if rove is such a political genius, how can you account for this? attacking someone for not wearing a flag pin when you yourself are not wearing a flag pin isn't just a simple gaff, it's out-and-out stupidity.
i've long thought that karl rove gets a lot more credit than he's worth. in left blogistan he's like the mossad in the arab world. no matter what happens in the middle east, if israel benefits even indirectly, i inevitably hear someone tell me that the mossad did it all on purpose. likewise, whenever something happens in american politics that benefits the republicans, even something that resulted from a long series of implausible events, someone out there insists that rove planned the whole thing all along.
shit happens. conspiracies often aren't the answer because they ignore human beings' unlimited capacity to fuck stuff up. i can believe that rove sometimes proves his political acumen by putting a positive spin on stuff would otherwise be bad for his candidate, or by organizing an effective media campaign. but there are also these occasional indications that he's not actually a genius. he just plays one on TV. it's time to stop giving him credit for every lucky break his party ever gets.
