Wipe that liquid off your chin, Dave. You're embarassing yourself and the paper

Broder somehow gets through a whole encomium on Rove without once mentioning the words "frenum ladder" (NSFW). But this paragraph at the end caught my eye:

Michael K. Deaver, Ronald Reagan's gentle adviser and friend, who died last week, was a model of Civility and good humor, a loyal servant of the president but also a help to legions of reporters seeking to understand Reagan's way of leading.

Yeah, civility. Gee, I knew if I checked Deaver's bio I'd find something:

Deaver resigned from the White House staff in May 1985. In 1987, he was convicted of perjury and fined $100,000. He was convicted on three of five counts of perjury stemming from statements to a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury investigating his lobbying activities with administration officials. Deaver blamed alcoholism for lapses in memory and judgment. He was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $100,000 as well as ordered to perform 1,500 hours of public service.

Wow! Back in the day, $100,000 was real money. And you'd think Broder would mention that Deaver's a man of convictions, but IOKIYAR. Or maybe, to a Republican, being convicted of perjury is civility; that worked for Libby. Of course, today Deaver simply would have been pardoned immediately, and "community service" would consist of, oh, playing barkeep at Jenna's wedding.

There's also another little twist that's very revealing of Broder's "style of thinking." Look again:

... a help to legions of reporters seeking to understand Reagan's way of leading.

This noxious little "leader" meme is creeping in everywhere, like kudzu. We never call people in authority by their titles, any more. We don't say "President," or "General," or "CEO", or "Chairman", or "Party Official." All these distinct combinations of authority, duty, and responsbility are blended together into a generic sludge with a vaguely religious aura by the "leader" (fuhrer) meme. (See Duncan the Grey on leaders and ponies.)

I think the "leader" (fuhrer) meme a combination of airport-bookstore-level management jargon and full-blown authoritarianism. Watch for it, especially when Democrats use it, because it means that mentally, they're half-way over to the dark side.

Take the package, Dave! Take the package!