Irresponsibly Engaged in the World
Everyone on campus has undoubtedly heard Concordia’s goal for liberal learning. Most of the freshmen have even likely finished or will eventually write an essay or two about it.
“Becoming responsibly engaged in the world” seemed like Concordia’s mantra my freshman year. I wrote countless essays about it. With all of the emphasis on becoming responsibly engaged in the world, I was unable to understand the rationale for having Karl Rove speak on campus. Then it occurred to me: Concordia must want to provide an example of how not to become responsibly engaged in the world.
Karl Rove is a long-time Republican political strategist. Rove was a College Republicans member, and eventually the group’s national chairman. Working as a strategist for numerous Republican candidates during the 1980s, Rove gradually took on larger roles in larger campaigns. He was a strategist during George W. Bush’s 1994 and 1998 gubernatorial campaigns, as well as both of Bush’s presidential campaigns. In Bush’s 2004 victory speech, the former President went so far as to call Rove “the architect” of his campaign.
Many of Rove’s actions are deeply controversial. During the 1970 Illinois state treasurer election, Rove admittedly stole letterhead from the Democratic candidate, Alan J. Dixon, and used it to forge invitations to a campaign event. The fliers advertised free beer, free food, and girls. Despite Rove’s best efforts, Dixon still won the election.
Rove’s tactics only became more controversial over the years. Notorious for his smear tactics, Rove has promoted personal attack ads, as well as push polls. Push polls masquerade as legitimate opinion polls, but instead of trying to collect opinions, they ask pointed questions. According to Richard S. Davis article in the March 21, 2004, “Boston Globe,” titled “Anatomy of a Smear Campaign,” push polls were present during the 2000 South Carolina Republican primary to spread the rumor that Sen. John McCain’s adopted daughter, Bridget, was an illegitimate black child. Though often false, the information peddled by push polls can be fatal to a campaign, like they were for McCain in the aforementioned primary.
Besides his dirty campaign tricks, Rove has also been implicated, though never indicted, for various political scandals. When it was leaked to the press that Valerie Plame was a CIA employee, her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, claimed it was in retaliation for a critical opinion article he had written about the Bush Administration. Though Rove was identified as one of the sources of the article that ousted Plame, he was never charged in the leak case.
In another scandal, Rove has also been accused of playing a role in the 2006 firing of seven US Attorneys. According to a March 14, 2007, article by Dan Eggen and Paul Kane in the “Washington Post,” documents from the Department of Justice showed that Karl Rove was involved in the dismissals of the attorneys and that the dismissals were “heavily influenced by assessments of the prosecutors’ political loyalty.” Rove was eventually subpoenaed to testify before Congress under oath but has yet to be indicted for anything.
Judging by his actions, does Karl Rove sound like someone responsibly engaged in the world? Many Concordia students seem to think he isn’t. A group on Facebook titled “Rove Doesn’t Reflect My Campus’ Values” has over 120 members. “Politics is a rough business, but it shouldn’t be unethical,” says group creator and psychology professor Dr. Mark Covey. “Our college should be known for reasoned and civilized dialogue. Unfortunately, the reputation of the institution is sullied when we turn a blind eye to someone’s conduct to bask in his notoriety.”
Rove certainly is notorious. And he certainly does not represent the value of this campus, or the goal of becoming responsibly engaged in the world.
