Jumping To Conclusions

David Sanger, the New York Times' official hatchet man on the Bush Administration, now turns his sights on Karl Rove.

Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, is expanding his White House portfolio by inserting himself into the debate over how to deal with the Middle East, trade, terrorism, Latin America and other foreign policy matters, say outside advisers and administration officials, including some who are rankled by his growing involvement.

Mr. Rove's influence beyond domestic affairs has developed gradually and is hard to measure. As one of the president's closest advisers, he offers his counsel in private, usually only for the president's ears.

Yet increasingly, officials in the administration see or imagine his influence, citing the political significance of such instances as the president's turning his back on free trade to offer protection to farmers or steelworkers.

If that seems like underwhelming evidence to you, the rest of the article won't change your mind. Sanger cites not a single person by name who's willing to criticize Rove. All we have are unnamed "administration officials." And Sanger admits that Condoleezza Rice doesn't seem to have any problem with Rove.

So where does this come from? Aha:

Increasingly, administration officials say, Mr. Rove's involvement has put off Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who is described by associates as questioning why someone with a background in domestic politics should be an important voice in foreign policy. They said Secretary Powell was not happy in January when Mr. Rove told the Republican Party's winter assembly in Austin, Tex., that the party should use Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Afghanistan for political advantage.

[...]

State Department officials are less charitable, perhaps because Mr. Rove is considered far more hawkish than Secretary Powell, and far more attuned to domestic politics.

A light dawns. Sanger's repeated attacks on the Bush Administration in the past have revolved around Bush's unwillingness to support Colin Powell's mediation of the Israeli-Palestinian war. Now we see Karl Rove being attacked for not falling into line behind Colin Powell. So that's it. David Sanger is simply Colin Powell's mouthpiece, and the Times is happy to provide space in the news section for Sanger's editorials.