Bush's Brain Removed

Someone snapped off the turd blossom. It's been announced that Deputy Chief of Staff to the President Karl Rove will resign, effective August 31. Rove made the announcement to the Wall Street Journal this morning, (which will probably only re-enforce the worry that, since its purchase by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, it will become the GOP's journal of record.)

So, is this in any way connected to the continuing US Attorney General scandal, or maybe the wiretapping scandal, both of which seem to at least walk past his door? Or maybe, with the 2008 campaigning season starting to shape up a year ahead of the ballots opening, is he actually looking at finding another horse to back?

After all, Rove is only 56, a young buck in political terms. In the article, he says he will be working on a book, and maybe teach politics (wonder how much UT Austin's LBJ School is trying to rustle up to secure his services?) However, he's the ultimate campaign animal, regarded with a combination of admiration and jealousy by GOP campaign advisers, and fear and admiration by Democrat election managers. He's credited with turning George Bush from an unelectable goober into a two-term president, and been prepared to bend pretty much any principal to achieve his dream of a permanent Republican majority (read James Moore and Wayne Slater's excellent The Architect for his real stances on gay rights and evangelical Christianity, two topics he worked hard to make hot-button issues.) Can he resist the lure of the campaign?

Or will he, like Henry Kissinger, just keep dropping by the Oval Office until the current incumbent has to open his presidential library?