All those folks on the Christian right you mentioned would have followed Pol Pot if he threw out the name of god at the right time and place. Rove is a politician and has his own agenda, namely himself and money. He wouldn't know god if he ran into him face to face. Rove doesn't give a rat's rear end about the christian right. He, like Bush and many others, use them and they are so blind and arrogant they don't even see it. Sure, let us march on the heathens for god. Let us kill and destroy in the name of god. Good heavens, what is wrong with these people? What a sad miserable bunch of imbeciles. Politicians use them. Their pastors call them sheep and the flock. Well, sheep are one of the stupidest animals alive and the flocks main purpose is to be FLEECED.

Mr. Moyer,
Brilliant commentary on Karl Rove. I sure appreciate having you as a counter-balance to mainstream media and what passes as "news".

I am surprised though, and worried, by the role of the PBS Ombudsman. He wonders whether the PBS should have editorials? I wonder if the federal government is trying to muzzle PBS?

Healthy democracies need a variety of opinions and lots of discussion, dialogue and dissenting opinions. It's a shame that your critics don't realize that fundamental truth.

Who owns the rights to "...Moyer's Journal"? Where does the money go?

Bill, thank you for having the courage to speak the truth. I am from east Texas like yourself but left Texas over 20 years ago. I have watched with incredible sadness the direction our country has taken. Your words are encouragement that we may once again find the path of truth and compassion.

Bill, You are a hero. You say what so many others in the media are afraid to say. You show what so many others will not show. Even if you have your opinions, and even if someone can criticize them based on facts, more often than not, I find you strike an important chord within my life. You feed us good journalism. Your show makes us a better country.

I bet you have more viewers than you probably know about. I hope you keep things going. You are serving your country in a profound way!

Regards,
Tom

Another superb summary by one of today's best journalists.

I have just one word for those supporting the likes of Karl Rove here, or anywhere. That word is Complicit.

PBS funding = large corporations underwriting + federal funds + viewer donations.

The quote I cited below was old, but I think fed funds are about 15% of PBS funding.

PBS receives federal funds:

"PBS's share of $37 million is ``absolutely essential seed money,'' spokesman Thomas Epstein said. The federal funds trigger matching state grants for educational programming and encourage private investment, he said."

Fox doesn't receive this.

Acarroll, I appreciate your view. What I learned in law school and legal practice leads me to some different conclusions. But we can agree to disagree.

boo

This was a despicable, hate-filled spew of a comment. Shame on you, Moyers.

Bill: Just so I won't make the same factual errors you clearly have regarding Rove perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me how much the American taxpayer is subsidizing through PBS your attacks on Karl Rove, conservatives, President Bush and Christians?

It's unclear why "Karen" keeps harping on "tax money" to support her argument that she believes Bill Moyers should not be allowed a media platform to publicly air important issues. Perhaps she was absent during her "Civics 101" lessons.

I object to many ways MY tax money is used:
--funding for "faith-based initiatives", contrary to the US Constitution.
--funding an illegal "pre-emptive" war without enough evidence, contrary to many treaties to which the US is a signatory and thus are "the law of the land" (see the US Constitution).
--"agricultural subsidies" that support multi-national agribusiness by 90% to 10% for family farms.
--overpaying private "health insurance" Medicare Advantage plans by 12% for no more medical care or better health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries than they get with other providers.
--paying the pharmaceutical industry at least two times more for drugs than any other industrialized country for the same products.

The list could go on and on. Just because I object to the way MY tax money is being used, it is a great leap of logic and reason to therefore advocate that we give up our democratic institutions, the rule of law, the equal standing of rich and poor people alike to have access to power, government by the people--in exchange for what?

"Karen" is also mistaken about FOX--it IS federally-subsidized. They make use of the airwaves and spectrum that are publically-owned and are rented out by FOX on behalf of the people of the U.S. WE are their landlords, even though they may conduct a for-profit business on the premises. In the conduct of their business, they are subject to the same laws and regulations that PBS and Bill Moyers are subject to (with MY tax money).

Perhaps "Moyers Journal" needs to go back to basics for the American public and do Civics 101 for us again.

Is it "the truth" that Karl Rove is agnostic? If so, how do you know?

I am so thankful that some people like Moyers are brave enough to speak the truth.

PBS - federally funded.
Fox - not federally funded.

This becomes clear every time PBS funding is up for renewal before Congress.

Perhaps those who do not like Bill Moyers opinions and reporting should tune into Fox which would fit Dave F's opinion well. You have the right to watch or not watch I would suggest you exercise that right, as for Mr. Capital (Jack Williams)letters stop yelling and you can take the same advice given to Dave.

I find Bill's reporting and interviews quite refreshing as they address the issues that corporate media does not and those with any opposing views wants to stiffle Bill. This has become the minset of many kooks on mainly the right and their view that America should imitate the Nazi's by prohibiting dissent.

It would be nice though if our media was not in control my a few for this restricts the publics right to opposing views. Your tax dollars are no better than mine and in the end I will not attempt to restrict you right to voice your opinion regardless of whether I agree or not.

The bad mouthing of Bill today seems to be because of his opinion of Bush which by the way some 70+% think so too. Democracy is mob rule, but a a republic is where 99% cannot take away the rights of the other 1%. What word is in the pledge of allegiance? Democracy or Republic?

I can only suggest you read the constitution and some quotes of our founding fathers!

Bill Moyers, a man among men. look forward to the journal. all ways excellent

Do you think any of the following is a problem?

1. Unsourced reporting of private conversations on personal faith...

2. ... on PBS with your tax money.

