There are many, many different reasons why Karl Rove might have abruptly announced his resignation today. The only one we know for sure isn't true is the one he gave -- he wants to spend more time with his family.
That is the lamest excuse in the history of political excuses. It's such a hackneyed, cliche that it smacks of panic and poor timing. If Rove had any time to think or set up another job before he left, he wouldn't have had to go with the desperate, "spend more time with my family" BS.
He said he wants to be closer to his son who is going to college in San Antonio. Which parent leaves the job of a lifetime to stalk their kids at college? Did Rove leave the White House to attend more keggers?
So, what's the real deal here? Let's start out with the most benign and work our way toward the more fun and ugly possibilities.
We outline all the possibilities below:
1. Bush's Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said that anyone who stays past Labor Day has to stay with the White House for the duration of Bush's term, so this was the perfect time to leave. But this is the first anyone has ever heard of this rule and you think they might have announced that before.
2. There is nothing political left to do in the Bush White House since they won't be running for office anymore and they don't seem to give a damn about popularity, for better or for worse. Rove left to run someone else's campaign and better utilize his real talents. But why wouldn't he have set up a huge job on one of the campaigns before he announced this awkward resignation? He says he wants to spend more time with his family, is that going to change three weeks from now when he signs with one of the Republican campaigns? It's an uncomfortable position to leave yourself in.
3. There's something rotten in Denmark. He's doing a pre-emptive strike to get out of line of fire before the shit really hits the fan in the White House. They are about to release some papers that shows that Rove clearly had a part to do in firing the US attorneys or in violating the Hatch Act, etc. Now, they'll be able to say, "What difference does it make, he's not in the White House anymore anyway. The Democrats are just pursuing an old, irrelevant political vendetta." So, he gets out before he is forced out by damaging revelations.
4. The flare theory. Some fighter planes throw out flares before an oncoming missile hits them to distract the missile and steer it in another direction. There is going to be some significantly damaging news they are about to put out and they want to distract people by throwing out Rove's resignation first, so that's all people will talk about. Normally, bad political news is put out late on a Friday in order to bury it. The fact that they have announced this early on Monday, in the beginning of the week's news cycle, makes people wonder what they might want to hide later in the news cycle this week.
5. Gonzales is also about to resign and they knew Rove would be next. Once Gonzales was out of the way, Congressional investigators would have turned their sights on Rove. Internally, the White House knows the evidence against Rove is bad and they acted ahead of Gonzales so that it won't seem that Rove's resignation had anything to do with Gonzales' departure and the related scandal.
6. Sex scandal. I told you we were going to have fun. If you put out nonsense reasons for resigning from the White House -- the best job you will likely ever have -- you have to expect that people will speculate about what the real reason is.
Here are theories that listeners already came up with this morning on our show.
a. DC Madam. He's on the list. The only thing that gets you thrown out of this administration is a sex scandal. Everything else is kosher, so it must have been sex.
b. The publisher of Hustler, Larry Flynt, promised there would be another big name on his list of Republican politicians who were caught having sexual indiscretions.
c. Jeff Gannon. This is the fake reporter that the White House used to plant favorable questions during press conferences at the White House (which by the way is completely outrageous and they completely got away with -- as usual). He also happened to be a gay, male prostitute (of course). He was on record as entering the White House on dozens of occasions where there were no press briefings. What was he doing there? Was he seeing someone at the White House?
I think all of these except 6(c) are plausible. Even though I am an evil, Bush-hater, I still think the top two possibilities are very real. But the fact that they came out with the story on a Monday, it was so sudden and unexpected and that they had no good excuse other than the usual family nonsense makes me think something is up. So, until there's a real answer, we'll get to keep speculating.
So, what do you think?
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 5)
16. Karl will spend time with family, write a best seller and get a sunday morning talk show just like stepanopolus who served clinton. what goes around comes around. Go Karl!!
Karen at 3:27PM on Aug 13th 2007
17. One might ask how the Young Jerks are all knowing all seeing ... considering that they devine truth with nothing more than an ugly liberal bias and possibily a crystal ball. And they do it with such conviction! Like saying it with the certainty of a lunatic makes it so.
Clue: The Young Jerks are hearing voices ... not reading minds.
Thomas J Gassett at 3:35PM on Aug 13th 2007
18. 6. Whatever the real reason(s) we know Rove and Dumbya were lying in their announcement...their lips were moving.
We know? You paritsan clowns don't know anything but the party lie. How do I know ... I can see what you type.
Seriously, you and your sorry little band of comrades should be rounded up and made to pick up garbage along the freeway. For once in your insignificant life you drones should be made to do something ... anything positive.
Thomas J Gassett at 3:39PM on Aug 13th 2007
19. He's going to be the CEO for Diebold?
HELEN at 4:02PM on Aug 13th 2007
20. hopefully it will be easier for COngress to get a hold of him now.
for political commentary & blogs, visit:
http://www.politidose.com/
Patrick at 4:06PM on Aug 13th 2007
21. The real reason Karl is leaving? To spend more time with family, to write a best seller, and to be offered a sunday morning talk show, just like Stepanopolus who served under clinton. What goes around, comes around.
