Todays NY Times has a profile by Jo Becker of Valerie Jarrett, senior White House adviser to President Obama. It appears that among other things she is largely responsible for the clumsy way in which the contraception-mandate in health insurance programs was handled when it came to religious bodies and institutions. But the article also makes it clear that her influence, indeed power, is considerable and wide-ranging. She is depicted as regularly urging the president in liberal directions. I dont think the reporter did Mr. Obama any favors when she wrote this sentence: If Karl Rove was known as George W. Bushs political brain, Ms. Jarrett is Mr. Obamas spine. Without her, hes spineless?