LeftOut

Karl Rove
The man behind the curtain of the Bush presidency is no friend of Dorothy
by Daryl Moore

When Dorothy pulled the curtain back on the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, she discovered that there was no great and powerful wizard at all, just a man behind a curtain pulling a few strings that made the Wizard’s lips move. If George W. Bush’s brain had a curtain and someone pulled it back, Karl Rove would be standing behind the curtain pulling the strings that control the policies pushed by the 43rd president.

Since taking office just over six months ago, Bush has promoted policy after policy that has been covered with Rove’s fingerprints. Indeed, almost nothing has gotten out of the Bush White House without Rove’s approval. From provisions of the tax-cut package to the Navy’s bombing on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Rove’s hands have never left the controls.

Why? Because Rove–Bush’s senior advisor–is the political brain who brought Bush to the White House. He adroitly engineered a public persona that enabled Bush to run as a compassionate conservative who appealed to moderates and kept religious conservatives at bay.

Now that Bush is in the White House, Rove’s sole responsibility is to maintain and build upon Bush’s fragile political base. So, while Bush’s policy wonks craft legislative packages to send to Capitol Hill for consideration, Rove makes sure that none of the packages leaves the White House until it is wrapped in a manner that is acceptable to religious conservatives.

Hence, while Bush was busy recently promoting his "faith-based" initiative, Rove was busy cutting deals with the Salvation Army so it would lobby for the initiative in exchange for a White House commitment that it and other religious organizations could receive government money under the initiative and still continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians in their hiring practices.

Specifically, Rove cut a deal with the Salvation Army in which it agreed to spend $90,000 to $110,000 a month lobbying for Bush’s "faith-based" initiative. In exchange, the Salvation Army received a "firm commitment" from the White House that the initiative would include a regulation protecting government-funded religious charities like the Salvation Army from local and state laws banning discriminatory-hiring practices based on sexual orientation.

After a Salvation Army memo reflecting the agreement was leaked, the White House and the Salvation Army initially denied the existence of any agreement. Later, the White House denied that any "senior officials" were involved in the deal that was never a deal.

Rove finally acknowledged that he was the Salvation Army’s first contact in its effort to win approval of the exemption. But he refused to discuss his involvement and referred questions to other White House staffers. When Rove refused to answer questions, a deputy assistant to Bush said that Rove "had no substantive discussions about the matter" with the Salvation Army, and "doesn’t think he was told" the specifics of what it wanted.

Two White House officials disputed Rove’s explanation of his involvement. One said "Rove was intimately involved in courting the Salvation Army." Another confirmed Rove’s involvement. Both said Rove knew all about the charity’s request for an exemption from nondiscrimination laws.

The first official summed up Rove’s involvement by stating, "Literally nothing occurs around here without his blessing. He’s the air traffic controller." No, he’s just the powerful man behind the curtain pulling the strings that operate the mannequin that’s serving as the 43rd president.

This really is Oz-esque. Just think of Bush as the scarecrow, Cheney as the tin-man, and Rove as the cowardly lion. All they need is a brain, a heart, and the courage to get out from behind the curtain.