Karl Rove's Modus Operandi

Senate Majority leader Bill Frist grabbed the headlines today by demanding declassification of Richard Clarke's former testimony about Bush and 9/11. On the Senate floor, Frist angrily claimed that Clarke 'has told two entirely different stories.'

But in later interviews, Frist did the old GOP back-track: 'Frist later retreated from directly accusing Clarke of perjury, telling reporters that he personally had no knowledge that there were any discrepancies between Clarke's two appearances.'

Anyone who has been watching the Bush administration for long enough will see the invisible hand of Karl Rove at work here: lie, lie, lie... deny, deny, deny... and then, if you get caught out, go on the offensive, let a junior official admit there may have been some misinterpretation/mis-speak/"out-of-context" reporting, remain incommunicado for a few days, and then deny that you ever lied in the first place. When pressed, move on to the next story... For example: "Who cares about that old 9/11 committee stuff? We just invaded Syria!"

Interestingly, Clarke himself has asked Bush to release any former testimony he may have given, and Colin Powell refuses to join in the character assasination.