News » April 13, 2004

Rove Sweet Rove

Ignored by “Bush’s Brain,” activists take the fight to his home

By Tracy Van Slyke

Let them drive SUVs: Karl Rove looks at the sea of protesters outside his home.

On a quiet Sunday afternoon in late March, more than a dozen yellow school buses crept up the street of a high-end Washington, D.C. neighborhood and parked in front of the home of Karl “Bush’s Brain” Rove, senior policy advisor to President Bush.

Members of National People’s Action (NPA), a national coalition of community organizations, poured onto Rove’s lawn demanding that the White House support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The activists surrounded Rove’s home chanting, blowing whistles and carrying posters with the message, “Rove: Don’t steal the dream!”

If passed, the DREAM Act would grant in-state college tuition for children of immigrants who have graduated from high school and who have lived in the country for at least five years. Students also would begin the process toward legal citizenship. An estimated 50,000-65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the United States each year but can’t work legally or qualify for in-state tuition to attend college. The DREAM Act already has 42 Senate cosponsors but is stalled for a vote on the Senate floor.

NPA invited Rove to meet that weekend for the group’s annual conference to discuss the legislation. Rove declined to come or send representatives. In response, NPA took the meeting to his front door.

For 10 minutes, Rove moved from window to window, yelling to the crowd, “get off my property.” From the street, observers could see him through the windows pacing furiously and shouting into a phone.

“We are here today to send a strong message to the Bush administration,” NPA Co-Chairwoman Emira Palacios told the crowd. “We are telling them that if they want the Hispanic vote, they must give us the DREAM Act!”

Throughout chants of “Karl, Karl, come on out! See what the Dream Act is all about,” police and secret service officers negotiated with Rove to meet with NPA members. As Rove continued to stall, the crowd broke into a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Upon agreeing to meet with two NPA leaders, he promptly ushered them into his garage and shut the door. NPA Co-Chairwoman Inez Killingsworth said Rove moved in “nose-to-nose,” with them, shouting how they had scared his children. The meeting lasted two minutes.

Speaking with the media outside, Palacios said: “He is very offended because we dared to come here. We dared to come here because he dared to ignore us. I’m sorry we disturbed his children, but our children are disturbed everyday.”

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• Reader Comments

  For your info, home address of
  Karl & Darby Rove:
  4925 Weaver Terrace NW
  Washington, DC 20016

  Posted by Kirk Muse on Apr 13, 2004 at 8:56 PM

  “Who’s on your hit list, NPA?
  Who’s on your hit list for today?
  Take no prisoner, take no names.
  Kick ‘em in the (a—) when they play their games!”

  You should have at least published their idiotic chant Tracy.

  You also forgot to mention that they were pounding on his windows while they trespassed on his home.

  Do you also think it is astonishingly pathetic that they drag school children with them in their “direct action campaigns”? Maybe they could try to influence policy like, I don’t know, adults?

  It’s disgusting when Pro-Lifers publish the home addresses of abortion providers. Same concept here. This is a pretty ugly road to go down for both sides.

  Also, why not list their website in your article? It’s “http://www.npa-us.org/”. For those interested. I particularly liked the “neighborhood safety” section. That was funny.

  Posted by Ty on Apr 13, 2004 at 8:57 PM

  Hey, Karl-
  You spelled your name wrong.
  It’s “K-A-R-L”  not “T-Y”, and and a very weak and negative attempt at spin!

  Posted by Karl on Apr 14, 2004 at 11:48 AM

  The world would be better off without Karl Rove.

  DREAM sounds interesting, but I wonder:  How about in-state tuition for EVERYBODY, not just immigrants’ children?  And would my children be eligible for free tuition if we were immigrants in any other country?

  Posted by Annette Bork on Apr 14, 2004 at 8:13 PM

  Immigrant’s are not asking for FREE tuition. Just instate tuition. Many states do not allow immigrant children to attend college at all because they do not have a social security number. There children graduating with honors with no opportunity to go to college. Without this hope of more education many children give up and drop out of high school altogether.

  I believe it is better for all to allow all those who qualify to attend college.

  Nancy Rhodes

  Posted by Nancy Rhodes on Apr 14, 2004 at 9:45 PM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 16 posts.

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