"Architect "Karl Rover Resigns as Structure Crumbles

BBC Reports:











"Top White House aide Karl Rove, seen by many as the brains behind George W Bush's presidency, has said he will resign at the end of August.

"I just think it's time," Mr Rove said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that he was quitting for the sake of his family.

As a student, he invited Chicago vagrants to turn up for free beer at a plush reception for a Democrat state candidate - an incident he later described as a "youthful prank" that he regretted.

Last month, the US Senate issued a subpoena against him as part of an investigation into the sacking of eight federal prosecutors, but Mr Bush ordered him not to testify, citing executive privilege.

As Mr Bush's chief strategist, he is seen as instrumental in delivering election victories in 2000 and 2004.

For these he is highly regarded by Republicans, but at the same time equally reviled by Democrats."

Karl, The Early Years:

Karl Rove's 1972 run for Chairman of the College Republicans revealed dirty campaign tactics. Instead of punishing Rove, George Bush Sr. hired him. In 1992 Rove got caught leaking to the press to hurt a fellow republican and Bush fired him for good. Rove went into the dirt business freelance.

In his professional life Rove retained his college boy's delight in rooting through garbage. He has been connected to some of the foulest smear campaigns in modern politics, including a push-poll that asked the question, "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" He managed to hide his hand in these, but it was Rove's style.

Elections are the means by which the public expresses its will. When lies and character smears conceal the issues the process is damaged. Dirty politics aren't just immoral, they're unpatriotic. Even George Bush Jr. seems a little uncomfortable with Rove's ethics; he calls Rove "Turd Blossom."