Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.
The worst part about clerical errors is that they always seem to come at the most inopportune times. Recently, when Congress was investigating whether the White House had fired U.S. attorneys to protect its Republican friends and punish Democratic enemies, millions of White House e - mails went missing. Sundry clerical errors were blamed when $9 billion in American cash disappeared in Iraq.
Now this clerical error infestation has reached Nevada.
Here's the story, as originally reported by Sun columnist Jon Ralston :
Las Vegas Sands, owned by mogul Sheldon Adelson, is opening a Venetian casino in Macau, and the company wanted to invite some dignitaries to the opening.
So a DHL courier arrived at the homes of Nevada state legislators and delivered the invitation, which offered a comp ed hotel room in Macau. The invitation wa s 14-by-16 inches and came in something that looked like a leather pouch. Classy.
The invite had a picture of a Chinese mask on one side, almost like you'd hang on your wall, and was printed in English, as well as in a fine calligraphic Mandarin.
It wasn't precisely clear about which part of the junket would be paid for by Las Vegas Sands. It included a pass code and a phone number so legislators could make arrangements.
"It didn't say explicitly the flight would be taken care of, but you got the impression you'd be going with a group of people," one Democratic legislator said.
Ron Reese, a Las Vegas Sands spokesman, said the offer was just to provide the room to lawmakers, which he said would be improper. Reese also said it was unintentional.
Lots of people from different walks of life were invited, some paying their own way, some getting comps. Because of a clerical error made in Macau, Reese said, the legislators got the wrong fancy invitation .
Las Vegas Sands quickly corrected the error, he said.
How inconvenient that a clerical error could come at a time like this, with the dank smell of political corruption in the air here and nationally. The foulest smell surrounded Jack Abramoff, a Republican superlobbyist now in prison for, among other things, bribing a congressman or two and their staffs with, among other things, a fancy golf trip to Scotland.
Nevada legislators found the Las Vegas Sands error a bit baffling and a ripe opportunity for witticism.
"My fear is, if Ralston hadn't reported it, some would have gone," a Democratic legislator quipped. He added: "There's probably some validity to the 'clerical error,' because it defies logic that someone would think they could take the Legislature on an expense-paid trip to Macau."
State Sen. Bob Beers couldn't clear things up in a phone interview: "I might lose you," he deadpanned. "The cell coverage in Macau isn't great."
Beers is an accountant. Does he know what constitutes a clerical error ?
"It's as vague as the meaning of the word 'is , ' " he said, referring to President Clinton's infamous legalism.
Wikipedia has an entry for "clerical error " :
"A clerical error is an error on part of an office worker, often a secretary or personal assistant. It is a phrase which can also be used as an excuse to deflect blame away from specific individuals, such as high powered executives, and instead redirect it to the more anonymous, less identifiable, less punishable, and certainly less embarrassable clerical staff."
(Is "embarrassable" even a word?)
Wikipedia goes on to give examples of famous clerical errors. The missing 18 minutes of the Nixon tapes, accidentally erased by a clerical error.
Pearl Harbor is also mentioned. The Americans were supposed to receive word about the attack and Japanese intentions, but there was a clerical error, so it never arrived.
What a time to have a clerical error .
Maybe the note to the Americans wound up in Macau.
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