"Have darkness ... Will travel."

I was tempted to title this "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", playing off the theme we ran with yesterday.

But that was a comedy, and Jim Blandings (played by Gary Grant; Mrs. Blandings, the lovely Myrna Loy) was a ad man, not a lying, covert-CIA-Agent-exposing, Turd Blossoming, Railroading-Democrat-Governors-into-jail, thug of the Bush Regime.

Karl Rove's next move: A million-dollar home on Florida's Emerald Coast

"Whatever the next chapter of Rove's life has in store, some of the action will probably take place in Rosemary Beach, Florida, where he bought land in 2002.

According to political journalist Jim Moore, many factors probably influenced the timing of Rove's resignation--including the desire to cash in on lucrative speaker's fees and the prospect of reinventing himself as a political pundit on the national stage.

"Ultimately, though, what probably appeals to Karl the most is being a sort of freelance Dr. Evil," Moore –- a Rove critic -- explained in an email to RAW STORY. "He can do his work now for hire under the guise of any organization that wants to hire him or he can do it for fun and generally avoid the restraint of party or candidate. Have darkness. Will travel."

That isn't getting off to a good start.

Late last year, it was reported the hawking of his memoirs wasn't, exactly, setting the publishing world afire, and, very recently, he got hounded at one of his speeches, with an attendee asking "Can we have our $40,000 back?"

And what digs!

Rosemary Beach, Florida bills itself as a vacation community, but Rove's home is no beach bungalow. His Dill Lane pad is a 2,578-square-foot cedar and white stucco structure with a stoop, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and an outdoor shower. Opposite the main house, separated by a small walled courtyard, is a two-story carriage house with a two-car garage on the ground floor.

But, we're not sure the locals are all to happy with the move.

One waitress who works at Bud & Alley’s restaurant downtown, said she's seen Rove and his guests sequestered in the large downstairs area of the popular eatery. Saying she was happy not to have been his server, she quipped, “I would have told him what I thought of him and gotten fired.”

Check out and read (it's loaded with pictures) Karl Rove's next move: A million-dollar home on Florida's Emerald Coast

And one last thought ...

Is Rove setting himself up in The Sunshine State for legal reasons?

Isn't there something about Florida, and Florida law - one of the things that has kept a roof over O.J. Simpson's head - that, in losing lawsuits, you can't have your residence taken, or pensions carried away?

Perhaps someone more versed in this law can weigh in on it, in the comments (and, perhaps, we may post a follow-up, as this story develops).


Bonus Karl "New Math" Rove Riffs

Libby Spencer/Newshoggers: A small serving of justice for Siegelman

Steve Benen/The Carpetbagger Report: After having been railroaded by Rove machine, Siegelman released

Oxymoron of the Day: Karl Rove at an Idea Festival

Karl Rove: “Be prepared! Find the bastards. And pile on!”

Karl Rove, Living In An Etch-A-Sketch Kind of World