At times it almost seems that status in government is dependent on how distant one can be from the implementation of policy. There is a debilitating distance, too, between the people creating government systems and the people who use them. The digital revolution has disintermediated many sectors of our economy and society; you can now buy tickets from an airline instead of going through a travel agent, for instance, or get in touch directly with artists selling their wares on Etsy. But in government,
