He's ba-a-a-ck!

The object of worship among members the Rovian cult currently infecting the White House, Karl Rove himself addressed the Republican National Committee. Though this was a rare appearance for Rove, when he stepped out from under his dark cloud of suspicion, it was still the same-old-same-old:

"The United States faces a ruthless enemy, and we need a commander in chief and a Congress who understand the nature of the threat and the gravity of the moment America finds itself in," Mr. Rove said. "President Bush and the Republican Party do. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Democrats."

"Let me be as clear as I can be: President Bush believes if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why," Mr. Rove said, referring to the program in which the National Security Agency eavesdropped on conversations without getting a warrant from a judge. "Some important Democrats clearly disagree."

Yup, be afraid, be very afraid... only Republicans can save you... blah-blah-blah... No mention of how incompetently they have gone after the Al Qaeda, no mention of fact that Mr. Rove, one of the best-known public officials in this White House, "is under investigation for his role in leaking the name of an undercover C.I.A. officer to reporters" and "no mention of an issue that accounts for much of the Republican concern about the coming midterm elections: The influence-peddling investigation of Congress that has focused on some senior Republican leaders, including Tom DeLay, who is stepping down as majority leader". Fear, corruption, incompetence and bamboozlement, all the Rovian trademarks -- sadly nothing has changed.