Rove vs. Wade

Bush Era is R-over: Karl Rove (right, alongside moderator Frank Sesno) brushed off claims that his campaign tactics have helped further divide the country along partisan lines. Nic Coury

Karl Rove mocks student for asking dumb question

By Zachary Stahl

Monday, May 4, 2009

A young student with an emo haircut asks Karl Rove in a surfer-like accent how many times he has broken the First Amendment. Rove, who is well versed in ridicule as a Fox News pundit, instantly mocked the question by asking which aspect of the First Amendment the student was referring to: freedom of speech, expression or religion. Caught off guard, the student shuffled his note cards looking for a way to drill Rove on breaking the Constitution and found this gem: “Why do you insist on using the Southern Strategy to brainwash the media?”

Rove dodged this one: “Let’s get a real question,” he said to enthusiastic applause.

Most Monterey County students who peppered the Bush campaign architect today with questions as part of the Panetta Institute’s Lecture Series restrained themselves from falling over by leaning too far left. Even Rove seemed to be playing nice alongside Obama election wizard David Plouffe, shelling out rhetoric on building bipartisanship and painting Bush as a uniter not a divider in response to the lecture’s thesis question: “Can the Partisan Divide Ever End?”

But towards the end of the Q & A portion Rove didn’t hesitate to make students look stupid. While Plouffe, a soft-spoken Obama-like speaker, had home court advantage at liberal CSU Monterey Bay, Rove stole the show with conservative punch lines.

One student couched a dig against Rove for ignoring presidential subpoenas into a question. Rove, responding like an angry professor, said he had not testified regarding the politicized firing of U.S. attorneys because he wanted executive privilege to be protected. “Before you start getting up and claiming that a person ignored a presidential subpoena you better get your facts straight young man,” Rove shouted, triggering more cheers.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Weekly.