Karl Rove, senior advisor to George W. Bush, is making headlines again, and that is fortunate for Progressives. Recall Rove's words of June 22d, spoken in a ballroom in Midtown Manhattan: "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble." Progressives, especially in New York, were justifiably outraged at Manly Man Rove's claims to heroism, given that he spent 9/11 itself criss-crossing the country in search of safety, and has no previous record of heroism to fall back on, either. In fact, one NYC Progressive group, New Democratic Majority, has put up a web site that examines Rove's actions that day in meticulous detail, www.americanson911.org . The picture that emerges of Rove is not that manly, to put it with more politeness than seems warranted.

But as noted, Rove is in the headlines over another issue, the outing of Valerie Plame. The White House is not commenting, which is in stark contrast to their earlier, emphatic denials of any role by anyone there. Rove's lawyer is issuing carefully worded non-denials of culpability that rely on a very narrow reading of the statute violated by the outing, such as the ludicrous claim that Rove had not named her, just described her as Joseph Wilson's CIA wife to reporters.

Does it depend on what the meaning of name is?

Take a step back for a moment and consider what this tawdry episode tells us about Karl Rove's character. He attacked the wife of a political enemy, ruining her career and potentially putting her life in danger. Not the enemy himself, mind you - just his wife.

In times past, it was considered dishonorable for a man to attack a woman; that's where the old saw about “women and children first” comes from when a ship begins to sink. Men who did not adhere to this rigid ideal of honor were considered infamous; in the 20th century, notably, only totalitarian regimes visited revenge on the families of their enemies.

Not only is Karl Rove not a hero, just playing one at right-wing fundraisers; his pear-shaped body, soft hands and pudgy face will tell you that. No, Karl Rove is much, much worse: Karl Rove is a bitch. He is Bush's bitch, retained to slip a dagger ever so skillfully in the back of any enemy. His is the androgynous evil of a Lucrezia Borgia, the kind that employs whispered poisons and hidden stilettos. Rove fancies himself the Clausewitz of the radical right; he is, in fact, more akin to Catherine de Medici: a seasoned wielder of deceit and corruption. Perhaps now, exposed to all the world for what he is, his career will end; but one need only look at his master to know the answer to that.

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