« That’s not the way the world really works anymore. » He continued « We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do. »

Karl Rove, U.S. President George W. Bush’s senior advisor and chief political strategist