Karl Rove Is Killing Our Democracy

Karl Rove is not just a shrude political strategist. He's not just "good at it." It's not just, "that's what you have to do to win in politics." He's actually undermining our democracy.

"Come on Forsyth," I can hear you saying. Blah, blah, blah. Another liberal rant.

Not so.

The documentary Bush's Brain does a great job of showing how this man operates and what he's willing to do to win. Every american should watch it. Amongst his devious ways is the technique of spreading lies and deceiving innuendo about his opponents. "So what?", you might say. Well, this is what will literally end the concept of a democracy.

Democracy is based on the idea of an "informed citizenry" to use the verbiage of the founders. That's why a free press is so important: to get the information out. The idea was that there would be a free press, information about the candidates would go out, the members of the democracy (I know we're actually a republic) would consume the information, and then they would cast their votes based on that information.

If you look closely at that idea you'll find that a key thread is information. You'll also see that if the information doesn't go out the idea of a functioning democracy falls apart. How can a voter truly exercise democratic rights if he doesn't know about his choices? But what if instead of missing information, the voters were only given misinformation? Wouldn't the effect be the same, and even probably worse? If a voter knows that he doesn't have the information he needs then he would inherently know his limits in making a choice and act accordingly. But if the voter thinks that he has the true information and really doesn't, he'll make a choice anyway, and in fact draw the wrong conclusions. In other words, a democracy dies when all the voter gets is either substantial missing information or substantial misinformation.

What Karl Rove learned how to do among other things was how to effectively put out powerful misinformation about his political opponents. Even though back in 2000 McCain was whoopin the pants off of 'W', the electorate did a dramatic turn in a short period of time after Rove and crew secretly spread the idea that McCain had become mentally unstable while in captivitiy as a soldier in Vietnam. In one swoop, he negated McCain's honorable record and also undermined the perception of his ability to lead, while assassinating his character. He does this over and over. He's the master. Watch the movie and you'll see several prime examples.

Sounds like a Rove predecessor, another very astute political strategist, who used misinformation to advance his politician's cause with great success. The techniques he used were very similar to Rove's: fear-baiting, personal destruction of opponents, exploiting national pride, exploiting war, playing on prejudices against immigrants and minorities, etc. He was the master propagandist behind Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels. You can find many of Goebbels' speeches or articles here at a site from Calvin College. Compare the material to the messages and techniques of the modern Republican Party. For example, read his 30 Articles of War For the German People and just replace the word "Reich" with "America", "German" with "American", "National Socialist Regime" with "the current administration", "the Feuhrer" with "the President", and "enemies" with "terrorists." It will be eye-opening.

At one point Goebbels says that theirs was a defensive war,

"This war is a defensive war. It was forced upon us by our enemies, who wish to destroy the possibility of life and growth for our nation. If they succeed, our present generation will have lost everything that countless German generations have won..." (Goebbels, Article 5)

This is so reminscent of the Bush/Rove claim that we attacked offensively but as a defensive move, hence the Bush Doctrine of preemptive strike (with which Palin was unfamiliar last night when asked by Charlie Gibson):

"This new enemy seeks to destroy our freedom and impose its views...We wage a war to save civilization, itself. We did not seek it, but we must fight it..." (Bush, November 2001)

Who do you think said the following, Hitler/Goebbels or Bush/Rove?:

"The only thing we cannot afford to lose in this war is our freedom, the foundation of our life and our future. "

Answer: Hitler/Goebbels (Article 10)

Again, did Hitler/Goebbels or Bush/Rove say this?:

"The soldier dies at the front while fulfilling his duty. He has the right to demand that those at home who sabotage or harm the war effort [be dealt with accordingly]."

Answer: Hitler/Goebbels (Article 21)

Who said it?:

"Nothing is too valuable to be sacrificed for freedom. All we possess we won as a free people. Without our freedom, it would have no purpose, meaning or endurance."

Answer: Hitler/Goebbels (Article 25)

Who said it?:

"Remember in all that you do and do not do, in all that you say and do not say, that you are [an American]! Believe loyally and unshakably in the [President] and in victory. Remember always that you are a child of the bravest and most industrious people on earth. We must suffer ... to reach our goal, but the goal will be reached despite everything if only we hold true to all our [values] and are ready, if necessary to sacrifice everything in this war to guarantee the nation's freedom and its future."

Answer: Hitler/Goebbels (Article 30). "Country First" baby!!

There are many more examples.

This is why Rove is dangerous to democracy. He substantially and intentionally misinforms the voters in order to win and manipulate. We've seen the devastating impact worldwide -- particularly the war in Iraq.

Good information is the oxygen that any democracy must breathe to live. Rove puts a plastic bag over our democracy's head.

-Forsyth