God Bless America...Warts, Roves and All

I try to not turn this blog into a rant...but there are always exceptions. Today is one. Inquiring minds want to know why I'm not frothing at the mouth, along with the press and most liberal blogs, over Karl Rove's apparent leak of a covert CIA operative's name to journalist(s).

Admitted dirty trickster Karl Rove now admits to identifyng CIA agent Valerie Plame to a Newsweek reporter. Plame is wife of former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who is incensed over this matter. The Rove leak was apparently done, in part, as vindictive political payback to Democrat Wilson.

Here's why I'm not dwelling on the Rove leak. First, because everyone else is, some admirably and some far too emotionally. My readers don't need one more blog saying the same old thing. Fire Karl, but only after we indulge in lengthy public paroxysms of anger, fueled by five years of frustrations under the intransparent Bush Presidency.

Second, whether Mr. Rove stays or leaves this administration has almost no impact on the lives of every day Americans. I care about the issues that affect peoples' lives......education, health care, global warming, alternative energy sources, Supreme Court appointments, Social Security, taxes and the economy, voting rights and election reform, stem cell research, security at home and abroad, the failing War in Iraq and much more.

Le affaire Rove is about politics, with loads of slime and vitriol on both sides of the political aisle. It has nothing to do with improving lives or with governing our country. It typifies what turns people off politics and voting, and robs Americans of a sense of hope for their own country's future. It's the low road, folks, not the high road.

- Do I think admitted dirty trickster Karl Rove did it? Yes.
- Do I think he'll skate out of culpability on a technicality? Probably.
- Should all his security clearances be yanked? Absolutely.
- Would the President's poll numbers and credibility be hurt by keeping Rove on the White House staff? Yes, of course. And I don't know why Democrats with purely political motives don't find this a swell idea.

Frankly, underground rumors have swirled for ages around Karl Rove, Scott McClellan, RNC Chair Ken Mehlman and later Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, and their connections to shadier elements in the Republican fund-raising, opposition investigation, press manipulation and political dirty-trickster world.

It's fascinating that yesterday, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, both evangelical Christians, shied away from overt support of Mr. Rove and Mr. McClellan. If any of these men are jettisoned allegedly over the Rove leak matter, it may also be for other, unnamed reasons.

US Politics at About.com has interesting background and event coverage of le affaire Rove. And many liberal bloggers are covering every nuance of the Karl Rove leak caper. Here are a few blogs I recommend for keeping rational score of this political ball game....DailyKos, TPMCafe, Liberal Oasis and Political Strategy. I promise to continue reporting the milestone events on the Rove front.

Meanwhile, please folks...let's examine the facts, mete out punishment fairly according to our system of justice, and get back to the business of governing our country to guarantee life, liberty and justice for all of us.

And God bless America, warts, Roves and all.