Karl Rove, President Bush’s close friend and chief political strategist, said Monday he plans to leave the White House at the end of August in a teary-eyed press conference.

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He joins a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1 1/2 years of the administration, according to the Associated Press.

On board with Bush since the beginning of his political career in Texas, Rove was nicknamed “the architect” and “boy genius” by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House. The president also called him “Turd Blossom,” while critics call Rove “Bush’s brain.”

A criminal investigation put Rove under scrutiny for months during the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s name but he was never charged with any crime. In a more recent controversy, Rove, citing executive privilege, has refused to testify before Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

An ongoing investigation into the conviction and jailing of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman reveals that Rove played a role in pressuring the Bush Justice Department to bring the case against Siegelman for political reasons. And while the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas of Rove and others in that investigation, which is expected to pick back up in September, the White House and Rove have defied Congress and refused to testify.

Rove, his wife and their son were to accompany Bush on Air Force One later Monday when the president flies to Texas for his August vacation.

Rove to Resign from White House at End of August
Rove, Bush Have Long History

Before Election 2006, many Democrats saw Congressman John Conyers as the old lion who finally would hold George W. Bush and Dick Cheney accountable, through impeachment if necessary.

Instead, Conyers has shied away from that challenge and even had pro-impeachment demonstrators arrested at his office.

In this guest essay, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern describes how Conyers has failed to live up to the heroic standards of Martin Luther King Jr.

For the full story of the confrontation between pro-impeachment activists and Congressman Conyers, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.

Even as George W. Bush thumbs his nose at constitutional checks and balances and the rule of law, Democratic leaders can’t find the courage to utter the “I-word.” But an unprecedented dual impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney may now be needed to protect America’s legacy as a democratic Republic that upholds the twin principles that no man is above the law and everyone possesses inalienable rights.

Millions of Americans are looking for some political leader who will dare step up and say: “Impeach the bastards!” 

For the full story on why impeachment might just make sense, go to the independent Consortium News.Com.

Sparked by an insurgency among delegates, the California Democratic Party has taken an historic step forward on the issue of impeachment. In a resolution affirmed by the full state party convention Sunday, the Democrats called on the U.S. Congress to use its subpoena power to investigate misdeeds of President Bush and Vice President Cheney - and to hold the Administration accountable “with appropriate remedies and punishment, including impeachment.”

The delegate insurgency was coordinated by Progressive Democrats of America and its allies, according to a press release.

While Speaker Pelosi had declared impeachment “off the table,” the Democratic Party rank-and-file has demonstrated its commitment to putting the issue “on” the table.

Coming on the heels of mass actions and resolutions across the country in support of impeachment, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s introduction of Articles of Impeachment against Cheney, this action by the powerful California Democratic Party builds on the pro-impeachment momentum.

The resolution refers to Bush and Cheney having acted in a manner “subversive of the Constitution” by…

1) using false information to justify the invasion of Iraq
2) authorizing “the torture of prisoners of war”
3) “authorizing wiretaps on U.S. citizens without obtaining a warrant”
4) “disclosing the name of an undercover CIA operative”
5) suspending “the historic Writ of Habeas Corpus by ordering the indefinite detention of so-called enemy combatants”
6) “signing statements used to ignore or circumvent portions of over 750 Congressional statutes”

“This was an example of the Party grassroots speaking its mind, and the Party officials responding to the call,” PDA Director Tim Carpenter said. “This action represents the successful culmination of PDA’s one-month, eleven-city barnstorming tour across California - aimed at putting impeachment and ending the occupation of Iraq at the top of the Party’s agenda.”

For more on the drive for impeachment, go to the Progressive Democrats of America Website.