Courtesy of The New Republic: MYSTERY SOLVED: Yesterday, we racked our brains trying to figure out what kind of pressure the White House had brought to bear on former faith-based policy adviser John DiIulio to get him to recant the damning quotes he gave to Esquire reporter Ron Suskind. Having now perused Suskind's soon-to-be published article, we have a much clearer picture of what must have been involved. This passage in particular stands out:

Eventually I met with Rove. I arrived at his office a few minutes early, just in time to witness the Rove treatment, which, like LBJ's famous browbeating style, is becoming legend but is seldom reported…. I squeezed into a chair near the open door to Rove's modest chamber, my back against his doorframe.

Inside, Rove was talking to an aide about some political stratagem in some state that had gone awry and a political operative who had displeased him. I paid it no mind and reviewed a jotted list of questions I hoped to ask. But after a moment, it was like ignoring a tornado flinging parked cars. "We will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever fucked him [emphasis in original text]."

'Nuff said.