3. Publishing prejudical assumptions about the Christian right (blind dupes, bigots). (Yes of course it's free speech, but it's still prejudice, do you approve?)

4. ... on PBS with your tax money.

5. Mocking the sitting President with your tax money (I prepare for the onslaught. A simple "yes" will suffice).

PBS is held to standards, or should be, and they cut both ways. If 1-5 are OK with you now, they should remain OK if the journalist changes and the President is a Democrat.

So two years from now, it should be OK if, hypothetically speaking, Gwen Ifill has a regular PBS feature in which she mocks Pres. Obama or Pres. Gore; repeats unsourced rumors that contrary to prior representations, Rep. Keith Ellison is not a Muslim and VP Edwards is not a Christian but both are agnostic; and crows that the left was duped.

Mr Moyers, you are a hero! We are extremely fortunate to have you back on the air, telling the truth when few others are brave enough to venture forward in these times of get even politics. There are too few of your generation of journalists still willing to practice the profession. Thank you for being a model for a new generation of history notetakers. Thank you for your honor and passion.

I too remember the fine tone of Bill Moyers' past work.

This isn't it. The intro is a batch of insults and the "gotcha" ending is unsubstantiated gossip.

Please read "PBS Omsbudsman Responds to 'My Fellow Texan" on this site. It takes the guy a few thousand words, but he essentially agrees.

In April of 2005 Frontline aired an investigative journalism piece titled "Karl Rove--The Architect" (based on how Bush characterized Rove after winning the 2004 election). The piece covers Rove's biography and political career; it's available for anybody to view at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/view/. It's clear that Rove has always been a schoolyard bully and authoritarian personality. He has no understanding of the concept of "democracy" or how it is brought about in real life with real people. It seems that he has never even read the Constitution; or if he has, he ignores it as "quaint" (like Alberto Gonzalez' opinion of the Geneva Conventions). And no, all you right-wing correspondents on this blog, Frontline didn't TELL me what to think--I came to the conclusion after hearing and seeing the facts.

Of particular concern is the fact that Rove has no qualms about envisioning the US as a totalitarian society if the Republican Party is at its head; his aim is to "build a lasting majority" for the Republican Party, as if what's good for "The Party" is good for the USA. Like the Comintern of the Communist Party, you have to belong to "the Party" in order to get anything or to have access to power. His friend, Grover Norquist, the mastermind of the "K Street Project", and the National Republican Congressional Committee, warned lobbyists to contribute only to Republicans or they would lose favor among Republican elected officials. Try googling on "Comintern" and on "Nomenklatura", (the list of names of members of the Communist Party who held key government positions in all spheres of government), for the eye-popping parallels between that and the Bush Administration's appointments of unqualified and incompetent but "loyal" apparachicks to key government posts (does the name Michael Brown ring a bell?) Using this list of names, highly-placed Party loyalists amass personal power by placing their own toadies in government positions, as Karl Rove has amassed great personal power for himself. The Republicans and the RNCC are oblivious to the fact that in a democracy, power is derived from the people, not from "The Party." When someone is elected, his or her job is to govern for the good of the country and all of its citizens, not for the advancement and continued existence of "the Party." This gang are truly radicals; there's nothing "conservative"about them. They are light-years away from conservatives like Bruce Fein; as much as I disagree with the positions of the AEI, at least he stays true to his "conservative" roots, in the sense of trying to conserve the values of democracy and government of, by, and for the people.

Thank you Bill Moyer for your service to the public. Your comments on Karl Rove ring true but I would like to add one thing for your critics that seem to support Mr Rove. It's not a bad thing that Karl Rove is a bad guy. Don't take it personally that you support a bad person. A cat doesn't enjoy being bled out by fleas but he lives with it. I don't enjoy being in the same hemisphere as Mr Rove, but I deal with it. Without people like Karl Rove, the Dalai Lama's of the world would seem inconsequential. Thank goodness for bad people.

Secondly, thank you J.Thielsen for including in your post the mention of the film ZEITGEIST. I just finished watching it. It so powerful, so real, so intellectual, so urgent, that I cried. After watching this film one has to take some real long deep breaths, look around and make some decisions. I've made mine. Thank you again.

Thanks again, Bill. You can tell when you've struck a nerve by the heat of the hate you get in response.

Bill Moyers is the reason why I can't support PBS. Even when they offer the John Denver CD's and DVD's, I still have to look for those things at WalMart, an option as a consumer I know Bill despises.

Anyway, I'm glad that Bill didn't attack Rove, as he has in the past, as a "disciple" of Lee Atwater, which I'm sure Bill believes exemplifies the worst in politcal chicanery. What everyone in the world should know or remember is that Bill Moyers is the architect of dirty politics, as a spokesperson for LBJ and the creator of the "Daisy" ad in 1964, Moyers is the "Christ" in liberal circles, the precursor to MoveOn.org. His creation is the absolute worst negative ad in the history of politics. Talk about "fear and loathing" and using emotions to destroy your enemies. You hypocrites ought to be real careful the epithets you throw around before looking into your own closets!

Moyers' own past makes Rove and Atwater look like choir boys.

