route (That assertion is being debated and debunked by the day), they also got a truck load of intelligence that turned out to be utter bullshit - like the "fact" that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. In other words, the victims told their inquisitors anything they wanted to hear in order to get the torture to stop. That didn't work out too well in the end, did it?

It's not the ones who are "catapulting the propaganda" that are disconnected from reality - they know damned well what they are doing - it's all those pathetic white people who are swallowing this garbage whole! And let's face some sobering truths, shall we? Other than a small handful of blubbering Uncle Toms, they're almost entirely white. The disconnect between reality and delusion in this country is widespread and appalling. That would partially explain the political careers of people like Jeff Sessions and Michele Bachmann. People like them are only able to advance because of the stampeding ignorance of their constituents. In the land of the brain-dead, the half-wit is king.

We really ought to give Karl his due. Let's face it, the guy has found himself in a nasty, unenviable situation. How would you like to be in the poor bastard's place? Think about it! He is desperately trying to buy some time with his idiotic book. He needs to stall history's verdict just long enough to get through the rest of his life as "a beloved elder statesman" - or however the hell he wants to be viewed. After his life on earth is over, why give a damn about how future generations will perceive him?

Then again, the guy is so unbelievably arrogant, maybe he really thinks he can pull a fast one on history. Maybe he actually believes that he can manipulate posterity to such a degree that one-hundred and fifty years from now, historians will view him as tenderly as they now do Lincoln's secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay. Someone should inform him that while a public villain might be able to fool his contemporaries, he will not - he cannot - fool history - not for long anyway. History has an uncanny way of catching up with and cornering a scoundrel.

So let's all sit back and have a good laugh while watching Karl Rove try to whitewash his crimes against the American people. This ought to be a hoot-and-a-half!

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

SUGGESTED READING

Bush's Brain:
How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential
by James Moore and Wayne Slater

Bushwhacked:
Life In George W. Bush's America
by the late, GREAT Molly Ivins

24 Comments:

At 6:20 PM, Blogger Nance said...

I've been taking an Intellectual Elitist's holiday from politics for a few days before a gasket gets blown by the outrage such idiocy induces in me; I'm really grateful that there are folks like you who are sufficiently entertained by it to carry on. I started to say I'll be back, but I just felt my blood pressure kick up a notch. I may just become a liberal blog cheerleader for another week. It's either that or give myself a stroke on the Healthcare Reform watch.

 
At 7:40 PM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

I wish I could laugh but it's horrifying to me. Even more so because of the Texas education committee rewriting what is important in history for the school books they will accept. Thomas Jefferson out. New Gingrich in. If this only impacted Texas, I'd take even that lighter except they say they are such a huge state that the publishing houses will cater to them and it will impact all the text books. Rewriting history sometimes seems to work-- for awhile at least with some people and that is what we are seeing today :(

 
At 8:13 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Rain....

You have just given me the subject of my next piece. How will I ever be able to thank you???

Love and Peace,

Tom Degan

 
At 2:18 AM, Blogger ralphlake said...

How about Jesus and the Glenster? That's surely rant worthy, Tom.

 
At 11:27 AM, Blogger Darlene said...

I may be wrong, but I think the school books Rain is referring to only apply to home schooled children. Most of those are in homes where religious intolerance is being preached so they would be getting that misinformation from the parents anyhow.

Nonetheless, it is very disturbing that children are being taught myths instead of facts (the earth is flat, Bubba.) and another generation of tea baggers is being raised.

 
At 11:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good fill someone in on and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you as your information.

 
At 12:23 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

Hi Tom, you know that I admire your writing tremendously. Therefore, I am going to have to rely on you to keep me up to date on this, shall we say, crap?

So many books, so little time and my reading schedule just does not permit the kind of fiction the Bushies wish to peddle.

Besides, why the hell aren't they all in prison anyway?

 
At 3:08 PM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

Darlene, where did you get that information? I went looking again (as I also plan to write about it) and nowhere that I read does it say it's only for homeschooling. It seems to be for all grade school students up to 8th grade. I would be interested in a link that says otherwise before I put up my own on it tomorrow

 
At 4:03 PM, Anonymous Paul M. said...

Tom:

It grates me as much as you what these jackasses are trying to pull. Keep in mind that the winners get to write the history, so keep up the struggle, mate.

 
At 11:43 AM, Blogger Darlene said...

