Card Rejects Rove’s Claim That Congress Pushed Bush To War: ‘His Mouth Gets Ahead Of His Brain’
Card Rejects Rove’s Claim That Congress Pushed Bush To War: ‘His Mouth Gets Ahead Of His Brain’
Karl Rove asserted on the Charlie Rose show recently that it was Congress that pushed the Bush administration into war with Iraq. “The administration was opposed” to voting for a war resolution in the fall of 2002, Rove claimed. “It seemed it make things move too fast,” he argued.
As ThinkProgress documented, key leaders in both the House and the Senate — including then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) — were asking Bush in 2002 to delay the Iraq war vote. But as Daschle recalled, when he asked Bush to delay the vote, Bush “looked at Cheney and he looked at me, and there was a half-smile on his face. And he said: ‘We just have to do this now.’”
This morning, former White House chief of staff at the time, Andrew Card, appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and completely discredited Rove’s argument:
SCARBOROUGH: We have to start with something that we all are talking about a couple of days ago where Karl Rove went on Charlie Rose and he blamed the Democrats for pushing him and the president into war. Is that how it worked?
CARD: No, that’s not the way it worked.
Card went on to explain that sometimes Rove’s “mouth gets ahead of his brain”:
SCARBOROUGH: Is that just Karl spinning beyond the White House? …
CARD: Well, Karl is very smart. He’s — sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain.
Watch it:
UPDATE: The Politico’s John Bresnahan adds:
As someone who covered the 2002 vote on Iraq for Roll Call, Rove’s assertion that Congress was pushing for a quick vote on the use-of-force resolution is just not credible at all.
The White House pushed to hold that vote in October, just a month before the mid-term elections, and Democrats were forced to support it or risk losing their re-election campaigns.
It was a bare-knuckled political power play by President Bush and GOP leaders in Congress, and it worked very, very well. Republicans ended up winning back the Senate that fall, and the GOP picked up more House seats.
Transcript:
SCARBOROUGH: We have to start with something that we all are talking about a couple of days ago where Karl Rove went on Charlie Rose and he blamed the Democrats for pushing him and the president into war. Is that how it worked?
CARD: No, that’s not the way it worked.
SCARBOROUGH: What the heck? Seriously, what the hell was that about?
CARD: Democrats pushed us a lot of stupid things, but they didn’t push us into war.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, yeah. You worked with Karl. Is that just Karl spinning beyond the White House?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI:Spinning out of control?
CARD: Well, Karl is very smart. He’s — sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain.
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Of course, Rove does not make slips of the tongue; his lies are quite intentional. The Republican party is expert at pushing forth ridiculous assertions which are completely unfounded because they know that the retraction (if they ever bother to make one) will get little press while the original statement gets widely publicized. Reagan was a master at it. He was constantly “mis-speaking” in ways that had little to do with his Alzheimer’s disease, and much to do with his desire to push forward his agenda despite the pertinent facts.
As trusting Americans, we still have trouble believing that our elected leaders would lie to us – a fact that this administration has used to devastating effect. The truth is, most everything this administration reports is a lie or a distortion.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:20 amYup…time to reframe history once again. It was Congress that pushed a reluctant President into war. He really really didn’t want to do it. So most of the blame goes to Hillary. Yeah, that’s the ticket–it was Hillary who pushed the President. Only stalwart Sen. Lieberman stood up to push against this rush to war.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:27 amCard: ” Karl is very smart….
” That’s not the way it worked”
Card should tell Scarborough that Karl simply lied.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:28 amAs trusting Americans, we still have trouble believing that our elected leaders would lie to us – a fact that this administration has used to devastating effect. The truth is, most everything this administration reports is a lie or a distortion.
Hitler once said that we all tell little lies on a regular basis but the average person doesn’t tell giant lies (like 9/11). So, when the goverment tells us those ridiculous huge lies, it seems unfathomable to us and we buy them. The good thing is that many of us have caught on.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:37 amThis administration has been using Goebbels’ playbook since day 1.
Heres’ the quote:
“The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one”.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:39 amAdolf Hitler
No, his mouth does not get ahead of his brain. Every lie that Rove tells is carefully considered and calibrated. He is a very intelligent sociopath.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:40 amIt’s pathological!
November 30th, 2007 at 8:42 amtraitor rove should be in prison right now rotting away for treason.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:44 amThis administration has been using Goebbels’ playbook since day 1.
Heres’ the quote:
“The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small oneâ€.
