Supreme Speculation

Chuck Schumer told reporters that Rove's remarks "turned my stomach" and were "beyond the pale." Lots of papers have react stories, including the Los Angeles Times:

"A new partisan firestorm erupted today as Democrats assailed President Bush's top political strategist, Karl Rove, for criticizing liberals for what he deemed their tepid response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"The White House said it would 'of course not' heed Democratic demands for an apology from Rove or a presidential condemnation of the adviser's remarks, and it rejected Democratic charges that Rove's words amounted to a Bush administration attempt to exploit the war on terrorism for political gain . . .

"During his unusually contentious daily briefing today at the White House, Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended Rove to the hilt, saying repeatedly that Rove was "simply pointing out the different philosophies and different approaches when it comes to winning the war on terrorism."

The New York Times: "Leading Democrats reacted furiously on Thursday to remarks by Karl Rove that liberals had responded to the Sept. 11 attacks by wanting to 'offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,' with some Democrats calling for him to apologize or resign as a White House adviser."

Local angle: the governor vs. Hillary. "Mr. Pataki, who refused to criticize Mr. Rove, responded angrily, taking direct aim at Mrs. Clinton, who has maintained a wary truce with him since taking office. 'I think it's a little hypocritical for Senator Clinton to call on me to repudiate a political figure's comments when she never asked Senator Durbin to repudiate his comments,' he said."

The liberal blogosphere is pouncing the way the conservatives did against Durbin. Kos is smoking over this:

"Rove is trying to divide Americans, using the tired canard of the fringe Right that 'liberals hate America.' Fact is, we demand results. And Republicans are showing, again, that they can't govern.

"So as their fortunes circle the drain, they resort to outrageous attacks in an attempt to distract from their own incompetence. And their sycophants in their media machine will dutifully salute their superiors and parrot the charges.

"And they will cross their fingers and hope that dragging the political discourse even deeper into the mud will distract people from their own incompetence. Standard operating procedure for these guys."

Joe Gandelman of the Moderate Voice sounds less than moderate in likening Rove-ism to McCarthyism:

"Let me get this straight: Republicans who were upset over the over-the-top remarks of Senator Richard Durbin and the pungent comments of Senator Harry Reid are now defending Karl Rove accusing liberals and Democrats of not wanting to fight terrorism -- and in effect wanting to see American troops die ?