Conservative Grover Norquist writes:
[Rove] managed four campaigns that will define America for a generation. None of these campaigns was easy or obvious, and that is why Rove will rightfully be remembered for his role in American politics. Who, after all, recalls who ran LBJ’s 1964 presidential campaign or Ronald Reagan’s reelection bid in 1984?
The Star's editorial counters:
During a press conference on Monday dealing with his resignation, Karl Rove turned to the president and said, "I'm grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve our nation..."
Mr. Rove, George W. Bush's long-time top political adviser and the architect of his presidency, could have put it more accurately by saying that he was grateful for the opportunity to serve the Republican Party.
For serve the nation he most certainly did not. What he did was to undermine the Republic, foster discord, divide our nation like never before and sow a deep distrust of government in the American people.
Meanwhile, Hardy Jackson weighs in on changes along the Gulf Coast:
For a while now I have been studying ways the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico – the fabled Redneck Riviera – has evolved since World War II.
I have examined how a string of “little fishing villages that reminded the visitor of the southern coast of France” became a playground for middle class Alabamians only to morph again into a getaway for flotsam and jetsam from places like Mountain Brook. I have chronicled the evolution of recreational activities from goofy-golf to Flora-Baming to outlet shopping, and witnessed fashion changes from flip-flops and cut-offs to "resort wear." Food once fried is now sautéed. Beverages have gone from Budweiser to Beaujolais. Folks have even cut back on raw oysters and started eating raw fish.
But the biggest change of all, and the change that may well be at the center of the story I hope to tell, is the change in government.
Gub’ment.
