I think the actual rumor claims that Rove, acting through his hand puppet, W, threatened the Vatican. They have to be very careful about accusing W of being dumb on one hand and attributing really clever stuff to him on the other.
"They have to be very careful about accusing W of being dumb on one hand and attributing really clever stuff to him on the other."
Of course.
Because if Bush is a doofus, then the smartest man in the Senate and the inventor of the modern world (did you hear? Al Gore invented the Internet!) were both bested by a doofus.
Clearly Karl Rove reached into the conclave and threatened the cardinals there with IRS audits or pictographic exposees if they did not elect the Panzer Cardinal Pope.