"Karl Rove Through the Fog"

Bush haters focused their vitriol on Rove, and it became all the more venomous for its misdirection. The energy the left devoted to the Valerie Plame flap can't be understood outside of the imperative to "get Rove." All the supposed scandals congressional Democrats are now obsessing over will lose some of their "oomph" as Rove, their white whale, slips off into the distance under his own power.

For all the investigating, he was never plausibly accused of anything particularly out of bounds, let alone criminal. His besetting sin was winning elections.

By Rich Lowry