How to mark the occasion of George W. Bush’s first ever official visit to Canada? There’s plenty of talk in the mainstream press about protests and security cordones, but that’s not for me. Instead, I want to get to know the man, understand where he comes from and how he does what he does. Of course, in order to understand George, one must first understand Karl. Has any one individual political career in modern times been so widely accepted as the product of someone else’s genius?

Nevermind the calls to Ban Bush; protestors should be focusing their rage on the real brains behind the rightward tilt of our continent, the less and less shadowy presence of Karl Rove, brilliant campaign strategist and mastermind of no-stickum negativity. Restrain Rove, and you effectively Ban Bush.

Howard Fineman of Newsweek writes a captivating portrait of the “architect” of all GWB victories, including this mists-of-time re-enactment of the first Bush/Rove meeting – straight out of Greenwich village pulp romance.

Years later, [Rove] describes what happened next in the kind of sunlit, slo-mo tones they use in movies. “I’m there with the keys and this guy comes striding in wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a bomber jacket,” he recalls. “He had this aura.” Which is how 22-year-old Karl Christian Rove met 27-year-old George Walker Bush.

It’s… so… beautiful…