Karl Rove’s Love Boat Ride for the Press

Karl Rove decries the “corrosive role” the press plays in politics. When I read this, I was at a lost for sensible discussion not knowing whether the laugh out loud or to scream beyond control. So let’s give the microphone to TPM Reader DK:

It’s not necessary to parse the substance of Rove’s fatuous comments. We all know how preposterous any of this is coming from Rove. And it’s certainly not the first time the GOP has attacked the media as a way of working the refs, which is exactly the purpose of those particular remarks. But I am struck by Rove’s remarks as another example, among many in recent months, that most of the reliable campaign themes the Republicans have employed in the last two decades are no longer viable. National security policy is in a shambles, the federal budget is a wreck, and the GOP’s reputation for bringing mature and competent managers to government may take a generation to rebuild. Thematically, only social issues still resonate. That leaves the GOP with two main tactical weapons: demonizing opponents personally and shooting the messenger. Over the next four months, we will see blistering negative attacks on Democrats of a ferocity and corrosiveness that will make Swift Boats look like the Love Boat. And we will see a continuation of what started in the spring, an unprecedented attack on journalists and journalism, using not only the rhetorical flourishes favored by Rove, but the powers of the state via investigations, subpoenas, and the invocation of state secrets.

Read the rest if you are concerned as DK and I am about the future of our democracy.