The biggest drawback to government work, in my experience, is the level of incompetence you are forced to deal with. I realize that it is perennially trendy to make fun of the government, but believe me -- those clichés are durable for a reason. You wouldn't believe some of these guys that are running the country. I've got smarter algae specimens in the lab.

So I found this latest item rather enjoyable, in an incredulous sort of way. It seems the House Judiciary Committee sent a confidential email to 150 would-be whistleblowers within the Justice Department, assuring them that their identities would be kept strictly confidential. Unfortunately, the email was broadcast with the list of recipients displayed openly in the address field, rather than using the hidden "BCC:" field. In other words, every name on the whistleblower roll call instantly became public knowledge. Incredibly, the subsequent email recalling the original also included the public list of names.

We talked about this a bit in an earlier post, but I really find the still-developing communication aspects of email fascinating. I love that there are so many new and inventive ways to screw up in the digital world. Hey, we've all sent instantly regretted emails, but this one seems particularly egregious. (Suspiciously egregious, some observers say.) At any rate, it's considered the biggest screw-up since a couple years ago, when some intern set up a Witness Protection Program Reunion page on Facebook.

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