DPI’s info dump might be an example of a pattern or strategy on the part of liberal bureaucrats who are forced to provide information against their wishes. A couple of years ago, UNC-Chapel Hill student Anthony Dent fought a nearly year-long battle to get line-item budget information about a single program. Finally, with some help from an anonymous think tanker (ahem), he got an op-ed in the N&O chronicling his futile attempt to get public information from a public institution that must have embarrassed the folks out at Chapel Hill. A few days after the op-ed appeared, he got a massive amount of information that made it impossible for him to sort through to get the info he wanted. That way, the bureaucrats could seemingly comply without enabling him to get the answers he was after–a win-win for the bad guys.
Another possibility is that Terry might have underestimated how far the educational establishment has fallen. It may that the students now get A’s for impressive-looking info dumps instead of writing clear essays, and DPI’s info dump could merely reflect the new standard in a world in which bureaucratic incompetence is rewarded.
