Beyond Spin
One thing that the GOP hasn’t picked up on yet is that the Rove case is beyond spin. They should know this, they’ve used it to highly advantageous effect against Democrats in the past, especially Bill Clinton. When the general public has the solid impression that a wrong was done, spin stops being a cover and starts sounding like bullshit.
Right now, the GOP is spinning like mad, and it doesn’t look good. Scott McClellan repeating “I’ve answered that question” when he hasn’t, “I won’t comment on an ongoing investigation” when he has. The president saying he won’t comment until the facts are in when he said before he’d fire anyone involved, and Rove is by God undeniably involved. The Republican Senators still trying to attack Joe Wilson, with lies debunked years ago, and the attacks smack of partisan desperation in any case. The right-wing talking heads spinning every possible out for Rove: he didn’t use Plame’s actual name, he didn’t know she was undercover, Novak spoke her name first to Rove, Rove was just trying to stop Cooper from saying the wrong thing. When the average American hears that stuff, it all sounds the same now: bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. The story has passed the threshold now, and no amount of spin can save it. More spin just piles the bullshit higher on the Republican party and its agenda. Hell, if the Media Whores™ aren’t buying the bullshit, who do they think is? Sure, the party faithful, but you had them from “Hello.”
Janet Reno had it right: when you’ve screwed up, you’re screwed, and the best thing to do is claim responsibility, pay the price, and move on. But the right wing finds that impossible to do: claiming responsibility means sending Rove to jail, and they can’t let go of Karl Rove. He’s too much their boy, they’re too much beholden to him. So they have no choice but to bullshit, despite how transparent it all is. And it’s bringing the party down.
Do I disapprove? Hell, no. This is too much fun. Would I do differently? Maybe not. But this is what you get if you bullshit too much, too long, and you try to grab too much power without facing the fact that consequences are involved. Time to pay the price; try to stall, and the price just gets higher.
I can wait.
You’re one to talk about spin, aren’t you? It becoming clearer and clearer that Rove didn’t break the law. He did not call anyone or volunteer this information. He also didn’t name Plame as a CIA agent. And you say the right is spinning? This is nothing but a political game played by the media and the left. And that’s all it is. The newest developments from the New York Times and other sources reveal this much. On MSNBC recently, a panel discussing it suggested – by the Democratic person AND the Republican person – that this will probably not bring any legal ramifications to Rove. However, the Democratic person on the panel also said it would remain a political problem. What does that mean? Obviously, it means they are playing a game in order to bring down the administration by misleading the American people about what really happened.
And it is sickening. The Democrats have been harboring bitterness about losing the last several elections, and now they’re desperate. And Wilson’s reputation isn’t exactly squeaky-clean. Remember the 16 words in the State of the Union that were supposed to be unfounded? That was a lie. Reports afterwards claimed there was a real basis for the claims.
Now, I’m not trying to be the Republican message-boy. Just to show you where I’m coming from, yes, I am a Republican, but I don’t vote strictly Republican. And I understand that there can be corruption in any administration. That doesn’t mean we should automatically assume everyone who’s in the government is corrupt.
I also understand that there are some people who just hate President George W. Bush. Some people have hated him from the beginning, some since the 2000 election, and some because of Iraq. They’re entitled. But does that then mean the administration is overwhelmed by deception and corruption? Personally, I don’t think so. Every story done about this administration has led to a retraction: the fiasco with the CBS Memo, the Koran desecration story, and now this Karl Rove/Valerie Plame accusation. When are these people in the media going to get it through their heads that just because something may not look kosher doesn’t mean you abandon your homework and print anything that comes to mind? Before they started accusing, why didn’t they dig further and find out the whole story FIRST? Because some people are gunning to bring down this president, and at any cost. I’d bet that it’s people who want the Dems to win in 2006 and take back one of the congressional houses. But it’s going to backfire if stories like this keep turning out to be untrue.
It’s true that politics is usually a dirty business. That’s very sad, and I can understand initial suspicion. But once a story has been debunked, there will be those who will continue to insist that the accusations are true and that there’s a need for impeachment or whatever. You seem to be one of those who think that lies and game playing is what’s going to do it for your party. Just you wait, because you’re fooling yourself.