# Karl Rove Is Slated to Head the Reconstruction Effort - Feel Better Already? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813 "2005-09-15T16:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/21 "2005-09-16T13:45:28Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > How will New Orleans be rebuilt by having Rove start anonymous smear campaigns? “Hey, contractors, come build in New Orleans because Chicago residents secretly eat boiled puppies”? You know about the puppies? Damn. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/22 "2005-09-16T14:08:31Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Say what you want about him, the dude is extremely effective in getting the job done against seemingly insurmountable odds. After all, he has been credited for spearheading the campaign which brought us G.W. Bush. And Michael Brown knew a lot about road apples. Being good at negative campaigning doesn’t make Rove skilled at running a reconstruction effort any more than being a good basketball player made Michael Jordan a good hockey player. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/23 "2005-09-16T15:58:35Z")
[minor digression] When I was a kid I read a lot of Tom Clancy novels. (I like to think I have better taste now.) I remember various disdainful descriptions of how the Soviet Union used “political reliability” as a substitute for experience and competence, and how this was a sign of how backwards their political system was. We can only hope Tom Clancy appreciates irony, I suppose. [/minor digression] ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/24 "2005-09-16T16:22:30Z")
Word is Rove’s been suffering from [kidney stones](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/346891p-296015c.html) for the last several weeks. Maybe Bush thought that something even more painful might prove the right distraction… ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/25 "2005-09-16T17:45:51Z")
I can only hope that [this](http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12663495.htm) does not represent the beginning of Mr. Rove’s leadership of the recovery-reconstruction effort. Of course it would be of a pattern with the programs that gentleman has run in the past. It is almost as if Boss Tweed is rebuilding the court house in Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/26 "2005-09-16T18:23:16Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > I can only hope that [this](http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12663495.htm) does not represent the beginning of Mr. Rove’s leadership of the recovery-reconstruction effort. I guess that means that it is finally okay to play the blame game and point fingers (not that the Bush administration wasn’t already doing so). ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/27 "2005-09-16T19:19:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Being good at negative campaigning doesn’t make Rove skilled at running a reconstruction effort any more than being a good basketball player made Michael Jordan a good hockey player. I really must turn on my sarcasm sign more often. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/28 "2005-09-16T19:55:21Z")
[http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWSREC0101/50916016](http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWSREC0101/50916016) Now THAT’S dedication to the reconstruction effort. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/29 "2005-09-16T20:27:33Z")
Wow, I’m glad he’s in charge of the reconstruction effort. As the article makes clear, his first major concern seems to be making sure a particular side of the story about the disaster gets heard. That’s definately a great important first step towards… er… what was he supposed to be in charge of again? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/30 "2005-09-16T20:28:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Kindley said Rove reassured the crowd that the full story of the disaster would be told. > > “He told us to hang in there,” Kindley said. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe it _is_ a political job. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/31 "2005-09-16T20:30:33Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > I can only hope that [this](http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12663495.htm) does not represent the beginning of Mr. Rove’s leadership of the recovery-reconstruction effort. So, the administration that has, AFAIK, never, ever heeded an environmental group is trying to blame the destruction of the levees on environmental efforts? Amazing. Most of what I’ve heard from an environmental standpoint are suspicions that the destruction of southern wetlands was a key to lack of impedence in hurricanes proceeding and that global warming (Hello, Kyoto) is an ingredient on bigger, more destructive hurricanes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/32 "2005-09-17T04:50:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Say what you want about him, the dude is extremely effective in getting the job done against seemingly insurmountable odds. After all, he has been credited for spearheading the campaign which brought us G.W. Bush. So in two years New Orleans will be exactly like it is now but Karl Rove will have convinced 51% of the people in this country that the city’s been fully restored. > [@](#): > > So the levee will be repaired, but it’ll still leak. Now, now, we’re not supposed to be playing the plame game. