Flap over Rove Remarks: He Should Apologize or Resign
Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor and deputy chief of staff suggested last night that liberals sympathize with the enemy and are intent on endangering American troops.
The New York Times has Rove Criticizes Liberals on 9/11
Karl Rove came to the heart of Manhattan last night to rhapsodize about the decline of liberalism in politics, saying Democrats responded weakly to Sept. 11 and had placed American troops in greater danger by criticizing their actions.
“Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.
Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, “I don’t know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble.”
The Washington Post has Rove: Dems Didn’t Get 9/11 Consequences:
Speaking in a Manhattan ballroom just a few miles north of ground zero, Karl Rove said on Wednesday night that the Democratic party did not understand the consequences of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Rove said. “Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war.”
Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor, spoke at the state Conservative Party’s annual dinner. He praised the conservative movement’s success, calling it “the guiding philosophy for the White House, the Senate, the House.”
Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for “moderation and restraint” after the terrorist attacks.
“Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies.”
Rove also derided comments made June 14th by Senator Richard Durbin, D-Illinois:
“Has there ever been a more revealing moment this year?” Rove asked “Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.”
Now the Democrats want Rove to either apologize or resign.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid:
“Karl Rove should immediately and fully apologize for his remarks or he should resign,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. “I hope the president will join me in repudiating these remarks.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean:
called on Bush to “show some leadership and unequivocally repudiate Rove’s divisive and damaging political rhetoric.”
During a Senate hearing on Iraq in which Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other military leaders testified, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., read Rove’s statement and urged them to reject the remarks.
“I would hope that you and other members of the administration would immediately repudiate such an insulting comment from a high-ranking official in the president’s inner circle,” Clinton said.
Senator Charles Schumer, D-New York:
said New York has had unity since Sept. 11. “To inject politics into this and to defame a large number of people” is outrageous, he said. “It’s not what New York and America is all about.”
Senator Frank Lautenberg, D- New Jersey:
said nearly 3,000 Americans died on Sept. 11 and “we should not dishonor their memory by using that tragic day for political trash talk.”
Chill out Lefties. He won’t apologize or resign.
Karl Rove is telling it like it is.
Do you not think that by the outrageous statements of Howard Dean, John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi and Dick Durbin that you are not undermining the President to conduct the War on Terror and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Captain Ed over at Captains Quarters weigh in.
Blogs for Bush have this piece.
Ankle Biting Pundits has this excellent piece.
Over at Huffington’s blog they have this photo of Rove and this. Real Class.
“It’s outrageous that the same Democrats who stood by Dick Durbin’s libeling of our military are now expressing faux outrage over Karl Rove’s statement of historical fact. George Soros, Michael Moore, MoveOn and the hard left were wrong after 9/11, just as it was wrong for Democrat leaders to stand by and remain silent after Dick Durbin made his deplorable comments.â€
– RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman
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