Yes, the Roberts nomination is just so much noise to distract from Karl's treason.

I suspect the bizarre rantings of the Republican who suddenly wants to bomb Mecca are as well.

And there will be more of these distractions. As many as are needed. The political hacks at the RNC call it "throwing up chaff." A military reference to the stuff thrown in the path of guided missiles or deployed to confuse sonar. Chaff is used to deflect tracking systems. Funny how the chicken hawks love to look all tough and use military jargon for the bitchfest they've made of our political discourse, isn't it? I mean, considering how assiduously they all avoid actual military service, they sure love to talk all macho.

But, I digress. Back to Karl Rove, a man who has built a reputation on thirty plus years of unrivaled petty political vindictiveness, combined with the ultimate insider's backstage pass; an 'in' with the Bush Family. This is a political operative who got his start - not with famed hate-meister, Lee Atwater, no, no, that came later - but, as a Watergate-era, Nixon dirty trickster. One of the young Republican thugs who traveled the country breaking laws for Tricky Dick and getting paid with illegally laundered "contributions." Karl's been doing this for so long, it's doubtful if he would know how NOT to be a political assassin.

And here's something else you can take to the bank about Mr. Rove: he knows where all the skeletons in the RNC closet are. Just as J. Edgar Hoover kept Washington terrified with what dirty secrets he knew; Karl Rove is flush with the same currency. If even half of the horrible things we believe about BushCo leading us into war for lies and war-profiteering are true, Karl is the man who knows the details, all the way back to every lie Bush has told since he first set his hand-made cowboy boots on the campaign trail. Does that sound like the resume of a man who is going down alone?

Rove is not Ed Meese, or Caspar Weinberger, or John Mitchell or John Poindexter. There is no historical correlation for Karl's role in presidential history that I know of. The closest is probably Hillary Clinton, no offense to Sen. Clinton. Rove is not just a team member serving at the pleasure of the president. He is, in the context of what he knows about the President and his Administration, the closest thing to a co-president this country has ever had. Unholy matrimony.

So, is there even a snowball's chance in Hell that Bush would let Karl go down? With what Karl knows? Does anyone believe for a minute that Karl's ego would allow him to take one for his "boss"? That massive ego must have smoldered for years under the Bush sobriquet, "Turd Blossom," but at least he could comfort himself knowing that he was the smart one; the Architect. But, slink away with his tail tucked? Not an option. Not even for a guaranteed cushy future as a K St. insider. And, more importantly, Bush won't ask him to. Barbara might have him taken out if she thinks his existence is a threat to her boy, but that's a different story. Bush and Karl are tied together in a Devil's Knot. It is a symbiotic relationship. Neither exceeds the sum of their total. They rise and fall together, or not at all. No one else could make Bush look as good, no one else can make Rove less unsavory. This is a fight for the very existence they have created together, for, and with, each other.

They will not cave. Not to threats, not to media pressure. They don't think they have to. When an impertinent reporter asked Bush about Rove as Bush walked past, Bush dismissed the man with a royal flick of his wrist, as if brushing a bug away. That said it all. Bush and Rove had imbued themselves with a sense of entitlement backed by destructive force. They believe that all they have to do is keep the party circling the wagons while the faithful repeat the talking points and the chaff gets tossed up until some murder, some scandal, takes the heat off. If necessary, a few lives can be ruined to expedite the process and ensure success. It's never failed them before.

Keep in mind too, this is the gang that simply changes any science, any data, any report that challenges their propaganda. And the authors of such information are usually the first casualties, if they can't, or won't, be muzzled.

If I were Mr. Fitzgerald, I'd be looking over my shoulder, unless they've already gotten to him. I only say that because Bush looks about as worried about Fitzgerald coming out with an indictment as he looked on election night. Which is to say, not at all.

This looks less like Nixon and Watergate to me than it does Al Capone and Chicago. The question is whether Mr. Fitzgerald is an Eliot Ness or just an already compromised Chicago Alderman.

Don't relax, the fat lady's limo hasn't even arrived, she's not singing yet.

Ruth Lopez
Orlando, FL

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Ruth Lopez is a periodic contributor to the BuzzFlash Mailbag.