Rove's Dismal Legacy

On Sept. 15, 2005, I noted that Bush had put Rove in charge of the post-Katrina reconstruction efforts.

And not coincidentally, I wrote on April 20, 2006, that Rove had now lost his official policy portfolio, in what seemed like a rare de facto admission that political goals and competence were possibly in conflict.

On May 18, 2006, I noted that "White House political guru Karl Rove's chirpy optimism is meeting with more than a little skepticism these days, whether it's his insistence that President Bush's dismal approval ratings simply reflect a public 'sour on the war,' or his assurance to House Republicans that Bush's immigration plan is a political winner."

On Oct. 26, 2005, and again on April 28, 2006, I wrote about Rove's furious attempts to wriggle off special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's hook -- including a startling fifth appearance before grand jurors investigating the leak of Plame's identity.

On June 13, 2006, I observed that Rove had successfully avoided criminal charges in the CIA leak investigation. But just because Rove wasn't charged with a crime doesn't mean his conduct meets the standards the public expects from its White House.

On June 22, 2006, I wrote about how Rove was demanding that Republican candidates not distance themselves from Bush's Iraq policy, saying that doing so would be politically suicide.

And then, on Nov. 13, 2006, just days after the elections, I wrote about Rove's epitaphs were suddenly being rewritten. "Rove's divide-and-conquer political strategy, his insistence that Republican candidates embrace the war in Iraq as a campaign issue, his supremely self-assured predictions of victory -- all were proven deeply, even delusionally wrong last week."

On March 9, 2007, I noted how "Denis Collins, a juror in the Scooter Libby trial, wasn't just channeling his fellow jurors on Tuesday when he faced the microphones and asked: 'Where's Rove?'

"Collins's point was that Libby, who he had just helped convict on obstruction-of-justice charges, was quite obviously not the only person involved in the politically motivated outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame."

And once it emerged that several U.S. attorneys had been fired last year, potentially for being insufficiently partisan in their enforcement decisions, I wrote about how suspicion quickly turned to Rove.

On March 12 I wrote: "When it comes to Republican political shenanigans, Karl Rove is often the most likely suspect."

On March 23 I explained: "Why are President Bush's Democratic critics so focused on getting White House political guru Karl Rove's testimony regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys?