Con artist

By Creature

For Karl Rove politics is all about painting a picture. The picture will not be a true portrait. It will be a caricature exaggerating to extreme a kernel of truth -- though when it comes to Karl Rove the truth part is optional. We all watched John Kerry get painted into a flip-flopping corner. These two words were repeated ad nauseam. Eventually, when asked, even the most disinterested member of the general public repeated the flip-flop line.

Today, we have a new Rove portrait being commissioned by the GOP. From a cluttered canvas of potential images, Rove has chosen "cut and run" as his primary color. But an artist's work cannot be appreciated if no one knows about it. The work needs to be promoted. In politics hiring a good ad agency is the key to getting a product out. For the GOP this ad agency works for free. Enter the corporate media. An institution that eagerly promotes Rove's portraits without a question asked. Rove said to the GOP, "hold an Iraq debate." Rove got his debate, and he got his cut and run product out thanks to the fair and balanced media. Cut and run. Cut and run. Cut and run. Over and over again.

It's a catch phrase-driven media, and thanks to the con artist known as Rove, they have a new phrase to parrot and a new image to portray. The Democrats need to counter this portrait now, before the paint dries, before November '06 becomes November '02 and November '04 all over again.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)