Adolf Hitler
Comment by Dharma — November 30, 2007 @ 8:39 am
9-11 rings a bell…. 9-11 was a lie and a false flag operation.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:45 amYou are right, Dharma,
I remember listening to the Administration’s claims about Iraq in 2002 and not believing them. But I muted by objections because I still had doubts, primarily because I couldn’t believe that they would dare to push such a big lie in such a blatant way without evidence on their side. Trouble is, they did dare.
The administration counted on this. They counted on the fact that their chief critics did not have access to the classified information which ripped their claims to shreds.
We need to have extremely harsh penalties for this type of betrayal of trust. We entrust our government with the power to keep secrets from us. We accept that there is information that ordinary citizens should not be privy to. In exchange, we must insist that anything we are told ABOUT this secret information be very strictly truthful. If we allow them to LIE about what we may not verify, we forfiet our basic democracy.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:45 amMore Rove lies! #1 is right – Bush has lied and used level of collective incredulity against us.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:49 amPeter C: Yes, they had it all “packaged and planned” well in advance of 911.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:50 amSomeone above called KKK Karl a “smart man” – when anyone in a democracy lauds a liar and bestows accolades on one who is corrupt from head to toe, then I fear that the moral values of this country are rapidly swirling down the toilet.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:51 amComment by Peter C — November 30, 2007 @ 8:20 am
Right on.
Plus, many people (Repubs, mostly) suffer from what I call the Archie Bunker syndrome. They will never admit they are wrong even if the undisputed proof is right in front of them. And its not just with politics; I’ve witnessed this behavior in a variety of situations covering different issues. There are probably several reasons for this behavior, such as stubbornness and the fear that being wrong after you’ve insisted you were right is a sign of weakness. As well, it would mean that people would have to take responsibility for being wrong, and as we’ve seen with the Bush administration, that’s just not going to happen.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:52 amWhen the Hague trials of ‘09 get underway, KKK Karl and his cronies (Card included) won’t have to worry about their mouths getting ahead of their brains any more.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:55 amKeeping th public confused.
One makes a statement or a lie, the other say that’s not the case…and by keep doing this..you confuse the masses.
They have the means to deliver. Fox and Co. and many other voices to deflect, contest,approve,disapprove and confuse.
The whole purpose is achieve your agenda and not to get caught. Let the masses swim in an ocean of confusion.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:55 amScarborough is also a tool to deliver.
Fan of Man
9/11, I figure the official version of how it happened was more or less accurate. If they had set off demolition charges in the place the planes would have been unneeded.
How and why it was allowed to happen, who was responsible and all of that though, that is another story.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:55 amBad Eye: I would suggest that it’s just a large dose of uncontrolled ego. We were weaned on the “chest thumping” type of americanism and led to believe that we were the rulers of the planet. It wasn’t true back then and definitely is not true now. We were fed a nice heaping spoonfool of american propaganda – and we believed it because we wanted to! What an ego perk – as Neale Donald Walsh says in his speeches: “I thought I had it all – I was white, male, and catholic – what could be better”. That is, until he learned the sad, ugly truth about how he was brainwashed.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:57 amdid morning joe ask andrew card about his hospital visit to a very sick attorney general, with the intention of subverting the constitution.
nah, didnt think so. isn’t it remarkable that card is a semi-regular on these programs and never confronted with his criminality; but instead promoted as some kind of neutral observer.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:58 amBruce: Have you considered the sheer drama involved in playing and replaying the planes hitting the towers ad nauseum and what effect that has had on american’s level of fear? They absolutely had to make this dramatic.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:59 amDidn’t clarence tell you to shut up chl?
November 30th, 2007 at 8:59 amThere is beginning to be little doubt that this government was complicit in 911 in “some” way – whether it was receipt of intelligence and intentionally disregarding it so as to permit an attack and reap the obvious dictatorial benefits derived from it to the most heinous of a false flag operation, it’s becoming crystal clear that the “official story” is bogus.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:00 amveritas,
TWouldn’t there have been plenty of drama with the buildings collapsing and the increased carnage that would have ensued.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:01 amBruce Gordon: Besides, the decoy was the “war games” which involved aircraft so it had to be aircraft to confuse the air traffic controllers and NORAD *(ahem * wink*wink*).
November 30th, 2007 at 9:02 amBobwurst: It had to be planes since it was planes being used in the war games which were occurring on precisely that day.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:02 amThe war games were the cover.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:03 amHe’s — sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain.
