Reading Between the Lines

Each Sunday in the NY Times Magazine, there's a first-person Q&A with all sorts of people in the news. It's done by Deborah Solomon and consists of a short transcript of questions to the subject and

 his or her answers. This week, Karl Rove is in the spotlight. 

I'm not fan of Rove's -- in fact, I'd say he's up there with some of the worst people to ever inhabit Washington and that's a long, long, long list. But however you feel about him, it's hard to not come away from even this brief interview and not get what he's about.

Pretty chilling, if you ask me.

The entire article is on the New York Times website, but here is a taste. (The questions are in bold; Rove's answers follow on the next line).

Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics? 
Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.
But what about your great dream of creating a permanent Republican governing majority in Washington? 
I never said permanent. Durable.
Do you have any advice for him? You already criticized Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s new chief of staff, as a sharply partisan choice.
I raised a question as to whether this would be the best use of Rahm Emanuel’s talents. If you’re trying to work through a big legislative priority, it is sort of hard if you have a guy who has a reputation as a tough, hard, take-no-prisoners, head-in-your-face, scream-and-shout, send-them-a-dead-fish partisan.
Do you like Joe Biden? 
I think he has an odd combination of longevity and long-windedness that passes for wisdom in Washington. 
Do you regret anything that happened in the White House during your tenure?
 Sure.
Do you have any advice for [President Bush] at this point?
With all due respect, I don’t need you to transmit what I want to say to my friend of 35 years.
Remember, attack politics are out. It’s a new age of civilized discourse. 
You’re the one who hurt my feelings by saying you didn’t trust me.
Did I say that? 
Yes, you did. I’ve got it on tape. I’m going to transcribe this and send it to you.

Excerpts from an interview conducted, condensed and edited by Deborah Solomon.

Condi on Obama

In the eight years we've gotten to know Condoleezza Rice, I can't recall one moment where she seemed more human than today when she spoke about Barack Obama's election victory in yesterday's Presidential race, embedded below.

In this MSNBC clip, she looks, well ... proud. Pretty damn strange since she not only works for the other guys but she unhesitatingly it seems flacked for one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States. Time will reveal more about the inner workings of the Bush White House and why not one member of his inner circle stood up for the People of the United States. A failure that led to the loss of lives, a reality almost too difficult to believe.

Rice has a fascinating history. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama at a time when it was brutally racially divided and she was friends with one of the four young black girls who were killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. (And the Republicans think William Ayers was a bad guy?) The fact that she became a Conservative seems anathema to this history but then again, it's kind of what's so great about America, ins't it. Like electing a black man to be President of the United States. Damn.

Doesn't make her right for being Bush's 'yes' woman but nonetheless, I appreciate the humanity she shows here, even if it's eight years late and a few billion dollars short.