MSNBC - King Karl

MSNBC - King Karl:

"Rove has always had a major role in formulating policy, officials now suddenly were eager to concede. A bit too strenuously, they insisted that Rove would be excluded from hard-core matters such as the Pentagon, intelligence and counterterrorism�and that he would not be in the Oval Office when the president gets his ultrasecret morning intel briefing. And yet, officials said publicly, Rove will 'coordinate policy within the various councils' of the White House�including national security and homeland security�while he 'continues to oversee the strategy to advance' Bush's agenda. As usual in bureaucratic Washington, the real story lay not in the nomenclature but in the real estate: Rove is moving from upstairs to down, just around the corner from the Oval Office. 'In a way, the appointment just confirms reality,' said GOP consultant Charlie Black. But, in a city in which the biggest secrets are the open ones, 'this is still a big deal.'"