Translation:
Sometimes Rove lies consciously, sometimes subconsciously.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:05 amBruce – google operation northwoods
November 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am9-11 link EVERYONE should check out:
Improbable Collapse: The Demolition of our Republic
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4026073566596731782
November 30th, 2007 at 9:13 amFan of Man: Thanks for the links. Knowledge IS power and the more the people know, the easier it will be to wrangle power from these fascists. They are truly the enemy within.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:15 amRemember the rush to vote on the Military Commissions Act? Bush was pushing Congress to pass it before going home to campaign for the election of 2006, telling members that it would be in their best interest to pass the legislation instead of delaying action and having to go home to their constituents and explain why they did not vote to protect America.
Several years ago I found info on the Web from a member of Congress who compared this to the vote on the Iraq invasion. He said that Bush’s demand for them to pass the MCA was similar to his demand to pass the Iraq resolution. Wish I would have saved it. If I have time, I’ll try to Google it.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:16 amRegardless of “how” Rove lies, Verbalkint said it quite succinctly: He’s a sociopath and knowing how to lie in a variety of forms is the specialty of the psychiatrically compromised sociopathic human being.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:17 amBad Eye: Yep – the Military Commissions Act was, in effect, another nail in the coffin of our democracy. Amazing how quickly they got this and the Patriot Act composed and ready to roll, isn’t it? That’s because both of these are straight out of the wet dream think tank of the neofascists in the PNAC.
Google PNAC if you want to see just who the “perpetrators” of this coup on our democracy actually are. Treat yourself! It will help you to begin to connect the horrendous, criminal, heinous dots.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:19 amRove can take majority-holder credit for the extreme emotions people now attach to their political views.
He has orchestrated evil.
Clearly, he does not believe in an after-life.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:20 amBetter yet: Google “David Ray Griffin” and watch some of his videos online. It will make your skin crawl and provide such convincing evidence that you will wonder why these dementeds are still in power.
Also, read Griffin’s book entitled: “The New Pearl Harbor” if you want to see how this was all contrived well in advance of 911 and they are quoted to have said that it “will take another pearl harbor type event to enact the Patriot Act”. And just like magic….poof! False Flag attack or just mere coincidence that they were playing war games of the same type at the same time???
As we know as human beings, there’s little to the theory of coincidence.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:22 amForTruth: Clearly Rove doesn’t have a genuine spiritual cell in his body and he also has disdain for the life “here and now” since he’s doing his personal best at creating his own version of “hell on earth” as a form of self-flagellation for the abysmally miserable childhood he led.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:23 amI have not listened to or checked in on any of the regular rightwing propaganda sites, but I would imagine Rove’s commments have had their effect. I’ll bet that there are right wingers all over the country who take it as gospel what ROve has said since they probably have not had the contrary evidence presented to them. Remember last year about a day or two after the electiosn some of the right wingers were already blaming dems for the war since they were in power, so this is just part of one more roviian scheme.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:25 amI like to see that it was a Bush insider (Card) that rejected Rove’s fabricated history.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:26 amkeep your eyes on this link
WHO THE WORLD VOTES
http://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/
November 30th, 2007 at 9:26 amJust visited Huffpo and am still ROTFLMAO at the headline “Kerick condones Rudy’s Romps” – you gotta love the level of chicanery involved here – One indicted criminal stumping for another! What tangled webs we weave. Bernie’s taking the “Rudy & Judy Show” down the sewer. I think we’re going to see Mitt Romney and Hackabee’s numbers rise while the crossdresser’s fall.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:26 amWell, Karl is very smart. He’s — sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain.
uuuhhhhh???. somehow I would never have associated ones brain and mouth being completely out of synch with being smart. It must be a republican definition.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:26 am.
Ron Paul 39 thousand votes
Obama 15 thousand votes
Clinton 3 thousand vote
WHO THE WORLD WOULD ELECT
http://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/
November 30th, 2007 at 9:27 amSeverus: Anyone left believing Rove et al has to be in personal denial – they just can’t bring themselves to believe that our very own government would lie to it’s people – would defraud it’s people – would screw it’s own people. That’s the ONLY thing (American incredulity) keeping some people buoyed and “in the dark” these days.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:28 amhttp://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/
You can vote once
WHO THE WORLD WOULD ELECT
RON PAUL THE WINNER SO FAR
November 30th, 2007 at 9:29 amonce you vote you can see the world countries votes
November 30th, 2007 at 9:29 amRove is a criminal.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:30 amhttp://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/
NEVER VOTE CLINTON SHES MORE TROUBLE
November 30th, 2007 at 9:30 amuuuhhhhh???. somehow I would never have associated ones brain and mouth being completely out of synch with being smart. It must be a republican definition.
