It’s like this administration goes out of its way to lower expectations (via Andrew Malcolm):

(They spelled the President’s name as ‘Barak Obama.’ On an official diplomatic agreement.)

This is what happens when you use spellcheck as a crutch; at a guess, somebody added “Ehud Barak” to the relevant computer’s custom dictionary a while back, thus making certain that the little red dots didn’t appear under the President’s misspelled name. And then nobody bothered to do three full re-readings of the document, using two different people. And the Chief of Staff is apparently too busy failing to live up to expectations for 2010 recruitment to live up to expectations for keeping the White House staff on its toes.

Really, it’s not that this administration’s staff is incompetent; it’s slapdash. You know the type. Wait until the last second, ignore bothersome demands on time and attention, never return phone calls, pursue private enthusiasms. When the deadline looms, leap into action, throw something together, give it a quick look-over and send it out. Then go back to favorite illicit computer diversion. You might as well get used to it, because until the President acquires a Chief of Staff willing and eager to punish embarrassingly public incompetence by ripping out livers and eating them raw you can expect these little stories to keep coming out.

On the bright side: at least the President isn’t directly responsible for the faux pas. For once.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.