I am offering a minor correction to Fred's otherwise useful article.

Strictly speaking, a "snowflake" is a tiny white rectangular form which has been attached by clerical staff to a document - often, a note or memorandum from a boss to a subordinate - which indicates the date a response is due (the "suspense" date). The form has several copies; one is ripped off or reproduced and filed at each echelon between the document's author and the action officer responsible for answering. Clerical workers at each echelon track each "snowflake" until it has been answered (or canceled from higher up).

Those little white forms and the term "snowflake" to refer to them have been in continuous use within DoD at least since McNamara in the '60's. They are probably much older than that. The term "blizzard" to refer to them was probably coined as soon as the term "snowflake" was created.

Fred implies otherwise. He has invented a bit of folk lore here, to the effect that the gossip around the Pentagon viewed Rumsfeld's notes to subordinates as such a "blizzard" that they started calling his notes "snowflakes." Makes for great copy, but it's entirely false. The DoD bureaucracy - including reporters' sources - has been complaining about the "blizzard" of snowflakes coming down from on high for literally decades. Reporters on the DoD beat should know this and place it into the proper perspective.

If Fred wants to make the case that Rumsfeld had diarrhea of the ink pen when talking to his subordinates, he needs to compare the volume of notes to subordinates from various Secretaries of Defense. He can't prove his case by ginning up erroneous folk lore.

And your point is????????????????????????????­??

Unfortunately, there's still a white out created by blizzard conditions, which obscures seeing the forest for the single tree in front of most, having the bad luck to be stationed there. : - |

Jesus, if I had to field a blizzard of memos from either you or Rummy, I think I would choose Rummy.

If this is any indicator, yours are far more boring.