The prince has dispatched his clerk, the king.

Has Karl Rove, the sleazy mastermind and fangs of the venomous Bush re-election team been up to his predictable dirty tricks again? Has the old rogue Rove set up an old enemy of the Bush family dynasty, Dan Rather, to release fake documents about Bush's down-the-memory-hole Texas Air National Guard record to somehow nip the issue in the bud? Bush has already confidently asserted that the records should be closely examined to determine whether they were forgeries. Maybe he knows something we don't.

We know many things he doesn't want us to know. And past officers and fellow guardsmen have been coming out of the woodwork about his dereliction of duties ever since Bush has been ascending the political ladder. The son of a congressman, he was worth his weight in gold behind the lines, out of harm's way. And it would be a given that the rest of the military ranks around him would be displeased by that kind of outright favoritism.

The press keeps touting the identity of the alleged leaker, former Guard official Bill Burkett, a man who has already gone on record speaking out against Bush's questionable service record. It's his word against theirs and his means nothing without evidence to corroborate the story. With a few good "plumbers" and a blackout job, Dubya's slate could have been easily wiped clean. What if there was a lone paper trail to truth still out there? Would Rather be tempted to settle the score and accept dodgy information from a not so reputable source? Would Rather accept information from a reputable source either intentionally or unintentionally put up to a bogus job to clear his own name off the shit-lists of some punitive Republicans?

A perfect press opportunity for the White House to shift the line of questioning over the bloody mess in Iraq occurred when White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked if he thought the Kerry campaign was behind the attacks on the president's character. He answered with his trademark concerned-but-not-convinced attitude-"I don't know." 'And frankly, I wouldn't put it past the guy,' was what his well-rehearsed, well made up face was really saying. The politeness of the Bush administration would not dare to be so publicly compromised nor would they act so unprofessionally in the light of day.

Karl Rove works the night shift. And Dubya sure is happy that since he's the president of our great nation now, he no longer has to dig the dirt like he had to in his father's campaign. Dan Rather felt the wrath of young Dubya's 'work' when he grinded the ax about Bush Sr.'s role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Being the son of a Congressman, Ambassador, Director of the CIA, I'm sure Dubya learned well the tricks of the trade. As his Dad's hatchet man he gained first-hand knowledge of the shrewd side of the business. The lessons were especially learned because if his reelection team proved successful, his father would be back in the White House for another four years. I'm sure any candidate would have no qualms about turning a blind eye to what his underlings were doing as long as they're trying to secure victory. That's how nepotism works in a democracy: the clerk counsels the prince how to be king in exchange for immunity. There's no prince without a clerk and no prince without a king.

At the Republican National Convention in NYC, Cheney, in doomsday banter, warned the anxious nail-biters of America that if they elect John Kerry the country will again be vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Cheney's comments, absent of any tangible evidence and being a desperate appeal to the lowest common denominator--fear, might convince the average swing voter that he can do a better job protecting the country than Kerry. It doesn't matter that it was his administration that was so lackadaisically caught off guard by the largest terrorist attack on American soil and that it is their arrogant, belligerent policy that foments terror around the globe. To Cheney's chagrin, this is all business as usual because with more adversaries there is more money to be made. No wonder his sadistic ability where he can defend his nefarious undertakings under public scrutiny earned him a link in the chain of command in the Bush dynasty. He helped design the war machine in motion, one that is generating profits hidden in offshore accounts sheltered from American tax law. Cheney can do all of this while maintaining a wholesome following willing to assist him in his next bout for the White House. How can his support base, outside of the corporate big wigs and high tax brackets he directly benefits, swallow that their interests are of his concern and that his governance will improve their stake in America for the next four years? Do these kinds of voters exist? Would they exist without the constant drone of psychological propaganda spewing out of the crooked smiles of the GOP?

Maybe Cheney's tactics work. He might be able to successfully scare up enough votes to get him reelected. Rove will always be able to bait a charlatan and capitalize off of Cheney pulling the wool over the eyes of the uninformed. That's what they're paid for. Bush will always be able to woo the Christian right, as he's disclosed before; it's his divinely chosen path. But will Cheney always be able to scare the average Americans into thinking that it's his conservative, contradictory logic that will save them from nuclear, chemical, or biological annihilation? Will Rove always be able to make the Democrats look sleazy and the Republicans look like a bunch of fiscally responsible, righteous ministers? It's the latter of his talents that's truly haunting. Lets hope they have a finite window open to their spheres of influence.

If Bush wins the entire world can rest assured that there will be more violent confrontations with nations like Iran , North Korea , and Saudi Arabia under his watch. His neoconservative inner circle of ideologues do not hide their lack of restraint and patience with these perceived adversaries of the West. We can expect more tax cuts for the wealthy, the elimination of funding for much needed social programs, the loosening of regulations that protect our health and natural resources, an increased arms race, the disregarding of the Kyoto protocol, the global explosion of more vehement anti-Americanism, to name just a few of the impediments.

What if Kerry wins? Will we see the dismantling of the Department of Homeland Security's trademark icon of the Orange Alert or will he create another simplistic cabinet level bureaucracy to deal with humanly complex equations that require lengthy introspection absent from any mainstream debate? He promises the American people that his administration will not enter into any new military conflicts without the backing of the UN Security council. Is he paying lip service to a hollow oath or is he truly perturbed by our president's flagrant violations of international law. Will he try to insure the 45 million Americans now without health insurance, myself included? Will he soothe any of the anxieties directed at the unilateral American usurpations of the world's resources?

What about Cheney's competition, veep hopeful John Edwards? How will he fare in the debate against the guru of fear? Will Edwards look like a spineless wimp who will allow our nation to be consumed by the fat and powerful titans of terrorism? Will he be able to reveal Cheney as being the chickenhawk he is-one whose the first to orchestrate war from inside his office while some other poor souls' kids are sent off to be killed, maimed, or psychologically traumatized? Not only is Cheney a chickenhawk but he is also a war profiteer. Will that be mentioned? Will Edwards prove the boogeyman doesn't exist or will he covet the concept and store it in his arsenal of political weaponry?

The base of primitive, human emotion is being used to wage a hi-tech, billion-dollar campaign and election programmed to have one possible outcome. That's not to mention the hidden costs of a legal battle that may ensue pending if the Republicans are defeated by their own devices of electoral theft. I wonder if we'll see one of the most powerful lawyers in the world, James Baker, hold a press conference again telling us who he thinks the next president is. This time, will the Supreme Court, some judges being family friends and associates of the Bushes, be able to choose our president? Will they relinquish again the almighty dollar spent on the effort of making sure George W. Bush is elected into office again by all means necessary, demonstrating to America that electoral politics are now an antiquated façade? Think all those expenditures to say such few things.

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