Viewing the surreal tragedy unfold before us while sitting comfortably in our living room, my wife, who is a New Orleans native, could not believe the scope of the devastation wrought on her crescent city by the rushing flood waters. The city had been hit hard, and flooded before by Betsy, but this was no Betsy. This was worst, and Katrina would eventually go on to purge Betsy from the long term memory of most of her family elders and firmly establish herself as the new reining queen of destruction. Alas, many of those poor souls that managed to survive Betsy, but errantly chose to stay and brave Katrina were later found drowned and entombed in their attics once the murky polluted waters subsided. Perhaps, the lesson learned here is that it is far better to be safe and evacuate, than be sorry and possibly drown when dealing with a force of nature like that of Katrina. In short, although work is important, you won’t be going to work if you’re dead.

What is more, the paralysis openly exhibited by every echelon of the federal government was on par with that of the absurd. Perhaps, we are in error, but my wife and I thought that during a crisis, minimizing the response time was one of the most critical factors for emergency responders. Considering that they had a week to prepare, and pre-position supplies, for the arrival of the storm, we disappointedly found their manifest hesitancy in responding disturbing, negligent, and suspect.

Meanwhile, long after the torrent of flood waters have receded back into the gulf, we as a country have to reassess our commitment to ourselves, and insure that a preventable tragedy like this does not reoccur due to political negligence or lack of political will. Since resilience in the face of adversity will only come with the acknowledgement of mutual or shared political interests, it is of paramount importance that our political leaders know that there is a significant social cost, the destruction of society and its citizens, to bear by any state that fails to properly invest in its infrastructure: levees, bridges, damns, highways, electrical grid, emergency response system, etc…

Therefore, in order for a modern state to achieve any significant degree of political or structural resiliency towards inevitable reoccurring natural or manmade catastrophes, it is imperative for that state to be politically proactive as opposed to politically reactive in nature. Does the levee or bridge have to fall on you before you realize that it has to be properly constructed and maintained? Does a meteor, asteroid, or comet have to collide with the earth before we start tracking near earth objects? Do we have to run out of fossil fuels before we invent a new engine? Do the polar ice caps have to melt before we acknowledge global warming?

Bill, perhaps it takes a traumatic event like Katrina to awake us from our dogmatic political slumber and motivate us to act.

On the Katrina program, you and your guests danced all around the real reasons for the Katrina catastrophe. Read Frank Moralez' "Bush Moves Toward Marshall Law." That will give you lots of insight, especially about the oil pipelines running under the 9th Ward, etc.

Your "essay" on Rove was exactly as it should have been, calling a spade a spade, and your opinion. It just so happens that many of us share your opinion. When are we ignorant Americans going to understand the difference between debate and hate? And if Christopher Hitchens was the one who let you know about Rove's admission of agnosticism, you can take it to the bank. The fact that someone can actually admit that they might be an agnostic in this country takes a lot of courage, as you pointed out and as Chris Hitchens would as well. What frightens the radical right is, as Hitchens suggests, that there is no ultimate guarantee for safety or how to make it through life. The journey is scary and we should gather around each other as other cultures do in time of need and comfort each other.

I despair that this country has become another sleeper state of silent majority, only energized when something tangible that we want or think that we need is threatened, rather than the underlying philosophies that should motivate our deepest, most earnest seeking after calm thought and peaceful ways.

Thank you, Mr. Moyers. You give me hope for journalism in this country. I would not have found your blog if I hadn't seen Rove respond to this piece on Fox News. I am now a subscriber. Keep up the good work!

One final note: When will people realize that there's no such thing as objective, editorial journalism. It would be oxymoronic to think otherwise. It would also be boring if the only news outlets were Reuters, AP, and the like. Those on the right and left who slam Moyers are forced to take refuge under the "taxpayer" complaint should be thankful that we have a station that attempts to empower and enlighten. If you have children, you'll understand this all the more. Believe me, most of your taxpayer money is going elsewhere than PBS, and your money will be spent on things much worse than one man's belief whom you happen to disagree with. However, if you think you've found someone who is an objective, editorial journalist please post their name.

Wow, I'm discouraged by the tone of many of these blogs. The vindictive nature of both left and right zealots dumb-down and distract from the real issue at hand: what the role of the executive office should be, who should shape it, and how, in this present-day, 21st century? I believe, with or without Moyer's report, that Bush and Rove havedone more harm than good in the long run to the executive office. Never again will the US provide the blank check that the Bush administration had after the 9/11 attacks.

My Fellow Texan

By Bill Moyers

WoW

Was that really you commenting on Carl Rove or Dan Rather?

They ought to put you out to pasture with Dan.

Most bias piece of hack journalism I ever witnessed.

An excellent commentary on the "Mouth of BushCo" & on the drones who have sat back on their haunches the past 7 yrs & applauded like trained seals.

Some of the commentaries on this blog, by the dwindling number of 'true W believers' are hilarious (for their blatant stupidity) & frightening (for their venom & bitterness) too.

Thanks Bill Moyers for shining a brilliant light into the 'snake pit' of the Rovian morass!

In response to your closing question wondering 'how the xtian right feels about being used by Rove', they don't care because they are unable to comprehend reality. And the first 4 comments in this string attacking you, especially the one from the moron from Texas proves my point.

Mr. Moyers,
I am truly amazed that a bigot such as you can find a public forum for such hateful speech. The first amendment gives you the right to make bigoted remarks but doesn’t require you to be given a spot on television. Just because very few people, the kook fringe of the left, watch this show is no excuse. I am a Texan too and I just want to say that not all people from the South are idiot hayseeds but in my experience I have never read or heard more intolerable journalist than two so-called Texans, Molly Ivins and Bill Moyers.
Dave F

Moyer you wouldn't know journalism if it slapped you in the face, you're just a political hack.

You are a truly an intellectual giant. NOT!!

YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT KARL ROVE ARE ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH. IS CALLING A VERY SMART POLITICIAN AN AGNOSTIC A WAY FOR YOU TO COVER YOUR OWN STUPID REMARKS AND YOUR VERY BIAS ATTITUDE? YOU ARE ON PUBLIC AIRWAYS, PAID FOR BY THE TAX-PAYERS AND YET YOU RANT AND RAVE EVERY CHANCE YOU GET ABOUT THIS ADMINISTRATION. WHAT GIVES YOU THE AUTHORITY TO DO SO? YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOO FAR FROM BEING FAIR AND BALANCED.

Bravo, Mr. Moyers:

Powerful, moving, and filled with tragic truth. I am pleased I was able to find the text of your comments so I can share it with friends and family.

Every week this program gets better and better!!! Keep up the good work and expose all the 'Shrubites' for what they are doing to America. Thanks again

Dear Bill,
There are few people that I still trust in politics as I trust like you. Even though I just became a citizen of the United States, it is very sad for me to see some of the same things I ran away from in my native country are here Sad, because after living in the United States for 12 years (I just finished my five-year process of becoming a U.S. citizen), I now feel like I’m back where I started. After leaving a place where you always feel like you are being spied on and looked down on if you believe differently than others, I see the same, ugly practice happening here in my new home country. Those who believe the system works for them, don’t realize how devastating it is for the country to continue on the same path we are now on. They don’t know what they are really going to lose. I do, because I ran away from such practices.
Therefore, I’m very glad that I can still watch pure journalism and truly feel educated about what is going on in this country. I do not feel pressured to agree with what you report and most certainly never felt looked down on while watching your show for believing differently than your guests.
You have my greatest respect for a Television journalist.
P.S. I did not include my real name so that I would not be spied on by others!

The PGB

Perhaps the lowest blow of all, congrats Mr. McGuire:

Perhaps it's not Bill's fault after all. The more I read this, the more I suspect he has been possessed by the departed deranged spirit of one fellow texan, Molly Ivans.
(intentional use of lower case in texan).
John N. McGuire
Garrison, TX

Again, in this time of shameful journalistic/media timidity, thank goodness for the words and courage of Bill Moyers!
I would add only this to remind us all of what we already know: As so many more of us are now understanding, history can credit/charge Mr. Rove for hitting a landmark low for leadership in America as the 21st century begins. We now have a graphic example of how a (domestically) bloodless coup can overtake our country in not one, but two "elections" that have mocked our nation's highest values. Rove's amoral tactics have helped render the stated imperial goals of The Project for the New American Century quite successful--we are now mired in and agitating the hostility of middle-east countries for access to oil--the costliest ever. On behalf of our own righteousness and now "protection" we will be there for years to come. We are more deeply mired in the adversarial dynamics of a war economy built on "noble" lies, that degrade all humanity in the guise of selfless, justified heroism. In truth, the heralded (and precious) sacrifices of our soldiers are as much an act of dictated martyrdom as are those of the radical Islamists. So, now we are ironically on very much the same base footing with our attackers. Rove & Co.'s twisted, pathological motives and cynical pranksterism have damaged and degraded this country in the eyes of the world that has looked to America for an example of the highest and best in humanity. As custodians of our Constitution we must keep our responsibilities in mind. Benjamin Franklin knew too well the risks of govt. by the people. As we often hear or read, to the question asked of him in 1787, "what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied "A republic if you can keep it."

The ridicule and assault to the constitution done by this right wing "whatever-it-takes-to win" manipulators now in power have lowered the high principled intentions of our founders to childish, spiteful games. The Bush-Rove-Cheney legacy shows us that not only (as Bush "joked") would a dictatorship be easier to govern by than our founders' democratic republic, but that it is also much, much easier to achieve. It is the democratic republic we must work to reclaim and keep.

Now our All-American task is to take our nation back from the treasonous tactics of Mr. Rove which--we must understand--will not stop with his "resignation," but may only be slightly less visible as he spreads these toxic strategies. America has been the light of the free world by overcoming right wing tyranny abroad, now we must prove we can do it at home.

GO BILL--you have the floor and vast support.

ZEITGEIST ! look it up on google video, watch it and wake up people!
So much hate on the comment board here, it's so sad. We need to remember that we are all equal and as human beings 99.99% the same. Instead, everyone is so intent on focusing on little differences, dividing our nation and world into catagories of unequalness. Try having some COMPASSION for those that don't go along with your christian conservatism or belief in ideology. This democracy survives because dissent is possible,..because there are opposing viewpoints that lead to better solutions.

quit giving credibility to this phony left vs/ right paradigm. It only serves to keep you all occupied while the REAL terrorists, the ones who control the money supply which in turn control our government leaders, fund Al CIAdea, control the international drug trade, and who profit more from war than any other activity, their taking away your rights, your personal freedom, so they can track you, spy on you, detain you without any due process, torture you, and soon give you your realID implantable chip. don't believe it? watch ZEITGEIST

The death of Michael Deaver and the departure of Karl Rove highlight the centrality of spin, propaganda, and manufactured news are central to modern White Houses. Moreover, Republicans have probed much more skilled in this respect than Democrats.

