I keep thinking of Karl Rove in relation to the political practices in that brief period in Renaissance Italy when the Borgias were making their bid for power. Maybe I'm weird, but it strikes me that there was something at least straightforward and "honest" about a dagger thrust in a dark hallway or a dose of poison slipped into a goblet of wine compared to the kind of character assassination and sometimes possibly exposing his victims to personal endangerment (Valerie Plame and the agents she worked with) through leaks and lies, as Rove does.

At least the Renaissance assassin exposed himself to discovery and danger in doing his dirty deeds. Rove just sits in his office like a spider in its web and issues his toxic vapors from behind the safety of his desk. Not to mention hiding behind Bush's skirts.

And I'd like to see Dick Cheney in the cell next to Rove's.

In fact, I'm making a list . . . checking it twice. . . .

Don Firth