Karl Rove: He told campaigners he had "THE numbers." Now he'll be telling them he has "THE history."

A few months ago, when Karl Rove stood down from the White House, long-time Turd Blossom watcher Jim Moore told Chronic that “Karl’s priority is to write his first draft of history.” Now the man known as The Architect has a publisher for that history, having signed on the dotted line for a reputed $1.5 million with Simon & Schuster for right to his autobiography. Actually, it’s with Threshold Editions, a well-funded outlet for right-wing jeremiads run as a vanity imprint for former assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney, Mary Matalin.

Threshold’s short roster of authors contains familiar faces to Rove, including: Mary and Lynne Cheney (any coincidence their father/husband used to be Matalin’s boss?); Bush’s ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton; Bush-appointed Republican National Convention chair and White House counselor Ed Gillespie; Kissinger acolyte, former governor of Iraq, and McArthur wannabe L. Paul Bremer, III; and former State Department careerist Edward Djerejian. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because he was chair of the committee that, in Dec. 2002, wrote Guiding Principles for U.S. Post-Conflict in Iraq – the unofficial game plan for post-invasion reconstruction and privatization of Iraq.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.