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It's difficult to make any sense of this because it doesn't clearly define the distinction between government and society. It gets halfway there with the statement "libertarian conservatives champion freedom as the end of the political order's politics", but is far less clear in addressing the other half (that social norms must be left exclusively to social tools such as selective association, criticism, etc. and may not become entangled with the state).

Well, this essay was designed as a response to Murray Rothbard and his followers' ideology. As I mentioned before, I just finished "In Defense of Freedom," and in it, Meyer makes a huge distinction between the state and society. He said, "Those who possess the power of the state possess it exclusively and over against the rest of society, whether their power is cofirmed by hereditary right, landed property, wealth, or the democratic ballot." So that would address your issue.

It's difficult to make any sense of this because it doesn't clearly define the distinction between government and society.

I think Meyers tangentially addresses that point here: The essence of civilization, however, is tradition: no single generation of men can of itself discover the proper ends of human existence. At its best, as understood by contemporary American conservatism, the traditionalist view accepts political freedom, accepts the role of reason and innovation and criticism; but it insists, if civilization is to be preserved, that reason operate within tradition and that political freedom is only effectively achieved when the bulwarks of civilizational order are preserved.

Which is to say, Meyers apparently rejects the idea that there is a clear distinction between government and society. Nor, apparently, should there be -- to believe and act otherwise is to pretend that one knows a priori all of the contingencies with which society and/or government might be faced.

It's worth noting, BTW, that the "libertine libertarians" are very much with us, primarily as a cultural force, but also among many of the more aggressive (predominantly liberal) activist organizations.