When you're on the outside of a large, complex institution, particularly one that is largely opaque, it's tempting to believe that the people inside the institution know all kinds of things you don't. They're at the center of things, they're getting the inside scoop, they see levels you don't even know are there. But the truth is that this is seldom the case. The people inside the institution, even those at the top of it, are just people -- some of them are smarter than others, but depending on what institution we're talking about, most are not geniuses.
So it can be jarring when you get a peek inside and realize that despite whatever informational opportunities their institution provides them, they're just as clueless as the rest of us. Behold what Matt Yglesias aptly calls "The Greatest Memo of All Time":
Note also that the person to whom Rumsfeld was writing is Douglas Feith, the third-ranking civilian official in the Pentagon at the time and a notorious screw-up, whom Gen. Tommy Franks famously called "the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth." It makes you wonder just how Feith responded to this memo. Pakistan? Oh yeah, Mr. Secretary, sorry about spacing that, I'll have the solution to that problem to you right away, and Korea will be taken care of by Friday.
