Yesterday I was listening to Air America on the way to work and I believe I heard Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) being interviewed on "Morning Sedition." It was interesting to hear him speak, starting out tame and controlled but becoming more critical and animated as the interview progressed. It became obvious that he was initially holding back when asked about his opinions concerning the government's response to Katrina. Why? I think the clear reason -- and one that is not unreasonable -- is fear of Karl Rove.

It's been shown repeatedly that Rove will stop at absolutely nothing when it comes to Swift Boating someone, smearing a person's name and positions come election time. To a point, you can't blame Thompson's caution. If the American public exhibited capable resistance to Rove's lies and distortions, Dem politicians like Thompson wouldn't be so timid. Unfortunately, there's little evidence that the public can see through the BS. Remember: Kerry was the war coward -- not GW. How Rove was able to make Kerry look less military than GW is a question for the ages.

It reminds me of a great exchange in the movie "Mississippi Burning," when Dafoe says to Hackman, "Don't drag me down to your gutter, Anderson." Hackman fires back, "These people crawled out of the sewers, Mr. Ward. Maybe the gutter is the place we have to be." Exactly. Dafoe (read Democrats) tries to stay within the law and fight by the rules, taking the high road. But he gets nowhere and people continue to die. Hackman is the righteous realist. He knows these people and he understands that to fight them and win, you need to get down in the sewer with them.

I realize that part of being on the good side is exactly NOT employing someone like Rove; he belongs on the side of evil. However, for good to win out, perhaps the Dems need a Hackman. They had something close to him in Carville with Clinton; we haven't come close to having someone like that since.