Perhaps it's not Bill's fault after all. The more I read this, the more I suspect he has been possessed by the departed deranged spirit of one fellow texan, Molly Ivans.
(intentional use of lower case in texan).
John N. McGuire
Garrison, TX

Almost 50 years ago when I commenced my higher education I had a professor who said something to the effect that the strongest challenge to your belief in democracy will come from your interaction with the general public. For years I simply attributed that to academic snobbery. Having read the responses to Mr. Moyers' Rove segment which was a relatively benign assessment of a career that has done more damage to this country than any other person I can think of, I now know what the professor meant. The posted responses may also shed some light on how 30% or so of the American public still support the current administration in spite of everything that has happened in the last six years.
It is frankly a little disturbing that so many people let a misplaced faith in a hollow profession of a faith or ideology lead them to overlook the reality that is right in front of their eyes. Fortunately most of the American people have come to the realization that Mr. Rove sold them the Brooklyn Bridge.

How would Bill Moyers know what God's voice sounds like?

I listened to Rove, I listened to Moyers. How can so many lies and distortions from both sides not cause a melt down of everything that is Holy ! The excrement foaming from the left and the right is making a mess for anyone who wants a glance at the truth if even at a distance.

Bill has gone bezerk! His bias has blinded him to the truth. Bill bashes Bush, condemns Christians, and disdains democracy.
Anyone who has an ounce of confidence in Bill Moyers is as blighted as old Bill himself.
John N. McGuire
Garrison, TX

Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, Texas, was my 1968-1970 home in the Navy. Mr. Moyers, You do not mind calling a Utah person nor a Kenneybunkport person in Texas what they are. I would like to hear what you call them when you are where you can not be sued and tell your friends what you want done about hALLIBURTON/cHAINEY/bUSH and the "Skull and Bones" financial bronco they rode in on. Karl Rove was worse than WATERGATE !!!
Aloha,
B52-46-07 (Military ID #
replaced by SSA#)

I love to see liberals reduced to personal attacks on those who which they disagree. It says more about Mr. Moyers and those of you in his lot than it does with Mr. Rove. You can't beat him on an intellectual level, therefore you must demonize him, hoping all the while those simpleton bible beaters might hear that Rove's agnostic. I wonder Mr. Moyers was Mr. Rove playing to the Republican base with The immigration bill? Or how about that huge expanse of government with No Child Left Behind? Or you must be talking about the prescription drug program. It is funny to see that a political associate of LBJ's would even think about commenting on an unintelligent war mongering Texan as president. It is not contempt you are expressing, but hate. How has this article or any other report you've done helped bring people together, you sir are no better than Rove, a lesser equivalent on the left.

Mr. Moyers,

I remember in high school (only a few scant years past) that we watched your PBS video programs on history. From what I remember they were quite interesting and you are a fantastic narrator/host for that series. I would actually remember it as a highlight of my FAR less than stellar high school career.
Unfortunately as of late I have read and or heard your comments on a myriad of issues. I can only say that you have called the kettle black far to many times, and living with that must be hard... To convince oneself that he could remain a unbiased truth seeking journalist.

Socialism
A progressive political system that takes the power away from wealth creators and gives it to wealth distributors. Wealth distributors are typically a class of highly trained government bureaucrats who are being watched by a class of political commissars, who, in turn, are being watched by a class of secret police, all of whom are banded together by shared progressive morals. Because progressive morals are relative by definition, a certain measure of absolute propaganda is necessary to encourage collectivism and discourage counter revolution. Since such propaganda is delivered through mass media, arts, and schools, a degree of ideological monopoly, uniformity, and censorship is also required in those fields. The resulting mass enthusiasm creates a vibrant state-subsidized culture, leading to great economic successes and technological breakthroughs, e.g., in North Korea.

Moyers comments were regrettable and unprofessional and display a deep seated personal unhappiness and an inability to deal with the reality of American politics. Where is his passion against the intolerance of the left against the Christians who form the backbone of this country's social contract. Shame on Moyers and shame on PBS!

Hey, Shawn, aren't you missing Rush?

How is it that so called journalists such as Mr. Moyer can continue to get away with lying about Rove, Bush and yes every other Republican which they hate so much?

"intellectually incurious, draft-averse, naughty playboy in a flight jacket with chewing tobacco in his back pocket"

I have to give you this Bill; you certainly know how to pack the maximum amount of vitriol in one sentence.

You liberals have never been able to provide ANY proof for your charges that Bush is of low intellect or that he avoided the draft. If Bush was a playboy in his youth at least he got it out of his system then, unlike the liberal icons JFK and Bill Clinton. And chewing tobacco, I imagine your old boss Johnson had his share of that habit.

And just so you know Mr. Moyer, Rove is no agnostic. As an ordained minister I would think you would be more careful in making such an accusation and that you would now feel the need to apologize to Mr. Rove on at least this one point.

I'm done with PBS. This "journalism" is so full of lies and slander it's unbelievable. Rove is a Christian, and to suggest otherwise is a lie. Mr. Moyers, your liberal skirt is showing...and I, as a tax payer, am not paying for it. I've written my Senator and Congressmen to ask them to investigate PBS and their obvious political programming.

Mr. Moyer's,
It makes me absolutely sick to think that taxpayer dollars fund your moronic rhetoric.

Public Broadcasting my ass!

All portions of each show are available for viewing on line.

You can watch the Martin Marty segment here:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08172007/watch2.html

Thank you for your great thought provoking and thoughtful programs.

I really wanted to review the portion with BillMoyer's interview on Rev. Martin Marty. How can I do that. only saw the portion about Karl Rove.

I can't believe our tax dollars are paying for this vomit.

Did you read what PBS ombudsman Micheal Getlet said about Bill's hour-long "special" on Impeaching Bush last week? I quote, "There was almost a complete absence of balance, as I watched it, in the way this program presented the case for impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney."

Did you and some of the other detractors even watch the show before posting?

