Did Rove flatten the bulge?

Bush Wired has an interesting update on the "why-was-W-imitating-Quasimodo?" mystery.

As those who have followed the controversy know, the NYT had a bulge story prepped for publication just before the election, a story which no doubt would have been "echoed" throughout the mediaverse. Alas, the editors killed it.

For some time now, there have been reports that Karl Rove personally visited the New York Times and requested a quashing. An NYT editor who confirmed the existence of the bulge story denied any involvement by Rove.

Well, we still cannot confirm that the NYT cancelled the expose at Karl Rove's insistence -- but we do have strong evidence (in the form of a New Yorker piece) that Rove did, in fact, have a "friendly get-together" over drinks with NYT editor Bill Keller and Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman. This confab took place on October 22, shortly before the election.

The story indicates that Rove discussed his dissatisfaction with the paper's coverage of the administration. ("You call that boot-licking, you insufferable worms?") No mention of the bulge.

However, a chat over drinks is just the sort of informal occasion at which a presidential confidant might discuss a very delicate matter, particularly one pertaining to security. I doubt that the bulge truly is a security device, but I do not doubt for a second that the president's men would present it as such -- sotto voce, in strictest confidence, and all that.

So we cannot prove that Rove killed the story. But we know that it died an unnatural death, and that he was at the scene of the crime. And he certainly had motive.