Beyond Irony

Karl Rove should have been named Man of the Year at some point by the Democratic National Committee. The political consultant/​Bush adviser played a big role in expanding the burden of government, convincing Bush to saddle the nation with fiscal disasters such as the “no‐​bureaucrat‐​left‐​behind” education bill, the corrupt farm bills, the pork‐​filled transportation bills, and the horrific new entitlement for prescription drugs. He also helped ruin the GOP image with his inside‐​the‐​beltway version of “compassionate conservatism,” thus paving the way for big Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008.


I can understand why libertarians have no desire to listen to his advice, but I’m baffled why Republicans or conservatives would give him the time of day. Yet he is a constant presence on FOX News and has a weekly column in the Wall Street Journal. With no apparent irony, his latest WSJ column is entitled “How to Stop Socialized Health Care.” Too bad he didn’t follow his own advice in 2003 when pulling out all the stops to enact the biggest entitlement in four decades.