[thebear]

One would certainly not want to argue with the statement that many people are incompetent, or at least not very good, at what they're paid to do. On the other hand, much of that alleged stupid and incompetent behavior turns out to be not stupid or incompetent at all if one spends a little time and effort on reflecting upon it. The opening example of the article, the Department of Education requiring applications to be sent by registered mail, is a perfect example. Why won't they accept an application unless it's sent by registered mail? If there is ever any kind of challenge, possibly resulting in litigation, over the way they handled an application, they have to have a complete paper trail of the process. An important part of that paper trail are the details of when and by whom the application was received. It would be a sign of incompetence on their part to accept an application that was not sent by registered mail.

I come across examples like this all the time. I find it amusing how often alleged stupidity and incompetence reveals more about the accuser than about the accused.