Bill Moyers had Bruce Fein on the show. Mr. Fein is the consumate Conservative posterboy for integrity and honesty.

Mr. Fein was in Ronald Reagan's Justice Department. He is a scholar for the neoconservative flagship American Enterprise Institute. He writes for Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times, and he was the Republican who drafted the first Article of Impeachment against Bill Clinton.

Hardly a left-wing latte-drinking, Volvo-driving liberal!

It is always fascinating to see how the wingnuts spew such vicious ad hominem abusive arguments and derisive insults when they have nothing rational to say. It is the proof of Thomas Jefferson's old adage,

b "Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us."

This exquisite insight explains the almost universal tone of Bill Moyers' detractors, hmmmmm....

LOL

As a Christian and as an American, I thank you for your much-needed commentary on Karl Rove -- I wish I could add something to your characterization of Mr. Rove, but you said it perfectly.

Too bad Karl Rove did so many good things for bad reasons. Would that he had used his brilliance and political acumen for good causes rather that the narrow focus of keeping President Bush in power! He did a real dis-service to our country with his brilliance!

Carey-the world war II analogy is an idiotic one and if you can't make the distiction between that and IRAQ then there is no hope for you and no need for me to waste anymore time on such a fool.

So fantastic, Bill. So real, and insightful. Rove as the charlatan 'religious righty' that he is. Charlatan, cheat, manipulator extraordinaire...
How does this great country produce such vile characters of human beings?

Moyers is so pathetic and so irrelevant. For him to speak to like he did about Rove just proves that this guy is obviously mentally ill!

Thanks Bill for all you do to remind us of our responsibility to care and act in this "interesting time". You have my deep respect.

You have no choice but to look for "public" taxpayer funding of a lawsuit against that EVIL Karl Rove. How dare he show such disrespect of your Holiness by saying that you slandered him in a drive-by manner. Doesn't he know who he's challenging??? So what that you can be considered the father of dirty presidential campaign TV ads. So what that you worked so hard to out a gay man working for Barry Goldwater. So what that you proudly served three Presidents of utmost integrity (Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton), and then referred to _George Bush_ being a draft dodger & playboy. Please do another series highlighting your noble and humble wisdom--this time on the Jewish concept of hutzpah.

P.S. Somehow I missed your missives against John Kerry for wearing an American flag lapel pin like you directed to George Bush.

Why would Bill Moyers waste our time with somebody who uses his own self as the starting point in a worn-out philosophical arrangement?

Although Martin E. Marty may be one of the most respected and distinguished church scholars in the country; A University of Chicago professor emeritus, Lutheran minister, senior editor of The Christian Century, and the author of over 40 books, I’m afraid that each of these esteemed categories is rendered meaningless with his utterances on the 8/17/2007 show.

Marty’s bold egocentrism bore holes into my ears to the point where I wondered if this interview may actually be pure satire.

I was laughing out loud at the conclusion of this chauvinistic utterance, “And I think we sometimes can get-- sense that better in a-- in a-- quote, primitive culture, which keeps some of these dimensions. One of my sons was in Africa when his mother died. Ten people of the tribe moved into his house for ten days. That's just what they do. To console. To beat drums. And to make the food and do all that.”

It is no surprise that Marty would find solace in his women cooking and beating drums “and all that.”

If there were ever a contest for a “poster child” to represent an embodiment of the academic, egocentric “Old White Men” club, I would nominate Martin E. Marty.

I thank the Bill Moyers Journal for pointing out the lingering existence of these type of "thinkers," but I look forward to more in-depth guests in the coming months.

In a recent opinion piece that got wide coverage through right leaning news outlets Jonah Goldberg of the National Review Online compared Rove to (of all historical analogies)Napoleon.

My Comments about Rove and Jonah Goldberg's historical mentor:

Since Mr. Goldberg likes making historical comparatives,he might enjoy this one.

Rove compares far more accurately to his mentor Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. And I'm really surprised that Goldberg missed this "no-brainer" comparison since he employs most of the same smear tactics in his "work".

Whether it was the treasonous act of outing CIA Operative, Valarie Plame, gearing up the Swifboating of Kerry, or fomenting racism and homophobia, to denigrate, McCain, Ann Richards, or Max Cleland, the influence of Goebbels as mentor to Rove is unmistakable.

As Goldberg well knows from the lies, smears and cheap shots he employs in his own columns, Like describing John Edwards as an ambulance chaser and whore-monger. And in this latest column his cheap chickenhawk shot at Kerry.

But I digress, My point is that Rove and his ilk of fascist loving right wingers always employ a major tenet of Goebbels propaganda; the repetitive and consistent use of outrageous, boldface lies until they actually become a reality in the minds of the people.

And as far as this statement: "John Kerry, a Michael Dukakis without the brains."

Here we see classic Goldberg wit:

I was in the armor for my first tour in Vietnam. I can tell you from first hand experience that the RPG (rocket propelled grenade launcher) was a weapon that gained huge respect among grunts for its lethality. It could penetrate the armor of all but our largest battle tanks. That same weapon is widely used in Iraq today.

I bring this matter up because John Kerry was decorated for single handedly chasing down and killing a VC soldier who was armed with an RPG. I'm telling you that took major balls to do.

The Swiftboaters tried to suggest that the VC in question was shot in the back and that he was a kid. An actual news investigation team went back to the village and interviewed people who knew the VC solider in question. They say he was not a kid, but a large man by Vietnamese standards.

I guess what I find so odious is that Rove and his cabal of chickenhawks were the ones who had the multiple deferments, or had better things to do.