…but all yuk, yuk of course. there’s nothing funnier then lying about who deceived and forced the United States into the most disasterous foreign policy blunder in its history where a country has been destroyed; hundred’s of thousands unnecessarily killed, maimed, and displaced; $$ trillions wasted; and the US reputation shredded. There is truly nothing quite like the republican sense of humor.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:31 am.
sorry…..never gonna vote for a republican.No matter who it is.they wouldn’t lie,just to get elected.They’d never do a thing like that. Gotta go,work calls…have a good one folks.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:33 amBush Cover Ups: Thanks for the link. Let’s keep an eye on it because it clearly runs in contretemps to what the whoring mainstream media is parading as truth. One of the hallmarks of fascism is control of the media – which Bush has had for the past 7 years. If these media moguls don’t recognize where their bread is buttered now (with Bush as a lameduck and the people onto their shenanigans) they will be easily eclipsed by the internet (damn those internets!). No wonder the twisted Repukes wanted to shut it down, eh? Not as easy to defraud the people now.
I think Ron Paul is an honest man and I like his anti-war stance; however, I’m not sure about his other ideologies. In fact, there isn’t one candidate YET (operative word here) on the radar who embodies the myriad of qualities and mindset of most democrats right now. Keep in mind that the majority of democrats sit to the left of the congressional democrats and the democratic party. Although Ron Paul denied running as an Indy, time will tell. He appears to have a large following (not sure how much of it is rejection of Pariah Bush at this point??). But there still will be at least one other and perhaps two surprise candidates coming into the contest after the primaries.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:33 amAfter all, if Rudy and Hillary are the best we’ve got, it will behoove others to rise up and provide some better choices for the american voter.
Two horses in any race are better than one!
November 30th, 2007 at 9:34 am#48 Clinton is part of the problem – not part of the solution. Hillary Clinton is “Bush Light”. ‘nuf said.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:35 amFan of the Man,
November 30th, 2007 at 9:37 amGoogle keeps deleting these 9/11 movies. I found one that was in 3 half hour increments. People are more apt to watch something that’s not an hour+ long. Anyway, they deleted that one and have done so with Loose Change a few times as well.
Those films are more of a threat to BushCo than books because the short-attention-span, brainwashed idiots would perfer to watch a movie than read a book.
I don’t care, though. If I can get one person a year to think about 9/11 and who benefitted and that none of the “official version” made sense, I’m happy.
9/11, I figure the official version of how it happened was more or less accurate. If they had set off demolition charges in the place the planes would have been unneeded.
Comment by Bruce Gorton — November 30, 2007 @ 8:55 am
The demo charges were “insurance” in case the damage from the planes did not bring the towers down. Look at WTC 7. I recently saw video showing that a penthouse on the top floor collapsed 7 seconds before the rest of the building. One small section collapsing into the rest of the building and *poof* seconds later the rest of the bldg collapsing in the same manner. Plus, what are the odds that a building that was not hit by planes collapses all at once, completely and efficiently? It wasn’t just the face of the building that came down; it wasn’t one side. There was not a partial collapse. The debris that damaged the building and allegedly caused the collapse would have had to hit the building in just the right locations in order for the bldg to collapse the way it did. What are the odds of that happening?
November 30th, 2007 at 9:39 am#54 Most people have saved the movies and have passed them on to people they know. When 64% of americans smell something fishy about 911, then it’s time to reopen the investigation, as Dennis Kucinich says. It will happen in due time – probably when Dumbo leaves office.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:39 amBad Eye: And, coincidentally (wink) Building 7 housed the Enron files – now imagine that coincidence!
November 30th, 2007 at 9:40 amGoogle PNAC if you want to see just who the “perpetrators†of this coup on our democracy actually are. Treat yourself! It will help you to begin to connect the horrendous, criminal, heinous dots.
Comment by Veritas — November 30, 2007 @ 9:19 am
I have. Sickening, actually.
In reference to your statement about people not being able to bring themselves to believe that our very own government would lie to its people, I once offered up Operation Northwoods to O. Bigfoot. His response was, “What’s your point?” and “Yeah, but nothing became of it.”
November 30th, 2007 at 9:50 amCard is a war criminal
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dp4MYii7MqA
Talk about one turd bashing another turd
November 30th, 2007 at 10:07 amRudy closet is full of smelly stuff will soon be felt by the voters.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:22 amThe voters will know a lot about Rudi’s affairs,specially after the lawsuit of Fox/Regan , Regan -Kerik,Kerik-Giuliani, Giulian-Fox network,and many others will be put on display.
Giuliani can duck many questions, but soon the people will get to see what’s in his closet.
