the Mr. Cranky mcCrankyPants issue

Aug 13, 2007 10:52

Arrived home on Friday from work and saw that the latest issue of the Atlantic Monthly was sitting on our dinner table, with a cover article about the failure of the Karl Rove Presidency. Then, this morning, there's news of Rove's departure from the White House.

Coincidence? hmm ...

For those who are interested, it is one of the more notable analyses of Rove's career, though it tends to just flesh out a point that is rather familiar to administration critcs -- that the tactic of dividing and driving wedges into a governing body can be useful for winning elections but is counter productive for governing. When you're campaigning in a political model where less than the majority votes, your aim is not to win the support of the majority of the population, but to win the support of the largest faction. You can either do this by appealing to a broad base (which is difficult to sustain) or by splitting your competitor's factions so that they become smaller than yours (which is only restricted by the levels of dirt that you're wiling to dish out). That's good for winning elections, but less so when trying to get legislation passed in Congress, where the Senate is all about majority support.

Of course, the question is, now that he's gone, will the administration take a different path and be less divisive or is everything on autopilot until 2008? One can be hopeful, but it seems that election season can't come soon enough. Still, the issue is recommended if anyone wants a preview on the post-mortem of Bush's legacy.

I should also mention that this is probably the crankiest issue of the Atlantic that I've read in a while. Aside from a twelve page vivisection of Rove's career, there is also a contrarian opinion piece attacking Michael Pollan and the moral blindness of foodie culture, as well as a grumpy op-ed on Ira Glass, Wes Anderson and the contemporary 'culture of quirkiness'. Man, some folks are not having good summer vacations.
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