"Can we have our $40,000 back?"

Our Etch-A-Sketch Boy was out on the circuit yesterday, at University of Iowa and, well, it didn't go so smoothly.

From KCRG-TV;

"It quickly became a hostile evening for Rove.

Protesters rallied together against Rove hours before he even took the stage.

"He's a traitor for outing a CIA agent and he's the one who really crafted the rhetoric for the invasion of Iraq," UI student Keri George said.

When Rove tried to start speaking, jeers from the crowd immediately interrupted him."

And this, from Think Progress;

During the lecture, Rove lashed out at hostile questioners, telling one man his comment showed “a simple, stupid mind” and chastised what he said were “stupid statements” from the audience. Rove also said that former Amb. Joseph Wilson “lied” about his 2002 trip to Niger and accused an audience member of “perpetuating libel” on the U.S. military for asking about the real number of deaths in the Iraq war:

Responding to a question about CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson’s outing, Rove, seemingly joking, added:

"I haven’t been indicted yet, but I fully expect to be by the end of the year."

At the end of the talk, an audience member shouted at Rove: “Can we have our $40,000 back?” Rove replied: “No, you can’t.”

Seems to be shaping up for a Twilight Zone type of life of Herr Karl ... You remember, the episode where the degenerate criminal (Larry Blyden) dies and thinks he's gone to heaven, but he's really in hell (with the devil portrayed by the rotund Sebastian Cabot).

Well, we can only hope ...


Bonus Rovian Riffs

Oxymoron of the Day: Karl Rove at an Idea Festival

Top Ten Cloves: Things Markos Moulitsas Will Have To Look Out For When Working With Karl Rove At Newsweek

Developing Story! Rove Has Gone From “Bush’s Brain” To “Bush’s Drain”; White House In Crises, As Rove Takes Credit For North Korean Nuke Test; Sources Say ‘Bush’s Brain” Weary From Sinking Polls, Fundraising; Too Tired To Come Up With New October Surprise