Maryann at 4:46PM on Aug 13th 2007
22. After the plethora of lies and fabrications he's added to the political discourse in this nation, why would anyone willingly believe anything Karl Rove has to say?
I mean, sure, it's probably a lot of fun to woo the poor, dumb Americans who swallow the outrageous nonsense this administration, and there's perhaps a great sense of pseudo-tyrannical power in that; however, in the end, when you consider what is the best route for our nation's people to follow, Karl rove will probably be looked upon as a man who has done far more harm than good. He has tarnished the political landscape with absurdities and irrelevancies (e.g. McCain's little "illegitimate" black-baby that the poor, addlepated neo-conservatives swallowed).
Personally, I hope his subpoenas catch up with him, and I don't blame him for wanting to spend a little time with his family before he's sent off to prison.
Dan at 4:55PM on Aug 13th 2007
23. After the plethora of lies and fabrications he's added to the political discourse in this nation, why would anyone willingly believe anything Karl Rove has to say?
So, where is the plethora of proof. Oh, that's right ... liberal drones don't need proof. They belive the truth is whatever you chant ... like some damn Jihadi (until you believe it)
All I know is that liberals promised a plethora of change and didn't deliver. Maybe that's why Bush is wildly more popular than the lying Left in Congress?
Liberals destroyed our standing in the world with all sorts of allegations against Bush, and promised that once they were in power they would hold the administration responsible. So where is it? All we get are hearings on Fired Federal prosecutors that serve at the pleasure of the president.
Why no hearings on Abu Grab? Liberals told the world our government supports that abuse, tourture and even the murder of our prisioners. They destroyed our standing in the world and won control of Congress on these promises ... right? Apparently all we have here are liberals that wouldn't know the truth if it crawled up their leg and bit their fat whinning ass. But that won't stop them from insisting that the American people were lied to by the Bush administration, though now we know why there are no hearings ... now don't we?
Thomas J Gassett at 5:19PM on Aug 13th 2007
24. Karl, Thank you for your service to our Country and to our President. Enjoy yourself and your family. Looking forward to the future best seller too! I know you wont disappoint! As far as the left wing haters, take a chill pill!
beth at 6:13PM on Aug 13th 2007
25. ROVE RESIGNED TO GO AFTER THE TURKS AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN. HE'LL DRIVE THEM ALL CRAZY. LOL
Plinkoman at 6:50PM on Aug 13th 2007
26. I do not care why Rove is leaving. I just hope Dick and Bush go with him too.
Hirut at 6:59PM on Aug 13th 2007
27. What ever reason Rove left is none of the liberals business, I would bet that Bill Clintons name is on that list from the madame though. Money must be changing hands fast and furious. The so called dems of this country don't even know the man, just another case of Bush bashing which is getting pretty old, Hillary is still at it, she is such a phony, out in the cornfields in Iowa trying to look like a human being, biggest laugh there is
Jane at 8:08PM on Aug 13th 2007
28. This is very convenient. He is "out" so there will be no conflict of interest as he gets prizes and gifts bestowed upon him, his family and friends. The next seventeen months will be used to set him up for life. Remember, he knows too much. So, the people left behind are obligated to buy his silence.
Tom at 9:45PM on Aug 13th 2007
29. Thomas Gasset,Why doe's free speech bother you so much? Who's paying you to write this ridiculous,
hateful rant?
You sound like a far right wacko.Your fascist
world is the only place where Bush is "wildly
poular".
The liberal Congress? 25-30% of the Democrats in
Congress are decidedly Consevative.
The Dems efforts to do the People's will is
constantly blocked by the Republicans,so the
end result is that nothing is being accomplished
legislationwise.The Repub plan (and yours), is to
make the Dems look inconsequential.
Despite the Dem majority in both Houses, they
don't have a filibuster proof majority.
And whatever happened to that vaunted Repub
accountability.You hold the Dems accountable
for our low standing in the world for exposing the
crimes of the Bush Crime Family.
If you knew anything about our Constitution,
you might also know that it is the responsibility
of Congress to enforce compliance with our laws.
This may surprise you, because the Repub controlled
Congress abdicated this responsibility for 6 years. Facts have a well known liberal bias.
BOB JOHNSON at 10:38PM on Aug 13th 2007
30. BREAKING NEWS:
KR is leaving the White House to set up a mega far right BLOG and radio program for the Murdock group in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal....
Cenk, with all your experience conjecture is nothing more than gossip, always the old, "if you have nothing good to say come sit by me" syndrome.
Sure the first reaction is FFLMAO, then reality, what S is about to hit the fan and how much more evil can rOVEr accomplish for the neo-con/military industrial complex once free from the current regime?
So hey, how did you like my little conjecture, seems sorta surprising you all did not think of that one! ;-)
Steve at 10:42PM on Aug 13th 2007