Pony Blow likes 'em Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy:

It was a rather serious White House press briefing, consumed with questions about Iraq and Iran. Press Secretary Tony Snow went so far as to say that those who are saying that the alleged evidence of Iranian weapons killing Americans is overhyped are themselves guilty of "overhyping" the Iranian crisis, for political gain.

Someone innocently [irony, I hope] asked if President Bush, as a former baseball owner, was willing to offer his reaction to the recent death "of the greatest pitcher who ever lived?"

"And that would be?" Snow wondered.

"Eddie Feigner," came the answer, and Snow was ready to pounce on that. Feigner was the barnstorming giant of softball for decades, appearing as the King and his Court. He could throw the ball so hard he would routinely call all his fielders to the dugout and simply strike out the side almost every time. He had his way with big league players, too.

Well, splendid. I haven't a softball thrown like that since the days when "Jeff Gannon" brought his own glove to the West Wing.

But let's check what E&P reported against the record:

Someone innocently asked if President Bush, as a former baseball owner, was willing to offer his reaction to the recent death "of the greatest pitcher who ever lived?"

Compare the White House transcript:

Q As a former leader of baseball, what was the President's reaction to the death on February 9th of the greatest pitcher who ever lived?

In fact, E&P is correct. Baseball has a commissioner, it has owners, players, and Bush was an owner. It's simply bizarre to call Bush a "leader."

But then, authoritarians are bizarre.

And fuhrerprinzip, the leadership principle, is being increasingly normalized, as the VRWC continues to move the Overton window rightwards.

And the winger hack is quicker than the eye; E&P didn't even notice that the window was being moved.

Of course, we all know leaders are Daddies who make The Fear go away:

[Cyrus Nowrasteh, a hard-core conservative who, in 2006, wrote and produced “The Path to 9/11, said that he regards] “24” as a kind of wish fulfillment for America. “Every American wishes we had someone out there quietly taking care of business,” he said. “It’s a deep, dark ugly world out there. Maybe this is what Ollie North was trying to do. It would be nice to have a secret government that can get the answers and take care of business—even kill people. Jack Bauer fulfills that fantasy.”

Today's conserve--They wet the bed, so others need to be tortured and killed. Now, that's leadership.

NOTE Thanks to Digby on the 24 article.