Block That Metaphor

WaPo's Al Kamen once again catches the real federal juice:

Next Up for Interior: J. Peterman Catalogues

Top political and career officials at the Department of the Interior have been working flat out these days, trying to come up with an agenda for new Secretary Dirk Kempthorne . Dozens of them retreated June 8 and 9 to a federal training center in West Virginia to brainstorm. Kempthorne may have a limited time to do something meaningful, a source said, so the idea was to come up with things he might consider.

Interior's White House liaison, Christopher Marston , followed up with an e-mail memo last week to "Fellow Retreat Participants."

"Doug, Russ and I have been charged with adding factoids and poetry to the attached list prepared by 'the Julie Team,' [ Julie Jacobson , a deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Land Management] which the team presented to us Friday morning.

"We would appreciate it if you could help us with our task," Marston wrote. "We're particularly eager for information in the Hammacher-Schlemmer mail-order catalog model (for those of you who don't get . . . this great catalog, almost all descriptions start with 'the best, the biggest, the newest, the greatest).'

"For example," something poetic such as "the Department of Interior leads the most robust methane hydrates research program in the world."

Not bad. Kinda catchy. Keats would be proud.