Michael Kinsley: CryptoKids at War

The hypocrisy of our government agencies.

By Michael Kinsley
Posted Friday, June 16, 2006, at 6:15 AM ET

"So, put aside your Captain Crunch decoder ring," recommends the Central Intelligence Agency, "for the moment." This is on the Internet site of the CIA's legal department. You can have your Captain Crunch ring back after you read a pitch for recruits so startlingly moronic—even as an attempt at adorable self-mockery—that you think it must be some subtle comment on the double meaning of the word "intelligence." Or perhaps it's a sly joke on the very concept of a legal department at the CIA. (And the other departments?) "If the theme music from Mission Impossible runs through your head, or you get the urge to order a martini 'shaken, not stirred' at the mention of the letters 'CIA … ,' " why then you're just the kind of lawyer we want!