Karl Rove spoke at my alma mater over the weekend, and delivered a couple of gems that were so jaw-dropping, it’s hard to believe he’d have the gall to say them out loud. Of course, we are talking about [tag]Karl Rove[/tag].
“It’s odd to me that most of these critics [of political professionals] are [tag]journalists[/tag] and [tag]columnists[/tag],” he said. “Perhaps they don’t like sharing the field of play. Perhaps they want to draw attention away from the [tag]corrosive[/tag] role their coverage has played focusing attention on [tag]process[/tag] and not substance.”
Now, it’s not unreasonable to question the media’s over-emphasis on process over substance, but it is unreasonable for [tag]Rove[/tag] to make the argument as part of a hypocritical slam on the media. No one person in recent memory has had the “corrosive role” on politics that he has, and no presidential aide in history has done more to replace [tag]substance[/tag] with [tag]politics[/tag] in matters of state.
But wait, there’s more.
“There are some in politics who hold that [tag]voters[/tag] are dumb, ill informed and easily misled, that voters can be [tag]manipulated[/tag] by a clever ad or a smart line,” said Rove, who is credited with President Bush’s victories in the 2000 and 2004 elections. “I’ve seen this cynicism over the years from political professionals and [tag]journalists[/tag].”
One wonders if Rove is too drunk on his own Kool Aid to appreciate just the irony here. As Greg Sargent put it, this is an instance in which “the man who’s easily the most cynical and manipulative political strategist in a generation or more is faulting other unnamed strategists for being…[tag]cynical[/tag] and [tag]manipulative[/tag].”
Beyond the breathtaking [tag]hypocrisy[/tag], it’s worth noting that Rove’s comments are a sign of things to come.
Josh Marshall’s weekend guest-poster DK had a terrific post highlighting the fact that Rove’s anti-media comments are likely to be a common theme between now and November.
Over the next four months, we will see blistering negative attacks on Democrats of a ferocity and corrosiveness that will make Swift Boats look like the Love Boat. And we will see a continuation of what started in the spring, an unprecedented attack on journalists and journalism, using not only the rhetorical flourishes favored by Rove, but the powers of the state via investigations, subpoenas, and the invocation of state secrets. […]
The vigor with which the GOP has attacked journalism in recent months is a reliable indicator of what conservatives see as the greatest threat to their power (and if journalism is the greatest threat, that’s a sure sign that other democratic institutions have withered). The Administration has attacked then investigated journalists for disclosing illegal government activities, some authorized by the President. It has suggested that journalists play into the hands of terrorists by reporting on the strife in Iraq. And 24 hours a day, conservatives’ Fox News makes a mockery of journalism.
Blasting the “corrosive” media is just about all the GOP machine has left. Expect Republicans to condemn news outlets with the same ferocity them attack Democrats between now and Election Day.