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98 of 107 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Explains McCain's Loss, January 29, 2005
This review is from: Bush's Brain (DVD)
Edit of 20 Dec 07 to add link to the others books on what Rove did to us.
This is quite a chilling movie, and it makes even more sense to me now that I have finished reading Lee Harris' "Civilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History." Never mind John Kerry, a world-class loser with a wife to match--what this movie explains is how and why John McCain lost the South Carolina primary to Karl Rove's dirty tricks.
What really chilled me is not that Rove plays dirty against Democrats, but that he plays dirty against Republicans.
The movie begins with an early look at Karl Rove's start with Lee Atwater teaching young Republicans, including "dirty tricks" that the movie takes pains to point out are questionable but not illegal.
Included in the middle year's are stories with on the record interviews and replays of old media stories that make it quite clear that Rove is not above planting a "bug" in his own office (one with a six hour battery life, only 15 minutes of which have expired by the time it is "found"), nor of co-opting a single rogue FBI special agent to "coincidentally" have opponents under supeona just when it matters most.
Over the course of the movie, one learns that Rove is a master of playing the politcal "game" (only his version actually kills people) at three levels:
1) Disciplined overt politics--staying on message
2) Underlying messages that are legal but misdirecting
3) Underlying dirty tricks that are out and out unethical
This is where I was able to see the connection between Rove's playbook from Texas, and how John McCain was done in after a roaring victory in New Hampshire, when the South Carolina primary suddenly produced carefully orchestrated whisper campaigns about McCain's mental abilities, his black "love child" (actually an adopted orphan), and his family member's drug addition (an open issue being dealt with but made to sound terrible). In all this John Weaver, McCain's political director, shines as a voice of reason and honor when discussing the details.
Over-all the movie suggests that Rove has brought politics to a new low in ethics, and a new high in efficiency. Rove is a killing machine. He turned 9-11, and the war on Iraq, into political devices, and suggests that Rove, who has never served in uniform or in combat (nor have Cheney, Rice, or Wolfowitz), is essentially sacrificing American lives to keep his candidate in power.
The movie comes to closure with more than one commentator from Texas, where they all know Karl Rove *real well,* saying, "There's no rule he won't break."
Well, as a moderate Republican, I find this troubling. What was done to John McCain in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary, and to Max Cleland of South Carolina in his Senate race, strike me as so reprehensible as to call into question the future of the Republican Party.
I recommend this movie to every American, but especially to Republicans, in whose name some things are being done that should shame us all.
See also, with reviews:
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq
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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Karl Rove: A Clear and Present Danger to American Politics, May 7, 2006
This review is from: Bush's Brain (DVD)
Bush' brain depicts the tactics and character of George W. Bush's political consultant, Karl Rove. They describe Rove as an American Svenghali who will stop at nothing to get his candidate elected. They provide compelling proof of the history of dirty tricks he has been involved in.
As a nerdy kid, Rove took an interest in republican politics at an early age. As a member of his high school's debating team he would bring stacks of index cards to intimidate his opponents, opponents who didn't know that many of the cards were blank.
In college, Rove broke into the office of a democratic candidate and stole his stationery. He printed up hundreds of copies saying that there would be free food and free beer at the opening of the candidate's new headquarters. He delivered the flyers across campus and skid row. Rove's character was taking shape.
But we really get to know Rove's chicanery and penchant for dirty tricks when he is directing the campaign of the republican candidate for governor of Texas in 1986. With the race at a dead heat, Rove "discovers" and announces finding a bugging device poorly concealed in his office, the day before the candidates' debate. Rove implies that it was planted by the opposition. As the Texas Rangers are closing in on the investigation, a republican judge closes the investigation, and Rove's candidate wins. It turns out the battery in the bug had a life of six hours, and the FBI had determined that only .2 of the battery's juice had been used--fifteen minutes. Was it planted by Karl Rove to make it look like it was from the opposition? The interviewees in this story answer with a decided yes.
Rove's other penchant was mastering the "whisper campaigns" against Governor Ann Richards and Senator John McCain. These whispers implied that Richards was lesbian, and McCain had a baby from a black prostitute, that McCain had turned in his fellow prisoners to his captors in Vietnam.