To Tom and Rain - I read the article on rewriting the elementary grade text books in my local Sunday paper. I may have misread it and, if so, I apologize. Unfortunately, the paper is now in the recycling bin and I can't retrieve it. I do know it mentioned home schooling, but that may have just been a part of the story. I guess my mind got muddled when I read that Phyllis Schlaffy was one of the instigators of this outrage. I do believe that woman is dangerous and deranged. Just to see her name raises my blood pressure.

 
At 1:10 AM, Blogger Cher Duncombe said...

Rove is desperately seeking cover. This book is a sham and just one more cover-up to add to the Bush heap. I don't believe a word this man says. History will little note nor long remember Karl Rove as a benefactor to society.

 
At 6:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It isn't hard at all to start making money online in the undercover world of [URL=http://www.www.blackhatmoneymaker.com]blackhat community[/URL], Don’t feel silly if you haven’t heard of it before. Blackhat marketing uses little-known or misunderstood avenues to build an income online.

 
At 10:48 AM, Blogger Yellowstone said...

Tom-

Spend some time reading a Texas HS History book. About ten years ago there was a major flap over 248 significant errors/omissions.

Texas is unique in that it still believes it won the war with Mexico and was able to keep Texas.

When you get a chance - read "The Mexican Spy Company".

 
At 11:41 AM, Anonymous Frank Fisher said...

Well Tom it's too bad you feel this way. I was going to send you a t-shirt for your birthday this year that reads "I'd rather be waterboarding." I guess I'll save my money. I hope you feel better soon.
Frank

 
At 3:28 PM, Blogger carol said...

Darlene, Rain, Tom,

I had read in the NYTimes that the Texas textbooks decision would affect a wide area because they are the largest buyer of textbooks in the country and the printers would cater to them. However, I also read recently that because everything is now done electronically, printing companies could tailor the textbooks to individual states (because, you know, history is so like, relative).

Anyway, I look forward to reading your insights on this subject as I prepare to actively oversee my kid's history assignments!

 
At 5:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

tom, obama is no better than bush.
a link to a short video for those who disagree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfVULT8vdUk

 
At 9:30 AM, Blogger Cosmic Navel Lint said...

I see revisionism is in vogue in the US this season?

That being the case, and after the other débâcle in Texas this week, I penned this, yesterday:

Revisionism: The Texas Brain-saw Massacre

This will have consequences which will damage the US, its education system, its school pupils and, ultimately, its standing in the world, certainly where it expects to be taken seriously.

Edward R Murrow will be spinning in his grave.

 
At 9:36 AM, Blogger Ronni said...

We are being outnumbered by stupid people. It becomes more and more obvious every day. Because more intelligent people tend to limit the size of their families, and those...well...less so just don't care, we are being outnumbered, outvoted and beaten to the best parking places by people who can't remember who was in office last year.

 
At 8:54 PM, Blogger Carson Lee said...

The only reason I remain a registered Republican now is so that I can vote against the worst extremists twice, once in the primary, and again in the general election.
Our party, and a portion of the national discourse, have got off-track and people don't control their emotions and worst impulses as they should.

 
At 9:46 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Good for you, Carson Lee!

I've been saying for years that there are still some good Republicans like you out there who might take their party back one day. You can remind your fellow party members that their's is (or "was") the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Keep on throwing that monkey wrench into the machine!

Love and Peace,

Tom Degan

 
At 3:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't believe some people still write comments that pin some hope on the democratic party or gop. it's mind boggling, because these people don't live in the jungle and they have access to internet. how can they be so out of touch with reality?
the only answer i have is: we are in this situation because the morons and the retards unfortunately constitute the overwhelming majority.
Some authors like chalmers johnson have written books with titles like "nemesis, the last days of the american republic" , with no effect, many courageous persons have warned that the majority of congress is corrupt and run by aipac-except very few-, but no reaction.
An article written by Doug Thompson titled "turn off life support: america is dead" sums up the real situation today.
(can be found at informationclearinghouse)
it's over folks, don't waste your time discussing meaningless subjects, you'll be worried very soon about how to survive when hyperinflation will hit, when trillions of dollars will be printed and USD will have the same value of Zimbabwe dollar.


-

 
At 7:15 PM, Blogger PCS said...

Back when the Heritage Foundation was handing out free copies of the US Constitution, I hit them up for 25 free copies which I proceeded to give to all my progressive friends. I did warn them to make sure the HF did make any additions or deletions to the document.

 
At 11:17 PM, Anonymous Harry R. Sohl said...

G.W. Bush used to call Rove "Turdblossom".

As usual, he was at most half-right.

 
At 9:39 AM, Blogger Chris S said...

This is all Tom's opinion which is fine but the content is not fact and I think Tom is wrong about everything.

 

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