I'll bet you even money that the closest Mr. Goldberg ever got to handling a gun was the 10 inch cannon of fellow right wing smear merchant Jeff Gannon.

Mr. Goldberg's columns are particularly amazing to me
because given the Holocaust one would think that he would not embrace fascism with such abandon. Especially since, his mentor Goebells would have packed Goldberg's neo con butt off to the "final solution" faster than one can click their heels and stiff arm salute.

Thank you for your analysis of Karl Rove's service to this country; rather to the President. From the character of their work relationship we learn what happens when personal loyalites substitute for fidelity to the common good. Mary D. Turner

Mr. Moyers, Thank you for your valuable insight into this very ugly and dangerous time in our country's history. You have said in a few paragraphs what I just couldn't believe and couldn't put into words about the reasons why our country's condition has deteriorated so much over the last 8 years. It will take this country 20-30 years to recover from the Supreme Court appointments that Bush made. It will be a dark spot for freedom and liberty in our history. Perhaps we won't survive, but I thank you again for your perceptive history lesson on the greed that evil begets.

Interesting article, but more interesting are the comments.
Some spew venom others seem angry, frustrated and or applauding Mr. Moyer's piece on Mr. Rove.
I don't know if there are any factoids that give credence to what Mr.Rove accomplished some tasks supposedly and for that kudos him for in the culture we live in we tend to devote all the attention to the winner and winning is everything or else you are labeled more than just a loser. So all in all Mr.Rove was possibly able to define a policy that worked for his team, those who feel they lost need to find a policy that will allow them to win as well.
Why belittle Mr.Rove for all he accomplished was considered Legal ( after all all the laws seem to be smeared in gray and people on both sides of the equation seem to thrive in the gray).
If there is anything to be said about Mr. Rove is that he was able to deliver on what he set out to accomplish, how he got it done doesn't seem to matter to most people living in the US.

Speaking of intellectual honesty...

If Deal Hudson's email from Karl Rove is authentic, then Moyers' concluding paragraphs are untrue and should be deleted.

The only fact would be "At his press conference this week he asked God to bless the President and the country," which isn't a punchy ending.

You speak for me and my husband about Karl Rove and his machinations. Keep up the good work. This country needs all its prophets to speak the truth.

Bill, your prose out weight your nay sayers whose goal is to divide this great nation into different religious camps. I, too, find it interesting that so many want to call you a has been. Your critics do not seem to have the intelligence or command of the language to present a well thought out debate on the worth of Karl Rove. Thank you for your words. You are a light in a dark array of members of the Christian Right and also the champion for clear thinkers.

Mr. Moyers, I think you owe Karl Rove an apology. I e-mailed him a copy of your comments on his supposed agnosticism, and this was his reply.

From Karl Rove:

"I am a believing Christian who attends his neighboring Episcopal parish church. People have taken out of context a quote in which I express admiration for the deep faith of colleagues that so clearly informs their lives as a statement I am not a believer. I am: just not as good a Christian as some very fine people I have been honored to call friends and colleagues."

This should put an end to the rumor started by Christopher Hitchens and propagated by a multitude of bloggers and you, Mr. Moyers.

An apology is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, we have not heard the last of Karl Rove. I would imagine he will be talking to Jeb Bush, now that he is no longer a Washington, D.C. resident and will now be living in Florida. Vigilance in 2012!

Ignorance persists. God help us.

Bill Moyers:

Do you get paid for that crap you write? Last time I checked Rove helped George Bush get elected to the White House twice; what are you but a bitter, washed up has been working for PBS. Can you be much more useless than working for PBS?

Robert Meybohm
Newport Beach, CA

Why are taxpayer dollars spent on promoting the views of this rabid partisan? I am so sick of Moyers and his intellectually dishonest propoganda.

Enough is enough! I don't want to pay for this tripe any more!

Bill:

How does this rate asking the FBI for dirt on Republicans during the 1964 campaign? Did Rove try and use the power of the presidency to trash people's lives? You did! Men who live in glass houses should not throw stones!

It's ugly but obvious.
Rove is an enormous success story. Moyers is a bitter liberal who doesnt like to see Republicans succeed.

Tora Bora after 9/11

bin Laden + Ak-47 + mule
vs.
"Commander-in-Chief" Bush + best military in the world.

Which one outsmarted Bush?
bin Laden - or his mule?

"That scum you're referring to in Tora-Bora is protected and hardened...thanks to support from jokes like YOU and other liberals elsewhere."

WRONG Aren't Ready for the Marines Yet!

Bush LET HIM GO!! Rather than devote the full fire power of the US military into Tora Bora and SMOKE that MASS MURDERER, he LET HIM GO so he could have support for the Iraq War!!

I'm no fan of Saddam! If we toasted him - SO WHAT? BUT NOT BEFORE GREASING that scum that killed almost 3000 of OUR CITIZENS!!!

YOU BLIND-FAITH types have let this dirt-bag get AWAY!!

WHAT's SOURCE for "...even as reports were circulating that he (Rove) himself had confessed to friends his own agnosticism..."

Mr. Moyers,
I wonder how all those 1960's peaceniks felt when they were manipulated into voting for Johnson because you scared the voters into thinking Goldwater would start a nuclear war, and then saw the Vietnam war escalated by Johnson who justified it based on the Gulf of Tonkin lie...Oh, that's right, we do know - it was clearly demonstrated at the 1968 Democrat convention!

