Two small episodes Saturday night and Monday morning were deeply revealing about the culture of official Washington now.

Keith Koffler wrote about the first Sunday for "White House Dossier." Atlantic Media — publisher of The Atlantic, National Journal, and Government Executive and which describes itself as "among the most influential media outlets in America" — hosted a going-away party for presidential senior adviser David Axelrod. It was held at the home of his former White House colleague, Linda Douglass, a reporter for ABC News before joining the administration.

The party drew President Barack Obama, Cabinet officials, White House aides and a passel of first-tier journalists, including (according to Koffler): Major Garrett of National Journal, John Harwood of the New York Times, Jake Tapper of ABC News and Chuck Todd of NBC News.