Who’s Really President? Rove or Cheney?

This week has

brought more

conflicting evidence. Rove has almost single-handedly

blocked the administration from permitting stem-cell research.

Most Americans, Health and Human Services Secretary

Tommy Thompson, and lots of top Republican politicians say

it’s a scientific and ethical good. Rove says it could alienate

Catholic voters. Cheney, meanwhile, rushed back to the

office a day after heart surgery, a frantic return that confirmed

the Democratic suspicion that the White House—and

President Bush—would collapse without him. Slate