The Prestige

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Political advisers have had a hand in picking judges and prosecutors for decades, but Mr. Rove exercises unusually broad influence over political, policy and personnel decisions because of his closeness to the president, tenure in the administration and long-standing interest in turning the judiciary to the right.

In terms of visual suggestion, it doesn’t get much better. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this shot of Karl Rove doing a rap skit (if you can believe that!) at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ dinner Wednesday night.  Married to a NYT article yesterday detailing Rove’s role in hiring and firing United States attorneys, we get a wonderfully imaginative composition of the two Karls.  Simultaneously, we experience “front and center” Karl, known for being smug, loose and playful in the spotlight, in tandem with “behind the scenes” Karl, wielding that magic hand behind his back, helping catch and toss those attorneys, and causing the right wing judiciary to flourish. 

The problem for Karl, though — as the photo also relates — is that that magic hand has suddenly caught the spotlight, too, illuminating the strobe effect of ugly partisan intrigue.

(image: Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images.  March 28, 2008.  nytimes.com)