Is Rove the Reason for National Division ?

Re “The Year of Karl Rove,” editorial, Dec. 31: The reason there is such a large chasm in the American electorate has little to do with Karl Rove or any member of the Bush administration. It’s because the mainstream media (yes, that means The Times) continue to see issues like defending the institution of marriage as a union between one man and one woman as “extreme.”

The American people spoke loud and clear about this issue at the ballot box, which is how democracy is supposed to work.

Michael Parente

Woodland Hills

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What your editorial left out was the disgusting level of cynicism at work by Rove in his skillful execution of political strategy, which has so effectively cleaved the American people into tidy voting blocs to be manipulated for political gain at the expense of the civility and the ethos of “United We Stand.”

Now our nation is divided between the reds and the blues as if vulgar street-gang identification is an acceptable template for society as a whole, as if we are now a nation of Crips and Bloods.

Rove and the rest of Team Rapture care not what division they create in the country due to their Orwellian political tactics, or how low they drag the image and reputation of America globally since they believe they are listening to God and answerable only to him. Rove will be regarded by history for what he is: a religious fanatic and master of the political dark arts.

Jeff Softley

West Hollywood