Another amazing fact was; How fast the blueprints for the new 1/2 billion plus Embassy in Baghdad, were drawn up, and then “Wham bam, Thank-you mam,” construction began!
November 30th, 2007 at 10:41 amHas the U S government ever acted that fast in doing anything, since 1776?
Andy Card is also a liar. I have no doubt that Rove’s comment was intentional and not a case of his mouth getting ahead of his brain. They tried to see if we would fall for their BS once again and the American people who heard Rove’s comment finally called them on it. Card was just sent out to clean up the spilled milk. Totally Intentional!
November 30th, 2007 at 10:51 amOk folks that wasn’t me. I don’t have a space in my moniker. But at least I’m not being trolled. I guess I have a fan.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:52 amI do believe the Bush admin and many other people in positions of power do have the ability, and means, to lie to the public on a grand scale. Government can, and will promote a “big lie”.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:02 amWhatever… I’m really tired of this love fest people have for Karl Rove and how he’s soooo smart. OH MY GOD, He’s like so smaaart, and dreamy… oh GUSH.
He’s a weasil. And really good at being a weasil. It’s that simple.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:16 amThe question is not whether he’s “smart”. Rove is the most dishonest, most partisan, and sleaziest scumbucket around (for “effin’ stoopidest guy on the face of earth”, look up “Douglas Feith”).
Once we acknowledge that Rove is thoroughly dishonest, it’s technically impossible to tell whether he’s “smart” or not … but that matters not at all, in any case. The reason he was wrong was he was lying.
Cheers,
November 30th, 2007 at 11:29 amCARD: Well, Karl is very smart. He’s — sometimes his brain ass gets ahead of his mouthpropaganda hole. And sometimes his mouthpropaganda hole gets ahead of his brain ass.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:28 pmSo Congress dragged Bush into war with Iraq with boy George kicking and screaming every inch of the way.
yeah, right.
And I’m the king of Siam too.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:48 pmSeems to me that Karl is finally admitting that Iraq was a mistake. Why else blame the democrats?
November 30th, 2007 at 12:54 pmrove is pure evil. Illuminati is my opinion. Power seeking evil and filthy. Weened on the teets of nixon, no less.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:19 pmoops! weaned and teet – sorry!
November 30th, 2007 at 2:21 pmI swear, whenever the right wing floats an absurdity like this — whether from the administration or the punditariat — I’m forced to scour the news for the real story they’re trying to distract us from. Something important happened the other day, and we all missed it because Karl was purposely yanking the nation’s collective chain.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pmFor Rove to go around pretending that Democrats pushed Bush into an illegal war is much like when Joseph Gobbels pretended that the Jews pushed Hitler into the ‘final solution.’ Rove is always about dividing Americans and scapegoating Democrats in the most obscene manner, as if we were responsible for their war crimes. In a more perfect world, Rove would have suffered the same fate as Gobbels.
Bush was always determined to go to war regardless of what Congress passed or didn’t pass or what the UN did or didn’t pass. And in fact, he went to war without ever obeying what the resolution said about going back to Congress.
What Rove may have been trying to say is that he didn’t want the Democrats to pass the war resolution before the November election, because he wanted to use their failure to pass it against them in the election. At the same time the administration was publicly urging Congress to pass it, they were secretly hoping they wouldn’t – at least not until after the election.
For Rove/Bush, the war resolution was all about domestic politics, and about how to use the ‘war on terror’ against their political opponents. The idea was to divide Democrats, and at the same time make them look weak and indecisive. And unfortunately, the Democratic leadership fell right into Rove’s trap. Bercause rather than standing up to Bush and standing against the war, they helped to pass the resolution because they wanted to take the issue off the table and focus the midterm election on other issues. But all they really did was to alienate their political base and look like political cowards. Rove is just reveling in this fact and rubbing salt in the wound, just like Joseph Gobbels would have.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:33 pmYOU KEEP TELLING THE SAME LIE OVER AND OVER AGAIN. YOU START TO BELIEVE IN IT! ROVE, BUSH, CHENNEY, RICE, RUMSFELD… HAGE 09!
November 30th, 2007 at 4:24 pmRove and Card are both War Criminals. They should be behind bars, not making big bucks for speeches full of bs. The same goes for Ashcroft.
How much longer will we be subjected to the rants of these immoral criminal fools?
November 30th, 2007 at 4:34 pm—-
CARD: Well, Karl is very smart. He’s — sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain.
—-
The Turdblossom spews what he eats.
- Tom
November 30th, 2007 at 5:08 pmwhat brain!
November 30th, 2007 at 9:53 pm