Victory at any cost

I suppose we have to take a brief moment here to mark Karl Rove's announcement that he will leave the White House at the end of the month. In this age of instant communication by phone and e-mail, it's hard to say how much of a substantive decision this is. Nevertheless, let us take it at face value, even unto Mr. Rove's announcement that he's leaving to spend more time with his family, a time-honored Washington excuse. Others will chronicle Mr. Rove's political achievements at greater length and far better than I can. Nevertheless, some brief points to make:

The New Yorker once ran an article containing an interview with a Bush Administration official who confidently asserted that the reality of events did not matter to the Bush Administration: whatever happened, the skill of the White House's message machine would be able to manufacture a reality that would preserve their political dominance.

This prediction has not come true insofar as it relates to Republican control of Congress. But with regard to the negative consequences that may flow from holding positions of great responsibility, the Bush Administration has largely been able to impose its own version of events on a resurgent Congress. The Bush Administration may retain advisors who may give any advice and pursue any course, so long as it is unbiased advice free from the fear of federal prosecution. The Bush Administration may wage war without let or hindrance. Nothing is a vice as long as it serves the ends of the absolute executive. And all of this in the service of a war in which we expend a mere fraction of our strength against an enemy that is clearly of less import to Karl Rove than the Democratic Party. It is as if, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill had prioritized ensuring dominance over his political opponents above the ultimate defeat of the Nazi empire. We are now faced with an enemy, I believe, every bit as implacable, deadly, and evil as the Nazis. When will we find our Churchill? Not in the person of the man, political genius though he may be, who leaves office today.