Ethics vs. Rove

What am I missing? Discussion of the Karl Rove fiasco continues to center around whether or not a law was broken--perhaps another Administration triumph at “framing the debate”. But I have yet to hear the word “ethics” or “unethical” used by commentators. Rove, who invented the divide-and-conquer election gambit and orchestrated surrogates to conduct horrific smear campaigns against Bush political opponents, always cloaked himself in the smug rhetoric of virtue. If I had garnered a vote for every time his team spoke of values, family values, morals, virtues, optimism, faith, etc., I would have won the presidency in a landslide. But from the evidence we already have, regardless off legality, Karl Rove’s media leaks were clearly unethical. They were directed at Former Ambassador Joe Wilson as part of an organized smear campaign--a sneaky, scummy, dirty, underhanded attempt to assassinate character and discredit. It was not the first time Karl Rove used dirty tricks to manipulate public opinion, but it was the first time the blood stains led directly to his doorstep. And they exposed the Karl Rove behind the cloak. An arrogant man lacking virtue, willing to do anything to gain advantage, whose so-called values should now disqualify him from public service. After five years of relentless virtue-speak, keeping Karl Rove employed at the White House would be utter hypocrisy and a national disgrace.