Sandy the Sock Puppet

Well, it appears a grand jury is finally getting interested in Sandy Berger. The part about this story that I find absolutely inconceivable is the excuse. Removing classified documents was an "honest mistake". How? Are you a complete and utter moron? I used to have a security clearance when I was a young lad in the Army. I don't know how other agencies handles classified material, but every single page of a classified Army document is stamped with the classification at the top and the bottom. Every single page, even if the entire contents of the page is the infamous message "This page intentionally left blank." How do you look at a document and think it's not classified when it says "TOP SECRET" on it? What kind of mistake is that? A reading comprehension error? What, is he dyslexic and thought it said "POT TERCES" and figured that meant toke up three times before reading? Seriously, how do you make that mistake?

Then you "accidentally" destroy the document? Yeah, I'm buying that. If somebody like Sandy Berger admitted that to me, I'd start an investigation to see what the hell he had done while he was NSA. If he's this cavalier about handling classified documents, it probably isn't the first time. I guess when the nice officer explained to me that I could go to jail for doing the wrong thing with classified material, he was just kidding, huh? Or does that rule only apply to people who aren't political appointees?

Admittedly, I would sure as hell try to claim something if I got busted smuggling docs in my drawers. There is, as far as I know, no federal crime involved in being an idiot. If you can make people believe you're stupid rather than engaged in a criminal conspiracy, you'll probably be better off in court.