GUESS WHO ROVE'S FAVORITE PAST PRESIDENT IS?

You won't be shocked to learn it was Tricky Dick himself. I suppose one dirty trickster would admire and respect the antics of another.

Wonderful piece found on Truthout.org. The author reveals Rove's tactics throughout his years in politics. The author, by the way is Thomas Pauken of the Houston Chronicle. Gosh! Maybe I will start reading the local paper again. LS

Excerpt:

Karl Rove is a master of using the press to do his dirty work for him; he would leak sensitive information to favored reporters on a "not for attribution" basis. When the damaging information appeared in print, Rove would pile on a story that was essentially his creation in the first place. It was a formula that worked for him time and time again.

This time, however, was different. Valerie Plame had been under "deep cover," and the CIA demanded that the Justice Department investigate the leak.

To his credit, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the case, and his deputy selected U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald from Chicago to be the special prosecutor. Fitzgerald had previously taken on Islamic terrorists, Mafia chieftains and corrupt politicians with notable success.

How could Rove possibly have guessed that the case would take on such importance that the judge would require key reporters to reveal their sources, thus outing Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Rove?

What Rove also did not realize was that he had put himself in the middle of a foreign-policy fight between neoconservative advocates of the war in Iraq and critics such as Wilson who were accusing the administration of "cooking the books" and "manipulating intelligence."

Rove is such a political lightning rod that most of the focus has been on him. Very little attention has been given to the other name mentioned as a source for stories by syndicated columnist Robert Novak and Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper. "Scooter" Libby is Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national-security adviser. While Karl Rove may call the shots when it comes to President Bush's domestic agenda, Cheney is king when it comes to foreign policy. Paul Wolfowitz may have been the architect of the war in Iraq, but Dick Cheney made the call to go forward and persuaded the president to give his approval.

"COULD IT BE BUSH'S WATERGATE?"