'FOIA' is a verb

In light of the problems the Obama White House has been having with vetting its appointees, here's an interesting article from the WaPo about the legendary Hollywood lobbyist, Jack Valenti, and the FBI's investigation into his sexuality.

The story's not really about Valenti – the conclusion was that he had a friend who was gay. Instead, it's about the on-going study of J. Edgar Hoover's tenure at the FBI and mid-century America's obsession with homosexuality. Thanks to FOIA, there will be more stories like this about other legendary figures in the years to come. We may be shocked to learn not just who was gay, but how aggressive was the effort to uncover the sexuality of public officials. Then there's this little gem from the article:

[I]n October 1964, a man whose name has been redacted from the records called an FBI official in New York. The caller encouraged the FBI to investigate Valenti "as a sex pervert," files show. "He based this request on the fact that he had read in the newspapers that Valenti swims in the nude in the White House pool."

Is it really that easy to initiate an FBI action‽ I wonder what sort of investigations are going on these days which will in a few decades be seen as asinine.

Meta-note: Sorry to be so quiet lately. I will (hopefully) go back into radio silence soon. Some of what I've written here already may have crossed a line. Nevertheless, if you share my interest in Assemblyman Ty Cobb's ambitions, I do still want to hear from you.

2nd meta-note: Hey, Apple/Google/Mozilla/etc., add "Obama" to your spellcheck dictionaries already!