In the July 3, 2006 edition of TIME, great detail and many pages are devoted to Theodore Roosevelt. Amazingly, there is one article by none other than Karl Rove titled “Lessons from a Larger-Than-Life President.” My outrage is both ultilizing Rove for such an effort and, of course, the content Rove produced.
In brief, here are the titles of Rove’s seven lessons:
- It is every American’s responsibility to be active in our civic life.
- Politics should be animated by large, important ideas.
- The United States, while not flawless, is a profound force for good in the world.
- Leadership matters.
- A spirited clash of ideas is not only inevitable in politics, but helpful.
- There can be great joy in politics.
- Character matters.
Why would TIME reach out to Rove for such an submission? He’s called a history buff in his brief identifier but, hey, so is my Uncle Harry. And Harry doesn’t carry anywhere near the vile baggage that is firmly secured to Rove.
Leadership? Inspiration? Political joy? A spirited clash of ideas?
This is like getting Ken Lay, may he not rest ever, to chronicle the best qualities of HP’s founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard.
Just why would TIME choose someone who has invested himself completely in dirtying American politics, in dividing America for political gain and in using false fear to co-opt elections? Do the various editors of TIME not remember the indefensible attacks against John McCain’s family in South Carolina in 2000? Do they not recall the scurrilous labeling of an Alabama judge as a pedophile in order to defeat him? The self-planting of an eavesdropping device within Rove’s own office in order to defeat Mark White in the race for governor of Texas?
I have an article suggestion for TIME. Why not have the lives of Karl Rove and his chump-in-chief, George Bush, be measured against the seven lessons of TR of which Rove wrote about but pales in comparison?
Now that would be telling–about Rove, Bush and TIME
