Rove Will Resign

I guess the Wall Street Journal reported it first, so give Rupert props, that John Birch loving crazy.... oh excuse me...Rove is resigning. President Bush made the announcement Monday morning. "Karl Rove is moving on down the road,'' Mr. Bush said, appearing grim-faced on the White House's South Lawn with Mr. Rove at his side. "We've been friends for a long time and we're still going to be friends ... I'll be on the road behind you here in a bit,'' he said.

Rove over the course of the next few days will be painted as the Republican mastermind, the boy genius and is actually making predictions as he departs, saying "Bush will regain his popularity." He is also saying Iraq will get better. As much as these political propaganda statements are amusing, the press will run with them. Think Progress has some of Rove's more than amusing predictions.

In 2006, roughly a week before the midterm election, Rove predicted “a Republican Senate and Republican House” by claiming sole access to “THE math.” (NPR 10/24/06)

In November of 2000, Rove claimed the “election will not be close.” Rove predicted Bush will “win enough states to get about 50 more Electoral College votes than he needs to win. Rove also predicted Bush will get about 50 percent of the popular vote, with Gore at about 45 percent.” [Houston Chronicle, 11/6/00]

During the 2000 primary campaign, Rove declared: “We’re going to win New Hampshire,” referring to the Republican primary. [USA Today 1/25/00]

As Media Matters has documented, the political press has consistently “accorded significance” to Rove’s prognostications even though they were nothing more than bluster and deluded self-assurance.

Go here for the Rove video Hall of Shame by politics TV.

Patrick Leahy also issued a strong statement on the impending investigations of the attorney firings and the Rove resignation:

Earlier this month, Karl Rove failed to comply with the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena to testify about the mass firings of United States Attorneys. Despite evidence that he played a central role in these firings, just as he did in the Libby case involving the outing of an undercover CIA agent and improper political briefings at over 20 government agencies, Mr. Rove acted as if he was above the law. That is wrong. Now that he is leaving the White House while under subpoena, I continue to ask what Mr. Rove and others at the White House are so desperate to hide. Mr. Rove’s apparent attempts to manipulate elections and push out prosecutors citing bogus claims of voter fraud shows corruption of federal law enforcement for partisan political purposes, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its investigation into this serious issue.

The list of senior White House and Justice Department officials who have resigned during the course of these congressional investigations continues to grow, and today, Mr. Rove added his name to that list. There is a cloud over this White House, and a gathering storm. A similar cloud envelopes Mr. Rove, even as he leaves the White House.

There seems to be something much larger to the resignation than is being said. Why now? Why today? What are they hiding?