Here's the New York Times this morning quoting former Reagan speechwriter Peter Robinson in an article about Secretary of State Colin Powell:

"The only thing a government worker really needs to fear," he [Robinson] said in an interview, "is making a mistake so big and so public that he can become that rarest of objects, a government worker fired for cause."

What struck me about that quote was how utterly gratuitous it was in the context of the larger piece -- which was, after all, about neither GOP speechwriters nor public employees. I guess we've simply grown so thoroughly inured to the casual denigration of federal workers that the editors of the New York Times didn't even think twice about letting a GOP operative use the Gray Lady's pages to hurl a little cheap snark in their direction. Really, it's quite astonishing when you stop and think about it.

You know, I'm beginning to think that those of us on the left and center-left should consider updating that old conservative line about cops and hippies. Maybe our version could go something like this: The next time a terrorist hijacks your plane, call a smart-mouthed Republican apparatchik.

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