The Miseducation of Karl Rove
Posted by: Kate Drazner
Date: 4/24/2008 2:36 pm
Bookmark and Share

Karl Rove once said, “As people do better, they start voting like Republicans – unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.” As backwards as this statement is, it has been embraced by the Right to attack educated progressives and to make “liberal” into a dirty word. Conservatives have long been proponents of denying public access to information about how their policies just don't work.

The problem with this strategy is that, as the lies ultimately surface and the public becomes disillusioned, the Right continues to undermine our collective intelligence by attempting to bandage over our outrage with a new set of lies. We have reached a point where the lies have become so abundant that we are now adept at spotting them. Taking a look at this week's news highlights:

-An investigative report into the documents obtained by the New York Times from their lawsuit against the Pentagon revealed a six-year long strategy for the Bush administration to co-opt a team of “military analysts,” and groom them to deliver war testimony manipulated in the administration's favor. These analysts were paid $500-$1,000 each per appearance on a mainstream news network.

-After human rights groups joined together in a lawsuit to investigate whether senior officials of the Bush administration authorized the use of torture, the CIA announced that it possesses some 7,000 documents that it will not be handing over. The CIA cited “presidential communications privilege,” a classic stonewalling strategy for hiding immoral and illegal acts.

-Yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing entitled: Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence. One would assume the study that broke earlier in the month exposing a 1 in 4 STD infection rate among teen girls would be evidence enough that abstinence-only programs are indeed what Planned Parenthood has called “a $1.5 billion failure.”

It's up to us, members of the progressive movement, to make it known that, despite what the administration believes, the American public has eyes and ears and brains. We can see through their charades. It's time for all of us to demand to know what our leaders are doing to protect our security. It's time to ensure that the unprecedented magnitude of deceit brought forth by the Bush administration will never happen again. Join Progressive Future's commitment to the values of security, fairness, community and liberty by signing our Priorities for a Progressive Future.


 

Recent Blog Entries

You say you want a revolution Posted by  Dan Stafford , 07/05/2008

Let the Real Debate on Offshore Drilling Begin Posted by  Rich Hannigan , 07/03/2008

Pentagon Inspects KBR, but Don't Hold Your Breath Posted by  Kate Drazner , 7/03/2008

My Guantanamo Diary Posted by  Guest Blogger Mahvish Rukhsana , 7/02/2008

We haven't done all we can Posted by  Shelley Schreiner , 07/01/2008

Bankruptcies Up, Despite Cruel Legal Reform Posted by  Hugh Eastwood , 06.27.2008

Many Children Left Behind Posted by  Hugh Eastwood , 06.26.2008

A Little More Science, A Little Less Hype Posted by  Kate Drazner , 6/26/2008

A Path Past Oil Posted by  Adam Lioz , 06/25/2008

Justice for Sick Nuclear Workers Posted by  Special guest blogger LeRoy Moore , 6/24/2008

Need We Say More? Posted by  Hugh Eastwood , 06.23.2008

Hot Off the Presses Posted by  Hugh Eastwood , 06.23.2008

Calling for Leadership Posted by  Adam Lioz , 06/20/08

Health Care: What's Work Got to Do with It? Posted by  Kate Drazner , 6/19/2008

Our Priorities Posted by  Adam Lioz , 06/16/08

Another Solution to High Gas Posted by  K.J. Meyer , 06.11.2008

Planes, Trains and Global Warming Posted by  Hugh Eastwood , 06.09.2008

De-Railed: How Balanced Transportation will restore American Prosperity Posted by  Special guest blogger Jason Lally , 06.06.2008

The big business of education  Posted by  Shelley Schreiner , 6/4/2008


Get Deeper

Find out how you can get even more involved with Progressive Future: volunteer in your community; donate to the campaign; or even come work with us full time. Find out how.

Latest Update

New Staff Ready to Hit the Streets

Twelve new organizers came together in Denver the first week of March to build their skills.


The Recent Outrage

Bush Administration: We Said It, Therefore It's True  7/03/2008

In the first court review of the Bush Administration's secret evidence for holding a detainee at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, it was revealed that the government claimed the accusations presented in its secret documents should be considered truth — not because there were hard facts backing them up — but because the accusations were repeated in multiple government documents.


News We Can Use

Race profiling eyed for terror probes

The Associated Press | 7/3/2008

The Justice Department is considering letting the FBI investigate Americans without any evidence of wrongdoing, relying instead on a terrorist profile that could single out Muslims, Arabs or other racial and ethnic groups.