Double Super Secret Background

Denis McDonough at ThinkProgress brings up an important question- Has Karl Rove been briefed about the President's secret, warrantless spying program? Last week, Mr. Rove gave a campaign-style speech lashing out at critics of the President's actions and describing the program as important. One would think that for Rove to speak in such certain terms means he is fully aware of how the program operates and the results it's gotten. But as a mere political advisor in 2001 and 2002 (and even now as Deputy White House Chief of Staff), he would not be in a position to have been briefed on the secret program. In fact, in violation of the law, even all the members of the House and Senate intelligence committees have not been briefed.

Given Rove's extremely close relationship with President Bush, and his heavy influence on policy, it's a safe bet that he was briefed by the President on it. Not that we're likely to find out for sure. So this begs noting (as ThinkProgress does) that this man who should not have been briefed on the program, but likely was, is a man still under investigation for involvement in leaking classified information about a CIA operative. Not the poster boy for national security integrity. Not that this whole scandal is even a national security debate anyway.

Assuming the opposite, that he wasn't briefed, begs the question of why he would then be in a position to make such public statements condemning critics of the President on the program if his knowledge of it is based on the same media reports we've all read. Either way, it's standard Rove-ian politics of misrepresenting the issue at hand to demonize ones enemies.

The Washington Post has a related editorial- A Discredit to the GOP

THE BUSH administration's distortion, for political purposes, of the Democratic position on warrantless surveillance is loathsome. Despite the best efforts of Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, and Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, to make it seem otherwise, Democrats are not opposed to vigorous, effective surveillance that could uncover terrorist activity. Nor are the concerns that they are expressing unique to their party. Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Arlen Specter (Pa.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Sam Brownback (Kan.) have expressed legal doubts about the surveillance program. Do they, too, have a "pre-9/11 worldview," as Mr. Rove said of the Democrats?...

...What we do know is that the country is in the midst of an important debate about the reach of presidential power and the scope of civil liberties in wartime. For Rove & Co. to try to turn this into just another partisan political skewer discredits their administration and their party.

Sadly, they don't care about any of that. All that matters is 'winning', whatever that means at this point.