At GetReligion we've chuckled readily when reporters have trouble remembering that "the Rev." should not precede the name of Focus on the Family's James Dobson. Newsweek and The Washington Post have struggled with this, bless their hearts.
Well, at last a publication keeps Dobson's courtesy title straight -- and uses it to poke fun at him. The Weekly Standard picks up on Dobson's odd call to U.S. News & World Report senior editor Dan Gilgoff, for some dishing about the state of Fred Thompson's soul. Then it imagines Thompson's longest-lasting character, District Attorney Arthur Branch on Law & Order, plotting revenge.
As John Powers observed in 2002, "The Standard woos you by saying, 'We're having big fun over here on the right.'"
I should add, despite tmatt's occasional references to the Rt. Rev. LeBlanc, that I make no claims to a graduate education, much less to the undoubtedly soul-stretching experience of attending a seminary of the Episcopal Church. Those who wish to make fun of my book learning will have to rely on jokes about the market value of a bachelor's degree in journalism from Louisiana State University. (I'll even help you: It's a common thing after LSU football games, especially against the uptown Tulane University in New Orleans, to see such belittling homemade placards as "Culture 21, Agriculture 14," or whatever the humiliating score may have been.)
For more on the Perry Mason stare, consult the master.