Karl Ruprect Rove

Rove Gives Hackish Advice

And we're all supposed to be a-scared of his (28 percent) political genius. His first Newsweek column:

Shortly after the 2001 Inauguration, I made a little talk saying I appreciated having [Hillary Clinton's old West Wing office] because it had the only full-length vanity mirror in the West Wing, which gave me a chance to improve my rumpled appearance. The senator from New York confronted me shortly after and pointedly said she hadn't put the mirror there. I hadn't said she did, just that the mirror was there.

Clearly he was implying that the First Lady put a mirror in the office. Why mention it otherwise? Typical of the entire Bush Republican attitude. "I never said Saddam orchestrated 9/11," they say. But they obviously implied it many times.

Every presidential election is about change and the future, not the past. So show them who you are in a way that gives the American people hope, optimism and insight. That's the best antidote to the low approval rates of the Republican president.

Translation: Don't talk about the administration (and nation) I helped to destroy with all of my sucky political advice. But make sure to listen to my advice now because it's not sucky like before.

Don't be afraid to say something controversial. The American people want their president to be authentic. And against a Democrat who calculates almost everything, including her accent and laugh, being seen as someone who says what he believes in a direct way will help.

Translation: calculate and orchestrate a controversy -- because you shouldn't be calculated like Senator Clinton.

And this is all from page one of the Newsweek column. I'll save you the time on page two: "cliche, cliche, cliche, obvious, obvious, duh, the end."