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Starting in Texas during the decade of the 1990s where Bush rose to become governor, and then the bloodless “coup” of 2000 when George W was proclaimed President by the Supreme Court, Rove has been by the “not so smart” president’s side. Always directing, always behind the scenes…

Many give Rove credit for engineering the Republican take-over of Texas, the election of W in 2000 and what has followed. It is one of the reasons so many are glad to see him go.

In my case, I’d like to see him stay — to the end. Something about keeping your enemies closer…

No matter what he might say, I don’t doubt for a second that Rove will be involved — probably from some nefarious laboratory in Texas — in next year’s presidential campaign. Hey! I keep telling people that these good ole boys ain’t giving up power that easily.

Without his ties to the White House, and his recent run-arounds the law, Rove has much more breathing room to create his special kind of political havoc. Staying in Washington at this time does his ilk no good. They’d rather have their own version of Dr. Frankenstein working on their newest monster — in the comfort of a laboratory full of bubbling test tubes away from the public’s view. And the public’s view — away from it — is where “boy genius” has always worked best.

So don’t be surprised if his flabby fingered fingerprints turn up sometime next year in the chase for the White House.

Rove’s style of dirty political maneuvering — negativity, fear, cheating, lying, bullying, stealing and other not so pretty labels — have been his calling card. He turns lemonade to lemons. Any doubt, ask Sen. John Kerry: Or, how do you explain 2004 when he became the coward and Bush the hero in spite of the fact that it was Kerry who served and was decorated in Vietnam.

Actually, Rove’s style of politics reminds me of what we’ve had in Miami for quite a while. It’s why it should not surprise you that it was Miami where it was decided that the 2000 presidential recount would not continue. I did mention the word bullying as part of Rove’s style…

Columnists from around the country give Rove credit for exploiting “wedge” issues in order to win. That’s what we’ve been doing in Miami for ages. Our sole wedge is Cuba and Fidel Castro’s rule. We throw it into any election, whether it applies or not.

For those who may wonder, a wedge issue is one that affects an election by polarizing it — it’s like being with us or against us, no middle ground.

You plan to get elected for school board locally? You better have the right answer on Fidel. The county’s housing problem… where do you stand on Cuba’s communist rule? Miami is the poorest big city in the country… so you better make a statement condemning Castro’s rule for the past half century.

In the meantime, we ignore the real problems. And those in power can do as they please — while filling their pockets.

So it wouldn’t surprise me if sometime around 1990 Rove looked over to Florida, studied the Cuban Miami situation, and decided that “wedges” are the way to go. In Rove’s case it’s been abortion, the gay issue, terrorism, and others. At least, I must admit, he’s been more creative than my Cuban brethren.

The fact is that what Rove, and others that have worked for the W Bush administration, has wrought on America is a now constant situation of fear, instability and hatred; and for those in power an OK to disregard the constitution and almost a total impunity for their actions.

Actually, the more I read the previous paragraph the more I seem to feel I’m writing about what’s happened in Miami.

Alvaro F. Fernandez

Lower tax dollars have affected many programs from around Florida which depended on money from the state. Deeply affected were many school districts including Miami-Dade’s — the largest in Florida and the third largest in the country.

During the Miami-Dade School Board meeting of August 1, members decided by a 5 to 4 vote to give School Superintendent Rudy Crews a bonus of $40,000-plus. The matter had been under heavy debate for several months.

Mr. Crews earns more than $300,000 a year. He may be one of the highest paid public servants in the south Florida area. I believe he deserves it.

But in a year where cuts are the order of business; at a time when good teachers are still not getting paid what they deserve; in a moment of time when there is already talk that certain school programs will have to be cut and that next year’s summer school will have to be scaled down, I believe that Mr. Crews, and those school board members who voted to give him his bonus, is wrong to accept the taxpayers gift.

Again, and I emphasize this, it is not that Rudy Crews does not deserve it. It is just that at a point in time when Crews himself has asked many to tighten their fiscal belts, including announcements of cuts to educational programs for the children of Miami-Dade, what message would he be sending if he accepted the bonus?

Now that he’s won his fight, I believe the right thing for Crews to do is to turn the bonus down.

I honestly don’t think he’ll go for my idea. But in my eyes, it would be the right thing to do…

Alvaro F. Fernandez