Having your blog on hiatus can be a wonderfully cleansing experience. You’d be surprised how dramatically your world-view improves when Karl Rove, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist aren’t around to taint it.
They were always there, of course, but it was easy to ignore them. For seven months, I lived a blessed life — American politics receded into a wall of vague background noise, and I slipped into the gloriously apathetic mindset that is the birthright of every patriotic American. Things that used to make me outraged soon made me shrug. I unglued myself from the computer, and walked into the sunshine. It was bright, and it felt good. I was happy.
I wish I could say that the announcement that Karl Rove will not be indicted in the Plame case found me in that blissful state, and passed through me like a breeze, but the truth is that it was a remarkably uncordial welcome-back-to-the-blog on the part of Mr. Fitzgerald, especially after all of the wonderful sentiments expressed around these parts yesterday. It frustrates me to no end that Rove has slipped through the prosecutor’s clutches: Rove is a villain — so smug, so evil — straight out of central casting, and it would have been satisfying to see him get his comeuppance at the end of the film.
But, as Christy at FireDogLake reminds us, a prosecutor can only go forward with the evidence he has, and apparently, Fitzgerald didn’t have enough. It’s hard to believe that Rove didn’t trip up even once during all those hours of testifying and cross-examination, but that’s why he’s such a good villain — he forces you to admire his skill even as your estimation of his moral worth sinks lower and lower.
So, Rove is a free man, and we are an extremely unhappy and frustrated bunch. It’s a return to normalcy, I guess.
Can I go back outside now?
7 Comments on "Serenity Now"
Fred:
It’s almost enough to make me believe in a higher power, if only to be soothed and know that some day he will get his eternal reward.
Unholy Moses:
It is kinda nice to get away for a while.
The key, however, is to find a balance — make sure to spend some time every day not thinking about how fucked up the country has become, how poorly Iraq is being handled, the fact that Rove probably paid someone off, the fact that the Dems are still spineless, or the fact that, come 2008, Bush will find some way to stop the election and stay President.
Then, after those two minutes are up, post something.
:)
Actually, burnout is the reason I only do about one post a day, M-F (with varying degrees of success). Granted, I’m still doing it in relative obscurity after a year, but what the hell … it beats driving myself apeshit.
Mikhail:
I’m not sure I expected any different. Figures that guy would squeak by.
PSoTD:
In a way I think Fred’s right, although I think the reward will be on earth. I see Rove as an election - 2006 - away from being tossed into the junkheap by Republicans as a lightning rod for “the bad times”, although admittedly that may be pretty wishful thinking. And at that point, perhaps the Republicans will hold their purge, and Rove will actually be ruined by his former allies, rather than the judicial system. In a way it is justice, just not the way America is supposed to work.
Comandante Agi:
Rove entered the political arena with Bush and will leave with Bush. I don’t believe he will stick around to help Republican candidates in 2008 and beyond. His deal with the devil consisted of making boy George into a president, nothing more. Currently, his karma has him being reincarnated as a three-legged toad living near Los Angeles harbor.
Marjo Moore:
I liked what Jon Stewart said to Ken Mehlman last night on The Daily Show.
“I hope one day you’ll come back, after this administration has gone, and tell us what the hell they were really doing.”
Just call Karl Rove ‘Slippery Pete.’
eRobin:
You’re back! I’m so glad.
Rove is off the hook for now since he’s fulfilling the obligations of the deal he so obviously cut. And he’ll probably stay that way - he’s not stupid - but you never know. And then there’s the Wilsons’ civil suit.
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