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/33 "2005-09-17T04:56:42Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > If it means Rove spends 12-15 hours a day for the next several years wading through toxic muck, acting as a guide for bulldozers and sandbag-dropping helicoptors, and personally hosing out the interior of the Superdome, keeping him free from any Beltway commitments, then Yes, I do feel much better. Only if he doesn’t get a biosuit, and only if it can be conclusively shown that exposure to the much won’t give him superpowers. > [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh, I just can’t get riled up over this. If Rove is at all successful, it’ll be the first good thing he’s done for the country in a decade. That’s exactly why this makes me want to find something 80 proof and chug away. I can’t picture Rove doing something altruistic, and I can’t picture him being any good at it. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/34 "2005-09-17T05:13:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s exactly why this makes me want to find something 80 proof and chug away. I can’t picture Rove doing something altruistic, and I can’t picture him being any good at it. He probably thinks his career rip-out-the-juglar politics _was_ altruistic, serving a higher good and all that. You know things are really, really bad when you can’t think of a worse parody. Rove is the James Carville of the Right. He’s a gray eminence of insular scorched earth politics. Period. Sadly, he and his creature Dubya apparently can’t even see anything beyond their self-imposed blinkers. Way too little, way too late and way too transparently self-serving. Just what New Orleans needs: corruption and hot air. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/35 "2005-09-17T05:15:48Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > He probably thinks his career rip-out-the-juglar politics _was_ altruistic, serving a higher good and all that. That’s probably true, at least in part. > [@](#): > > Sadly, he and his creature Dubya apparently can’t even see anything beyond their self-imposed blinkers. Heh. Somehow this makes me think of _Frankenstein_. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/36 "2005-09-17T06:03:50Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > …Now, now, we’re not supposed to be playing the plame game. Sooner or later, you will suffer for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/37 "2005-09-17T07:14:20Z")
> [@](#): > > You know things are really, really bad when you can’t think of a worse parody. Rove is the James Carville of the Right. He’s a gray eminence of insular scorched earth politics. Period. Sadly, he and his creature Dubya apparently can’t even see anything beyond their self-imposed blinkers. The difference is that after the election, they told James Carville and Lee Atwater, “Thanks for getting me elected. I’ll take it from here.” and sent them home. With the Bush administration we’re still waiting for them to stop running for office and start running the country. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/38 "2005-09-17T11:56:39Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > You mean his #1 priority isn’t damage control? Maybe he got confused about which damage he’s trying to control. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/39 "2005-09-17T12:23:01Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > So, the administration that has, AFAIK, never, ever heeded an environmental group is trying to blame the destruction of the levees on environmental efforts? Amazing. Most of what I’ve heard from an environmental standpoint are suspicions that the destruction of southern wetlands was a key to lack of impedence in hurricanes proceeding and that global warming (Hello, Kyoto) is an ingredient on bigger, more destructive hurricanes. [Here’s a report](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/16/number_of_strongest_storms_seen_rising/) on a recent study looking at the possible role of global warming in increasing, not the number, but the severity of hurricanes: > [@](#): > > Powerful hurricanes like Katrina, the most destructive such storm ever to hit the United States, are becoming more common, according to a new study sure to fuel debate over whether global warming is to blame. > > In the 1970s there were about 11 storms on average of the powerful category 4 and 5 range. Since 1990 that has climbed to 18 per year on average worldwide, researchers led by Peter J. Webster at the Georgia Institute of Technology report in today’s issue of the journal Science. > > [snip] > > The increase in powerful hurricanes coincides with a rise of nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit in the tropical sea surface temperature around the world. > > It’s the warm water vapor from the oceans that drives tropical storms, and as the water gets warmer the amount of evaporation increases, providing more fuel for the tempests. > > [snip] > > There was no increase in the total number of tropical storms worldwide; the change was in how many of them grew into the most dangerous categories. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813/40 "2005-09-17T13:02:39Z")
That’s probably just coincidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-rove-is-slated-to-head-the-reconstruction-effort-feel-better-already/321813.md?page=1)