Why Is Karl Rove Smiling?

It was hard to miss the ear to ear grin on the face of Karl Rove, chief advisor to the president, in the Washington Post earlier this week as he paused for a photo-op with Mr. Bush. Why was he smiling? Can it be because unlike his friend, Scooter Libby, the vice president's top aide, Rove is off the hook in the Plame leak case on charges that he committed perjury, lied to investigators, and could well have been the one to expose the undercover CIA agent's identity which, by the way, is a felony? Apparently not. Republican party operatives say that Rove's current euphoria derives from his conviction that his party will only lose a maxium of 8 to 10 seats in November's midterm election, and will maintain control of both the House and Senate.

With a whomping 74% of the American people saying they're dissatisfied with Congress, according to a CNN poll, if Rove's party holds the reins for another 2 to 6 years, who knows, that number could soon grow to 100%.. Still, what can we expect from Congress? Can we expect them to stand up to a president run afoul of our Constitution, and international law? Can we expect them to begin a probe as to the legality of a war that is draining us morally, spiritually, squandering human life without purpose? What's more, can there ever be a purpose, or justification, for squandering human life? What do we expect from Congress? Do we expect them to vote down legislation that legitimizes abrogation of due process, habeas corpus, and the Magna Carta, as well as radically redefining once internationally-recognizable terms and concepts like torture? Can we expect them to stand up to a president who has the same ethos, and principles as any other neighborhood bully? Were it possible to bring back those who farmed under Russia's Peter the Great, those who were held at the infamous concentration camp at Babi Yar, or even those rolling around in the blood and entrails of ethnic cleansing under Milosevic, they might laugh at us, and think how hopelessly naive we are to think scruples, honor, and unflagging belief in those precepts upon which our nation was founded are anything more than theoretical goals, and they may be right. But, there's a grace period for naivete after which one is no longer naive, but criminally negligent, and, alas, our grace period is almost up.

Don't tell Karl Rove that as he might also be smiling because he knows, over the next few weeks, odds are good that North Korea will test another nuclear weapon putting "national security" squarely back on the table, making it a meat and potatoes issue on the plates of the American people while, at the same time, spoonfeeding us the pablum that any nation, or person, who deals with agents of terror, like Iran and Al Qaeda, must face "a grave consequence," as the president said yesterday on ABC news. Karl Rove's grin may best be summed up in those three magical words uttered by our president with respect to the outcome of potential North Korean aggression, "a grave consequence,"which suggest three other portentous words we've heard lots during recent months: "the October surprise." Looks like North Korea, and not Iran, might be the surprise that tips the scales in favor of the preemptive warriors, and great crusaders of the radical right. While many have been hoping for regime change in Washington,D.C., Rove, Bush, Cheney & Co. have been busily at work on "a grave consequence," paving the way for regime change in North Korea, for starters, and ensuring control over America's domestic and foreign policies for decades to come.

Arguably, the only way a grassroots, homegrown struggle for social justice, and a renaissance in representational government can occur is if the Democrats spoil the party for Rove, and Bush, take North Korea back from the Republicans, turn it around such that North Korea can only be viewed as proof of yet another failed foreign policy for the Bush administration, an exercise in bad judgment, as well as a noxious habit of making greed the default priority allowing Kim Jong to grow, and flex his nuclear biceps while we were out bombing Baghdad. So it may be that North Korea has cooked up our October surprise, and is working along with this administration to spoon feed us the pap that only American jihadists can protect us from attack.