Yet another example from Pravda on the Potomac:

Clement will serve as acting attorney general until a new leader is confirmed by the Senate.

Sloppy authoritarian-enabling writing and thinking.

Why not just write:  Read more 

I’ve noticed this little meme creeping in all over everything, like kudzu. Even a not-lazy journalist like Sudarsan Raghavan succumbs:

… Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military leader…

Well, no. Petraeus is the top commander in Iraq. Why not be precise, and give him his title?

Once you know to look for it, you’ll see this toxic meme everywhere. Take this Hillary press release:

“We need a leader with a clear vision and sound judgment, who can work with a Democratic Congress to renew the promise of America. Hillary is that leader,” Rep. Wasserman Schultz said.

No. We need a President.**

(Now, to be fair to Hillary_{MR SUBLIMINAL Why?} they all do it. But watch to see who makes it the basis of their pitch…)

Now, some might say the leader meme is only the kind of mental laziness that takes its cues from books on “leadership” in airport bookstores; or the more sinister provincialism that thinks the entire country should be run like a megachurch).

I think it’s worse, because the United States. Does. Not. Have. A. Leader. The United States has a President (US Constitution, Article II, Section 1).

And if you think that a “leader” is all-important, and that “leadership” is the only thing that will save the country, then I suggest that you expand your vocabulary by learning a new word:  Read more 

AP:

[Ex-Mayor of Waterbury] Philip Giordano entered pleas to four counts of first-degree sexual assault and four counts of conspiracy to commit sexual assault, charges based on allegations that he paid a crack-addicted prostitute to bring her 8-year-old daughter and 10-year-old niece to him for oral sex.

And, my goodness, the stenographers at AP somehow manage to get through the entire article without mentioning Giordano’s party affiliation:  Read more 

WaPo:

Chertoff Urges Data-Sharing Deal With EU
VENICE, Italy, May 12, 2007 (AP Online via COMTEX) — Pieces of information gathered about airline passengers arriving in the United States can be crucial when least expected to preventing terror attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Saturday as he pushed for a deal with European countries on sharing data.

European government are trying to ensure the deal will not violate their strict privacy laws, a legacy of the continent’s history with authoritarian regimes.

Well, thank goodness we’ve got no history of authoritarian regimes on this continent!  Read more 

I’ve been reading Paul Starr’s “Freedom’s Power”, and while I have a ways to go yet, one thing has already struck me forcibly - the rise of the authoritarian right was aided by media consolidation.  Read more 

Mitch McConnell is a tool. An authoritarian:

“[McCONNELL] What I can tell you at the moment is that he enjoys the support of the president, for whom he works,” he said.

Er, Mitch—if I may call you Mitch—that’s not quite right. And I know this is high school civics stuff, but work with me here, OK?  Read more