Doug’s Mouthpiece – Droug.co.uk

Karl Rove – the puppet master – where has he gone?

Politics written by Doug Scott

They say behind every good man is a woman. However, for George Bush, it was Karl Rove who pulls his strings.

Since Rove’s resignation in August 2007, Bush has been without his right hand man. Once called a ‘boy genius’ by the U.S. president, Rove successfully masterminded Bush’s political career.

As possibly the world’s most powerful advisor, Karl Rove has a colourful political career which spans over thirty years. Perhaps is style is best illustrated by the events of 1970. As a teenager, Rove turned up to volunteer for the election campaign of Alan Dixon who was running for the post of Illinois state treasurer. Entering and leaving the campaign’s Chicago headquarters quickly, no one took much notice of the bespectacled teen.

They certainly didn’t think of associating innocent-looking Rove with a thousand invitations, printed on official stationery which were handed out in the city’s homeless shelters and red-light district that promised “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing.”

While Dixon was able to play down the event and still secure his elected post, Rove has outshone him by far. Despite only a high school education, Rove has managed to progress to the White House. While he may not have a title as impressive as the president, he holds a role much more powerful, for he is, without a doubt, Bush’s puppet master.

Rove has overseen the transformation of George W. Bush from a hard-drinking politician’s son into U.S. president. And for any of us who have heard Bush’s speeches which are the fodder of late night talk show hosts, that is a mean feat.

While many election campaign coordinators are cast aside upon reaching the Oval Office, Rove has been by Bush’s side since his election as governor of Texas. While the Rove camp refuses to speak out on his role, many unauthorized biographies have spoke of how he is the Bush presidency’s most powerful player.

Rove biographer Lou Dubose said: “I think it’s an enormous position of power, and it’s hard to overstate. I think he’s unique in the modern presidency.”

The Bush presidency has managed to quash many memoirs and tales of Bush’s puppet master however some ex-advisors have spoken out in recent years. Former advisor John Di Iulio revealed in a telling email to Esquire magazine just how far Rove’s power stretches.

Following his 2001 resignation, DiIulio wrote: “Karl is enormously powerful, maybe the single most powerful person in the modern, post-Hoover era ever to occupy a political adviser post near the Oval Office…Little happens on any issue without Karl’s OK, and often he supplies such policy substance as the administration puts out.”

Former treasury secretary Paul O’Neill knows all to well just how far Rove’s power stretches. Four years ago, he spoke out about a 2002 cabinet meeting concerning tax cuts. The president, it seemed had thought twice about concentrating on benefits for America’s richer classes. According to O’Neill, Bush asked: “Didn’t we already give them a break at the top?” Within moments, Rove took control of the situation, allegedly telling him to “stick to principle”. O’Neill’s economic acumen lost out to Rove’s political sway and he was eventually removed from his cabinet post.

Karl is now writing a book and scarily advising John McCain?

Doug …….

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