The New York Times article on Karl Rove’s departure today highlights his jocularity (“Rove has been a gregarious figure who … regularly used a Secret Service radio to announce his presence in presidential motorcades jokingly”), which reminds me of a classic from the archives:

Maureen Dowd highlights the maturity of the Bush White House in an anecdote drawn from Bob Woodward’s new book State of Denial:

W. and Karl Rove “shared an array of fart jokes,” Mr. Woodward writes. A White House aide put a toy that made a flatulence sound under Karl’s chair for a morning meeting on July 7, 2005. When officials learned of the terrorist attacks in London that day, the prank was postponed. But several weeks later, “the device was placed under Rove’s chair and activated during the senior staff meeting. Everyone laughed.”

At least Rove can head back to Texas knowing that he and Bush restored honor and dignity to the White House…

Update 8/16:Some commenters have suggested that this may be the kind of pathological anecdote I previously denounced. It’s a fair point.