Bush Roves!

"Roving" might be defined as wandering about aimlessly, which is what Bush is doing about his Plame "outing" problem. When the problem arose, he said he didn't believe anyone in his organization had any contacts with reporters regarding Valerie Plame, then he vows to fire anyone who outed her, then when the facts show two prominent advisers did out her he doesn't explain why they didn't tell him way back when, then he says he will let them go if they committed a crime. Seems like he is "Roving" on this hot potato. Bush loves to talk about being a man of his word "I say what I mean, and I mean what I say." Right....

So now we will have only one woman and one minority on the Supreme Court. Bush's nominee is all but certain of confirmation, and he seems like a straight-up guy at first glance. I have a feeling he knows what the American people regard as "rights", so I predict he will not roll over and help reverse Roe vs Wade and other long-entrenched decisions on civil rights. America does not need millions of people converging on Washington to protest a hard right turn coming from the Supreme Court...we've got enough problems already.

Speaking of problems, the price of oil and global warming together constitute a great danger to America. Our economy and our ecology depend on government leading the charge to cleaner and cheaper energy, and the solution is not simply to drill for more oil within our own boundaries...not that that's a bad idea, but it simply isn't the solution. Let's put the pedal to the metal on nuclear power, and also look to innovative solutions such as using ocean tides to generate electricity. If we had a lot more cheap electricity we could migrate to electric motors for local transportation, and that would really make a difference. Come on, GWB, do a prime time address on energy that is honest and forward-looking! There must be somebody that can put the right words in your mouth, George.

Finally, we are again confronting the spectre of terrorism in another major western city - London. Yes, we need to protect ourselves with common sense precautions, but even with them the occasional terrorist group will find a way to harm us. The only sensible answer to terrorism is communication - combatting the misinformation from terrorist leaders who brainwash young people into suicidal missions. Stupid remarks like "Bring'em on" are not the answer, GWB. The right answer is affirming Muslims' humanity and the peaceable tenets of their religion, being as inclusive as possible in order to give young Muslims an opportunity to voice their concerns, and supporting popular movements against powerful dictatorships that keep the common Muslim people down. Those who say that anti-terrorism is a police function are right - this conflict is not a war, it is a spate of violence by religiously-motivated criminals. Calling it a "war" glorifies the perpetrators and draws more adherents to their side. Get it, GWB?

So, today we've been "Roving" all over the place. GWB will not ever fire him, and he may or may not leave the administration on his own. Whatever, Carl Rove will show up in plenty of pre-election commercials and be a major factor in the next election. The man who will do anything to win may well find out that there really are lines that can't be crossed.