Karl Rove = Evil Genius

Man, George Lucas should have cast Karl Rove as the Emporer. At least then he might have had some skillful enemies. At this moment, the Democrats are less effective than Jawas, let alone the Jedi Knights.

Rove apparently ticked off the Democrats with some comments the other day...

"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," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "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."

Told of Mr. Rove's remarks, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, replied: "In New York, where everyone unified after 9/11, the last thing we need is somebody who seeks to divide us for political purposes."

Mr. Rove also said American armed forces overseas were in more jeopardy as a result of remarks last week by Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who compared American mistreatment of detainees to the acts of "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others."

"Has there ever been a more revealing moment this year?" Mr. Rove asked. "Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."

Now, that last word is key. Rove doesn't say Democrats -- he says liberals. Perhaps he should have said "some liberals"... but please note that he also paints with a broad brush on the term "conservatives" earlier in the speech. In any case, I'd have to say liberals would have to admit to the accuracy of such a point, as outlined in this Moveon.org petition that started just 48 hours after 9/11...

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of the United States of America and of countries around the world, appeal to the President of The United States, George W. Bush; to the NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson; to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi; and to all leaders internationally to use moderation and restraint in responding to the recent terrorist attacks against the United States. We implore the powers that be to use, wherever possible, international judicial institutions and international human rights law to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks, rather than the instruments of war, violence or destruction.

Granted, MoveOn believes that it now possesses the Democratic Party; to quote MoveOn's Eli Pariser regarding the Democratic Party, "Now it's our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we're going to take it back.” Ed Morrissey has more examples of liberal equivocation following 9/11. And those examples are ones of liberal Democrats who are in elected office.

Regardless, Dems have reacted with great offense... as if they're admitting that they are all liberals. Hell, John Kerry wants President Bush to fire Rove (maybe Kerry wants to hire him). Instapundit nails the problem for the Democrats...

Trouble is, those demands just provide an excuse for Republicans to repeat every single stupid or unpatriotic thing that every Democratic politician ever said. And there are a lot of those. Examples can be found here, and here, and here. And, of course, there's this. And because the usual suspects in the media could be expected to pick up on the Rove story much faster than the Durbin story (as they did) now there's a news hook.

We'll ignore the media's usual inability to notice offensive comments about the U.S. military from Senate Democrats on the Senate floor for a few days while immediately hammering offensive comments about liberals from a Presidential advisor at a fundraiser. Nothing absurd there, as Steve Spruiell notes.

But here's the really fun part. The Democrats, by taking offense, have done the following...

1. Ensure the Durbin story gets more play.
2. Make sure everyone equates the word "liberal" with Democrat.
3. Equated Rove, an important advisor, with one of their important elected leaders, which means the GOP's staff are as important as elected politicians from the left.
4. Let us all take a fresh look at the horrendous and pathetic responses suggested by liberals following 9/11.
5. Made the GOP laugh.

I'm not sure Rove could have done any better if he had the Democrats under mind-control. Of course, the Dems would need minds first.