Rove's pursuit of a one-party state began to fall apart precipitously around the 2004 elections. With the aid of his Republican guard, irrationally loyal, blinded by celebrity, the Republican Party took on Rove's cause in the face of certain defeat at the polls. As Rove's last vestiges of dignity waned, he lead the charge in the war against voter registration. Democratic groups nation-wide had used George W. Bush's presidency to reach out to disenchanted voters through registration drives, registering nealry 10 new voters for every 1 reached by Republican organizations. No worries. Under Rove's leadership, Republicans nationwide continued an aggressive assault on voters, by proposing, lobbying, and in some cases passing laws to make voter registration more difficult, preventing or discouraging non-profits from embarking on registration drives, and by requiring photo ID at the polls to cast a vote.

Rove's campaign of disenfranchisement affects the poor, the young, the elderly, and the very Republican citizens whose cause he ruthlessly exploited. Christian evengelicals balk now at promises he and his puppet George made to garner their support for the senseless loss of life that are the wars we find ourselves in today. Military families attend funerals and Congressional hearings while the Republican leadership that promised so much compassion earlier on ignore them with callous contempt that they might demand a response to their only question, "Why?"

It seems to be Rove, the embodiment of oppressive "Pressure from the White House" who may have been one of the progenitors of the plan to fire 9 US Attorneys. It was Rove who orchestrated Bush's first and second snatch-and-grab jobs at the polls in 2000 and 2004. Elections are Rove's specialty. And it's Rove's specter of corruption, incompetence, and mass disenfranchisement at election time that will stay with us for at least the next few decades.

Such a foul scent has wafted over our United States throughout his tenure. Treasonous advisors to a tenuous Administration have stained our nation to the very fibers of its constituency. With Rove's advisory power at the White House, the atoms of our democracy, the American vote, has been scurrilously undermined. With Rove's resignation, it is the duty of all citizens to fan the burning flames of change to clear this stench from all it has permeated.

There are those who admire Karl Rove's percieved political genious. For those, and to a lesser degree myself, it is necessary to never forget that the essence of political genius is known when that genius is put to effective use to benefit the citizens, promote sound governance, and to keep the best interests of the citizens at heart. Rove has never accomplished that. As such, this genius is flimsy and for show only.

Rove's pursuit of war in service to oil has only shown his allegiance to the principals of applied fascism. Rove has shown himself to be in service to neither 'traditional' Republican political values, nor conservative social values. Rather, Rove leaves his post as an iconic promoter of what true fascist leadership requires: a willingness of leaders to ignore the interests of democracy to promote the interests of large corporations.

Karl Rove's resignation should go down in history as merely a turning point for our democracy. We must not clamor at his demise, but celebrate another opportunity for those who believe in democracy to take our nation back from treasonous theives.

As the ship sinks, rats find themselves jumping from it onto whatever driftwood they can cling to. The largest and most gluttonous rat has left the sullied ship, and we can only wonder which corporate interest has provided the driftwood on which he will invariably land.