Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The Architect Of George W. Bush's Remarkable Political Triumphs

"Who run this place? The anatomy of Britain in the 21st century" by Anthony Sampson is good. It provides a good description of UK political landscape.

I'm reading "Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The Architect Of George W. Bush's Remarkable Political Triumphs" by Carl M. Cannon, Lou Dubose, Jan Reid. Interesting reading.

Karl Roves is THE campaign manager of G.W.Bush since his Texas years. I was surprised that Texas was dominated by Democratic Party years ago. It was Karl who sensed the return of conservatism in Texas general public and brought Republican back.

The book includes a lot of interesting stories about how Karl spinned and destroyed all the Democratic Party stars. Lot of dirty tricks involved. That's why politicians from both parties fear and hate Karl. Let see if Karl can survive the CIA leak scandal.

My recent reading is focus on valuation and PRC accounting stuffs. Too boring to introduce those books here. But I did watch an interesting dvd called "The Corporation" recently (http://www.thecorporation.com/index.php?page_id=2). The film is based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan.


Modern corporation is highly influential to our society and everyday life. Corporation is like the middle age Church, modern CEO is like the Cardinal. From legislation to war, corporate shapes domestic and international politic. Despite all the scandals, executives are still highly respectable and influential, generally speaking.

Corporation exists to create profit and bears no moral obligation. Although they are also part of the political system and are subjected to other political balancing forces. However, since corporation controls enormous resources that make them the dominate power in modern society.

As Gabriel Herbas (Prof. of Economics, State University, Bolivia) said in the film, "Our governments, sadly, are just puppets for these companies." Sam Gibara (Chairman, former CEO Goodyear Tire) also admitted that "Corporations today have more power than governments."

Even in a system like US that emphasis balance of power, corporation is still highly dominate. Not to say how powerful corporation is in developing countries that put GDP growth above everything else.

Corporation affects our environment, our social value and our way of life. (how long our work hours is ?; how "corporate ladder" divided people into different "class"; how advertising and media shaping consumption behavior & what does "good life" means; how media corporation control our information/news flow; how "corporate mission" brainwash their employees … etc)

Although “The Corporation” is a bit too“Michael Moore” and a bit too angry, it does provides a wider prospective to the issue. The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore, Hank McKinnell (CEO Pfizer Inc.), Sir Mark Moody-Stuart (Former Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell), Andrea Finger (Spokesperson for Disney-built town of Celebration), Peter Drucker, Elaine Bernard (Executive Director, Trade Union Program, Harvard) …etc (interviewee list : http://www.thecorporation.com/index.php?page_id=3)

Highly recommended to all of us.

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More about Karl Rove .............

Karl Rove
Senior adviser and deputy chief of staff
Date of birth: Dec. 25, 1950

Karl Rove is a man of many nicknames. He is the "Architect" of Bush's victories; he is "Bush's Brain." The president alternately calls him "Boy Genius" or "Turd Blossom," a Texas phrase describing a flower that grows in manure. He is the mastermind of the White House, the instigator-in-chief responsible for a series of policies and political maneuvers aimed first at getting his boss re-elected, and now at creating a permanent Republican majority.

In the first term, Rove was Bush's senior political adviser, officially in charge of strategic planning and political affairs. In early 2005, Bush also made him deputy chief of staff, so he now officially coordinates the policies of the National Security Council, the Domestic Policy Council, the National Economic Council and the Homeland Security Council. The result is that Rove is the poster child for how politics and policy have merged in the Bush White House.

Traditionally, governing is a considerably different matter than running for office, where winning is everything. Not so with Rove. If he eventually starts losing, he could end up taking the blame for creating a divisive presidency, aimed more at achieving partisan goals than the common good. But if he keeps winning, he will be a kingmaker even as his boss becomes a lame duck -- and his legacy could be a GOP that is indeed the ruling party for decades to come.

‧ The Architect, PBS's Frontline, April 2005 (Includes priceless video, at the 4:45 mark, of a young Karl Rove lecturing Dan Rather about the importance of voter registration in the 1972 Nixon campaign.)
‧ With Bush Re-elected, Rove Turns to Policy, New York Times, March 28, 2005
‧ The Karl Rove Ascension, washingtonpost.com, Feb. 9, 2005
‧ Barbara Walters's Most Fascinating People, ABC News, Dec. 8, 2004
‧ The Many Faces of Karl Rove, washingtonpost.com, Nov. 8, 2004
‧ The Controller, New Yorker, May 12, 2003
‧ Rove's Way, New York Times Magazine, Oct. 20, 2002
‧ Official Bio

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P.S. : Mike, please contact Daisy for the "Fraud Examination", W.Steven Albreecht (translated version).