Bush announces that he has no knowledge of where these attacks against John McCain are coming from, and does not accept responsibility for them. The DVD makes it quite clear that Rove was running everything about the campaign. And the candidate who was going to bring personal responsibility to the White House, denied the same.
Senator McClellan a three-limbed amputee veteran of Vietnam was attacked as a man who opposed homeland security legislation and protrayed as soft on terrorism. He did oppose homeland security legislation, but only President Bush's plan.
But Rove's penchant for revenge was also chilling. When Ambassador Wilson's refuted the president's state of the union message about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium "yellow cake" from Niger, Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA agent in a column printed by Robert Novak. This exposure is ironic on several levels. One, it was President Bush (41) who signed into law making it a crime to expose a CIA agent. Two, Valerie Plame's job was to identify and prevent middle eastern countries from acquiring nuclear technology and weapons. Three, it was Karl Rove who was fired from the Reagan/Bush campaign for leaking sensitive information to--Robert Novak.
The DVD falters where it attempts to show that Karl Rove really does not care at all about the troops he helped send into Iraq. The focus here is on one married marine lieutenant's family who mourn his death in Iraq. This is a deliberate plug for sympathy and anger against Rove. Rove has certainly accomplished enough for a nation to be angry about without this story.
As for the reviews that see this DVD as an obvious slant against Rove, well, that's exactly what it was supposed to be. There is no reason to create a balance when you are trying to tilt that balance in your favor. Besides, if you have to show the good in Karl Rove, this DVD may have been impossible to make.
If prosecutor Fitzpatrick's investigation is able to get at the truth, Karl Rove, President Bush, and Vice President Cheney may have a lot to answer for.
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42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Coincidence, innocent proximity or a modern Machiavelli?", February 25, 2005
This review is from: Bush's Brain (DVD)
First the disclaimer ... this review is going to be full of glowing statements about Karl Rove because, quite frankly after viewing the documentary "Bush's Brain" I don't want to be put on his enemy list. Yes, that's right; sign me up as a bona fide FAN of Karl Rove ...
Now I've established that, let's get down to the nitty gritty...
The documentary, "Bush's Brain" focuses on Karl Rove--some people say he's the man behind the White House throne. The film--based on the book co-authored by James Moore and Wayne Slater certainly adopts that position. Rove's career is examined from his high school days, and many people who've crossed paths with Rove add their perceptions of exactly how Rove wins campaigns. There are details here of Rove behind the scenes on the Clements vs. White Texas governor race. In this campaign, it looked as though White would win, when all of a sudden, a story hit the press that Karl Rove found a bugging device in his office. Never mind that the device had a 1/2 mile range, and a 6-hour battery life. Never mind that the bug had been in the wall "for about 15 minutes." Timing is all, and the media was swept along with the bugging story and the subsequent FBI investigation. Rove's candidate pulled a win.
The documentary also includes interviews with Mike Moeller, Pete McCrea, and Max Cleland--all people who crossed Rove's path and have opinions on how he pulls off a successful campaign. Apparently, the "mark of a Rove campaign" is a "whisper campaign" or "parallel action" involving implications of the general unworthiness of a political rival. It's certainly proved to be a solid tactic, and the documentary includes footage from the McCain bid in 2000.
But by far the most stunning story remains the "outing" of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame whose husband, Joseph Wilson investigated suspected uranium sales to Iraq and came up with the conclusion that ... dear me ... the event did not happen. Exactly what is Rove's involvement in the treasonous betrayal of an undercover CIA operative? This is a story that should have made the headlines, but it hasn't. With the mainstream media effectively hijacked and or muzzled, we have to seek out the truth of these stories elsewhere. Just watch "Bush's Brain" and see what Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame's husband has to say about this.
"Bush's Brain" is a bit dry and slow, but there's a lot of information packed into 80 minutes. I don't understand how Moore can say what Rove was thinking when he met Bush (unless he kept some diary or told people--and both scenarios are unlikely). Anyway, watch the film and judge for yourself, and Karl, if you're reading this, no offence, but I don't think I want to play Monopoly with you ... after watching this film, I know you play to win--displacedhuman
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