Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
December 19, 2006
Pg. 27
For the past six years, the way to shut down the Pentagon, the joke goes, was to shout "Snowflake!" in a crowded cafeteria. Snowflakeswere the terse, sometimes sweeping, sometimes nitpicking memos that began falling on bureaucrats each day around 6:30 a.m., as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld took to his desk for another round of challenging the establishment.
Snowflakes questioning terrorism strategy, troop reorganization, hiring and firing, even the way to write a memo, have landed on hundreds of desks. In one, Rumsfeld forwarded a half-century-old Pentagon directive as an example of acronym-free communication. "It is short, clear, and written in English," Rumsfeld's chilly note reads. "Think of what today's directives read like, by comparison. They are almost unintelligible. Thanks."
Leaving office last week, Rumsfeld issued one final snowflake ending the storm. The memo is reprinted below. Nyah, nyah -- it contains an acronym: FOUO, for official use only.
-- Elizabeth Williamson
December 15, 2006
TO: Pentagon Personnel
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: "Snowflakes" -- The Blizzard Is Over
This is my final snowflake -- as Secretary of Defense.
Over the past six years, thousands of these memos have fallen -- sometimes in blizzards and flurries and sometimes in cold and lonely isolation.
Yet -- as surprising as this may seem to those who may have been buried in the deluge -- there are manyin the Department who have never received a snowflake. A few souls have even requested one.
This snowflake is especially for them.
Its message is, perhaps typically, to the point: Thank you!
The men and women of this Depanment have worked long hours to accomplish a multitude of missions and to keep the Arrerican people safe. You have played important roles during times of great consequence for our country. For that you have my respect and appreciation. I will treasure our time together.
Oh, and one final note. Somewhere there may be a few folks who hoped to run out the clock on their outstanding snowflakes. Well. I want you to know... You have not been forgotten!
Nonetheless, in the spirit of the season, as my last official act as Secretary of Defense, I hereby grant a general amnesty for any outstanding snowflakes.
The blizzard is over! Thank you all for all you do for our wonderful country. Well done!
Please respond by (not applicable)
FOUO
December 19, 2006
Pg. 27
For the past six years, the way to shut down the Pentagon, the joke goes, was to shout "Snowflake!" in a crowded cafeteria. Snowflakeswere the terse, sometimes sweeping, sometimes nitpicking memos that began falling on bureaucrats each day around 6:30 a.m., as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld took to his desk for another round of challenging the establishment.
Snowflakes questioning terrorism strategy, troop reorganization, hiring and firing, even the way to write a memo, have landed on hundreds of desks. In one, Rumsfeld forwarded a half-century-old Pentagon directive as an example of acronym-free communication. "It is short, clear, and written in English," Rumsfeld's chilly note reads. "Think of what today's directives read like, by comparison. They are almost unintelligible. Thanks."
Leaving office last week, Rumsfeld issued one final snowflake ending the storm. The memo is reprinted below. Nyah, nyah -- it contains an acronym: FOUO, for official use only.
-- Elizabeth Williamson
December 15, 2006
TO: Pentagon Personnel
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: "Snowflakes" -- The Blizzard Is Over
This is my final snowflake -- as Secretary of Defense.
Over the past six years, thousands of these memos have fallen -- sometimes in blizzards and flurries and sometimes in cold and lonely isolation.
Yet -- as surprising as this may seem to those who may have been buried in the deluge -- there are manyin the Department who have never received a snowflake. A few souls have even requested one.
This snowflake is especially for them.
Its message is, perhaps typically, to the point: Thank you!
The men and women of this Depanment have worked long hours to accomplish a multitude of missions and to keep the Arrerican people safe. You have played important roles during times of great consequence for our country. For that you have my respect and appreciation. I will treasure our time together.
Oh, and one final note. Somewhere there may be a few folks who hoped to run out the clock on their outstanding snowflakes. Well. I want you to know... You have not been forgotten!
Nonetheless, in the spirit of the season, as my last official act as Secretary of Defense, I hereby grant a general amnesty for any outstanding snowflakes.
The blizzard is over! Thank you all for all you do for our wonderful country. Well done!
Please respond by (not applicable)
FOUO