Thanks Again

During your presentation at Quantico yesterday, I thought you were about to comment on the DSK case. I've been struck by how virulent the press has been about it, with all sides of the political spectrum jumping on the bad wagon and crucifying the guy from the beginning. I've seen little use of the terms "alleged" or "suspected" and even Fox News had an article that labeled DSK as a sexual predator and a sexual bully. That seems quite extraordinary to me; the pre-judgment and animosity remind me of the yellow dog journalism of the Spanish-American War, or even the anti-Japanese sentiment of WWII. I frankly don't know what went down in the DSK case, but it appears that the press thinks it does and the public is being pulled along. It's a great example of what you and Neal were discussing yesterday. I really would like to understand what's going on re the case.

I did labor, personnel, EEO, ethics, and related legal work on behalf of the Government for a large part of my career, with practice before the MSPB, FLRA, EEOC, OSC (we frequently had to deal with investigations), arbitrators, and various Federal courts. I commend you and your firm for doing this type of work; the Federal personnel system is probably the most complex in the world (and I think it needs a major overhaul to make it more efficient and effective). In truth, it's horribly cumbersome and the taxpayer is getting seriously screwed with its inefficiencies and overlapping, self serving organizations. It's been sad to see the system slide downward since the passing of Carter's CSRA in 1978. We went from a reasonably professional corps of personnelists, both in OPM (or the Civil Service Commission, as it had been named) and the agencies to a mass of ignorant, uncaring, inept people with little concern for, or understanding of, the real purpose of their jobs. Several OPM directors (most notably Dr. Devine) seemed to have the attitude that OPM should be gutted, and that attitude persisted through the Clinton Administration with Al Gore's remarkably stupid stunt of eliminating the FPM and burning a copy in a trash can at 1900 E Street, thereby essentially depriving incoming personnelists of the most valuable tool for understanding the incredibly intricate and sophisticated system in which they were working. I'm still stunned by that one act, but realize it was done at the urging of Federal unions, who WANTED personnelists and LR specialists not to know the laws, rules and regulations pertinent to how the system should run. What a farce.