Is Andrew Rove “Prepared For War”?
March 19, 2007You know, this argument has been brought up so many times, I’m surprised it managed to make it into the LA Times op-ed section: Why aren’t the Bush daughters in Iraq?
The president tells us Iraq is a “noble” war, but his wife, his children and his nieces and nephews are not listening. None has enlisted in the armed services, and none seems to be paying attention to the sacrifices of military families. Until Jenna’s trip to Panama, the presidential daughters performed community service only when mandated by a court after they were cited for underage drinking. Since then they have surfaced in public during lavish presidential trips with their parents, bar-hopping outings in Georgetown and champagne-popping art openings in New York.
Now, this argument isn’t a bad one, per se. There is something to be said about standing behind your beliefs, and it sure doesn’t look like the Bush family is willing to risk anything for this endeavor they are so enthusiastically supporting. On the other hand, have you seen the Bush daughters? I know it shouldn’t, but it kinda weakens the argument. In reality, their participation would probably do more harm than good anyway.
As often as people bring up the Bush twins, I’m kinda surprised that no one really talks about a kid who goes by the name Andrew Madison Rove. Andrew will be turning 18* this year, and his father seemed to mention something about “preparing for war” awhile back:
“Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.”
I assume Andrew has already enlisted? Just curious. We already know that Karl doesn’t want him picking tomatoes or making beds in Las Vegas, so perhaps that really is the plan?**
*That link has A. Rove born in 1989, but wiki (and a few other places) have it as 1987. Considering that a little over a month ago, Rove said “my 17 year old son”, I’ll lean towards the former. I haven’t seen an exact date anywhere, but I’ll update it if I do. I know it doesn’t effect the argument too much, but I want to maintain accuracy, if possible.
**I don’t really want to use Rove’s kid as a political punching bag on this, but I think if you’re going to make this ‘sacrifice’ argument, maybe it would be more persuasive to include him. I really am curious, nevertheless.
Update: I did some more searching, and this has come up on the blogs before. Previously on HuffPo: Draft Karl Rove’s Son, Operation Yellow Elephant: Military Recruiting Lead: Washington, D.C
ChenZhen's Chamber 
really dont see the point of this, what relevance does their children have to anything? if they are old enough to join the army that means they are consenting adults, so that its their choice as to whether they want to enlist or not. not bushs or roves. i guess you could say they could force their children to enlist, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a volunteer army. people who want to fight for their country, do so.
now if they support the war, then you have a case. but i am not aware if the rove or bush children support the war. you are lumping the entire family together
You have a point there. I guess I was more interested in whether someone like Rove would actually encourage his son to join. But you’re right, the “put your money where your mouth is” argument is a bit flawed when your talking about the children of those in power.
Your comments (and logic) always range somewhere between dull and witless. You seem to have an enormous amount of time on your hands and evidently it’s of little value you to you based on how you use it.
This may help you when you finally decide to allocate your resources in a purposeful manner: ” It is better to remain silent and be thought stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”
Have a nice day.
Mark,
Sounds like someone touched a nerve!
Why haven’t you thought about enlisting? You say you want to win but you haven’t made the personal sacrifices our troops need to win. You are a defeatist and a coward.
Rove would only encourage his son to go to Iraq if he could achieve wealth and power.
The Bush kids/clan would never go to war…it’s beneath them
Re: King,
If these children DO support the war, why havent they enlisted or at least otherwise visibly helped the war effort?
On the other hand, if these children DONT support the war, why havent they spoken out or otherwise visibly helped the anti-war effort?
Surely, some decent answers can be procured by these spoiled brats or their representatives. So why havent they?
These kids are probably all too busy partying and living in a bubble of privelege to care one way or the other, thats why.
The real question is whether Andrew is truly karl’s biological son. I would like a DNA test conducted, and even then, I would need to see proof that the kid isn’t a test tube baby conceived by a turkey baster full of rove’s gay sperm. If anybody is a self-loathing latent homosexual, it is karl rove. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise. Just look at him. And look at his bull dyke beard of a wife, darby. I don’t judge people by their sexual orientation–quite frankly I could care less. But the roves are just horrible people and enemies of my country, the mighty USA. The fact he used homophobia as a weapon to get bush elected (both as governor of texas and as president) while he is gay himself is just so incredibly despicable and hypocritical, he needs to be called out for it.
I went to middle school with Andrew Rove before he and his family moved to D.C. and he was in fact born in 1989. I don’t see why these kids should be “required” to go to war if they approve of the war. Not everyone who believes in something must follow through with it. Why do you assume that these kids are spoiled and must act on their parents stands? Do you act on your own parents stands on things?
Good point. But I’m still wondering what exactly Karl meant by “prepared for war”. I mean, he obviouly didn’t grab a gun and hop on a plane.
[…] who can’t even contemplate his soft little son Spaulding Smails Andrew Madison Rove having to pick tomatoes, much less enlist in the noble “new struggle of the 21st century.” Those kinds of dirty […]
The legitimate issue for public figure Karl Rove is whether he, Karl Rove, has encouraged his son Andrew, who is now 18, at least to consider volunteering for military service in the Global War on Terror, even if Andrew plans another career later in life.
Of course Andrew Rove will make his own decision; furthermore, we don’t know Andrew Rove’s views on the war.
But if our national civilian political leadership, both elected and appointed, cannot even bring themselves to encourage their own relatives and friends, their circles of influence, at least to consider volunteering for military service, then our country has no business engaging in large-scale military adventures overseas.
In this case, the personal is political and Andrew Rove’s father does notget a pass.
The above applies to influential members of our society, of both parties or none at all, in and out of government.
If President Bush cannot ask even his strongest supporters and major campaign contributors to encourage their own sons to Be A Man! Enlist!, how can he possibly lead our nation, and what remains of the international coalition, to a successful outcome of the Global War on Terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere?
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It is a lie.
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