Instapundit.com has a round up on the implosion of a scandal. For those who don't know - and that's most of you because only political junkies and left-wing wackos care* - Karl Rove is being attacked by Democrats who are calling for him to resign.
I know, who is Karl Rove? He is President Bush's Chief of Staff. Karl Rove was also the strategist behind the Presidents campaign for election. He is also considered the ultimate evil by radical liberals (i.e. most Democrats it seems).
Bear with me for a little background. Karl Rove is accused of "outing" a covert CIA operative who is the wife of a U.S. diplomat who criticized President Bush. The accusation is that Rove outed Valerie Plame to get even with her husband.
Democrats are calling for Rove's resignation and they are trying to pass a law to revoke security clearances for anyone revealing the name of a covert agent. Dems think they can put Rove out of a job by getting his clearance revoked.
The problem is it looks like Rove didn't break any laws. Plame was not an covert agent.
- She had been working in Langely for years.
- She was married to a U.S. diplomat (not a good cover for an agent).
- She freely admitted to friends and neighbors she was a CIA employee.
Rove didn't reveal her name. The press told him who she was. You can't reveal facts to people who already know the facts.
So what it sounds like is a U.S. diplomat who was lying about President Bush got caught lying. His deflection was to blame the administration for pointing out that he lied (How dare they!).
Here is where the genius comes in. The administration seems to have a strategy for dealing with accusations made against the president.
1. Don't immediately respond to allegations.
2. Let your accusers work themselves up into hysteria.
3. Weather the storm until the truth comes out.
4. Truth comes out and discredits your accusers.
5. You are now in a stronger position because your accusers and political enemies have been shown to allow their hate of you to affect their judgement.
It happened with Dan Rather's memogate. It's happening now.
Simply brilliant.
It takes patience, and a thick skin to allow your enemies enough rope to hang themselves.
(*I guess that makes me a political junkie but I'm in a program to overcome it.)