Secondly, we on the mis-named Christian Right didn't vote for Rove, we voted for Bush. You misunderestimate the "christian Right" by thinking we're idiots and loonies. But, as usual, you're wrong. We'd vote for an Atheist, an Agnostic, a Jew or anyone else who shares our POLITICAL viewpoint.

I can't see how all your "fans" can think you are a man of integrity. Your tirade against Rove was childish and erroneous and stunk of sour grapes! You, sir, are the manipulator, and I resent my tax dollars being used to further your political views.

We can only hope that the posse will pursue this man out of Dodge while the trail is still warm. I doubt, though, that he will be brought to justice because his gang now includes too many corrupt sheriffs and judges.

Every word in this essay is a jewel. I think I would admit that even if I didn't agree with the message.

Thank you, Bill.

Bill Moyers is a hate monger and a bigot. He hates America, which is standard for liberals. He is mad at Karl Rove because he beat the scumbag liberals. Moyers holier than thou attitude is sickening.

For the past few years, ever since Katrina, I have argued that GWB and his minions are NOT born-again Christians, usually to deaf ears. Living as I do in the buckle of the bible-belt, I know many who call themselves such. Had they been flying over New Orleans after the terrible devastation of Katrina there would have been an immediate, improptu prayer meeting to pray for the suffering souls below. All George could think to do was crack jokes about the whooping good times he used to have partying in the French Quarter. As Jesus once remarked, you will know a tree by the fruit it bears...a good tree bears goood fruit, a bad tree bears bad fruit

Bill,
FANTASTIC reporting, FANTASTIC journalism! Thanks so much for coming back!

Gee, I wanted more info on your guest the author of Mystery of the Child, I think that was the name of the book. He is a real breath of fresh air--a truly positive joy!

Gee, I had a comment submitted last evening that was very critical of Mr. Bill Moyers and IT DIDN'T GET POSTED! Well, I guess in the interest of balance it would be bad since there's no hatred on the left, no sir. Moyers, whatever time you had is past. Why don't you go relive those glory days of being LBJ's lapdog? Hey, how about some wiretaps? Hypocrite.

It's sooo tempting to use Karl Rove as a punching bag. But I wonder if doing so is just another way of giving Bush yet another free pass in the long line of free passes he's gotten in this life. They have been so much of the same cloth for such a long time, it's difficult to see Rove/Bush seam. Perhaps now that it's begun to unravel, we'll be able to tell the woof from the warped.

In the meantime (to switch metaphors), I think it's well to remember that a little red devil has to sit on a shoulder, whisper into an ear, be listened to, and have his temptation succumbed to. Being "The Decider," only the President can decide to be a divider and not a uniter. Only the President can opt for being President of just some of the people and treat the rest of us as less than fully American. He didn't have to listen to Rove. He wanted to.

A LOOK IN THE GLOBAL MIRROR;

August 18, 2007
The View from Tehran

Hamid Varzi, "an economist and banker based in Tehran," discusses how the U.S. is viewed by the rest of the world:

A debt culture gone awry, by Hamid Varzi, Commentary, IHT: (Tehran) The U.S. economy, once the envy of the world, is now viewed across the globe with suspicion. America has become shackled by an immovable mountain of debt that endangers its prosperity and threatens to bring the rest of the world economy crashing down with it.

The ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis, a result of irresponsible lending policies designed to generate commissions for unscrupulous brokers, presages far deeper problems in a U.S. economy that is beginning to resemble a giant smoke-and-mirrors Ponzi scheme. And this has not been lost on the rest of the world.

This new reality has had unfortunate side effects that go beyond economics. As a banker working in the heart of the Muslim world, I have been amazed by the depth and breadth of anti-Americanism, even among U.S. allies, manifested in reactions ranging from fierce anger to stoic fatalism. Muslims outside the United States interpret America's policies in the Middle East not as an effort to spread democracy but as a blatant neocolonialist attempt to solve its economic problems by force. Arabs and Persians alike argue that America's fiscal irresponsibility has forced the nation to seek solutions through military aggression.

Many believe that America's misguided adventure in Iraq was a desperate attempt to capture both a reliable source of cheap oil and a major export market for the United States. ...

What have Americans gained from their nation's mountain of debt? A crumbling infrastructure, a manufacturing base that has declined 60 percent since World War II, a rise in the wealth gap, the lowest consumer-savings rate since the depths of the Great Depression, 50 million Americans without health insurance, an educational system in decline and a shrinking dollar that makes foreign travel a luxury.

The best cars, the best bridges and highways, the fastest trains and the tallest buildings are all to be found outside America's borders. ...

The bottom line is that America is awash in red ink and seeks the wrong solutions to its debt problems. A return to fiscal responsibility would make America far stronger, both domestically and internationally, than would a continuation of current policies that falsely project strength through idle protectionist threats and failed military aggression.

Current tensions between the United States and the rest of the world will continue as long as America's military bark is louder than its economic bite.

A solution to the U.S. debt problem requires radical measures, including: the elimination of corporate tax loopholes, a reversal of tax breaks for the ultra-rich, a bipartisan campaign to eliminate budget "pork," imposition of stringent limits on corporate debt and speculative lending, a vast reduction in military expenditure and, finally, an additional 50 cent per gallon gasoline tax that would slash the federal deficit, curtail energy waste and spur technological breakthroughs.

Let us hope America heeds the warnings, dispenses with junk-food economics and embraces a crucial diet of fiscal discipline. It remains to be seen, however, whether America's political leaders have the courage to instigate such reforms, and whether Congress is finally willing to do something for the future of ordinary, hard-working Americans.