Rove thinks that future presidents will return to and embrace the Bush doctrine. In a speech in Arkansas this week, the Post's Michael Abramowitz reported:

...presidents often come to adopt institutions and policies created by their predecessors, and Rove clearly suggests that this will one day happen as well to the institutions and policies shaped by Bush. . . .

Abramowitz continues,

"Rove rejected the suggestion that future presidents might be deterred from the Bush doctrine by the enduring violence and unintended consequences let loose by the invasion of Iraq. 'Could be,' he said. 'But it has a logic of force and nature and reality that will cause people to examine it, adjust it, test it, resist it -- but ultimately embrace it.' . . .

....The inference is that while would-be presidents may criticize tactics such as his military tribunals and warrantless electronic surveillance, they will come to recognize the necessity of such policies in a protracted struggle against Islamic radicalism."

That's master spin for you. The reality is that the War in Iraq, Rumsfeld's resignation, Libby's trial, the Walter Reed scandal, the U.S. Attorney firing mess and now the FBI's violations of the Patriot Act, are causing the unraveling of the Bush Administration.

The latest events are more heavy baggage for a president who already is close to his limit. Re-elected by a comfortable margin in 2004, Bush watched his job approval rating plummet in 2005 with the rise of violence in Iraq and the government's weak response and follow-up after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to huge swaths of the country's southern coastline.

With a rating of just 35 percent, Bush's standing is the weakest of any second-term president at this point in 56 years.

So, Rove gets to keep his job, but his job has changed. I think he can spin his Bush Doctrine all he wants, but Bush's legacy is irreparably tarnished. There's just too much dirt to sweep under the rug.