THE ROVE SYSTEM….Mark Schmitt says the real problem is not Karl Rove himself, but the “Rove system”:
Whatever happens to Rove, though, the Rove system has had not just a bad week, but a bad year. The Plame smear was very much in keeping with the Rove system, which is as much as anything else a sort of postmodern way of managing beliefs: vague possibilities can be asserted as absolute certainties; things known to be false ? such as the Niger-uranium story ? can be maintained as at least possibilities.
Is there a Democratic version of Karl Rove? Republicans seem to have steady supply of ruthless, thuggish hatchet men ? Lee Atwater, Roger Ailes, and Rove are the most famous ? but what about the Dems? Chris Lehane is the closest I can think of, but he’s not really in the same league, at least by reputation anyway.
Am I missing someone? And why the difference? After all, speaking historically anyway, it’s not as if Democrats are innocent babes unwilling to engage in political trench warfare.
