Well, maybe: There’s a bit of a tempest in a teacup going on at the Department of Interior, with a number of leading wingnut bloggers getting their panties in a twist over DoI’s recent moves to block access to weblogs. See, a couple weeks ago, an internal report was released that showed DoI employees spend thousands of hours visiting gaming, porn and auction sites when they should be working. DoI has about 80,000 employees with Internet access, but since 1999 has only reprimanded 177 employees for inappropriate Web surfing � 112 of those for skeazing slease while on the job.

Fast-forward to last week. The Interior Department has now started blocking access to a wide range of sites that it has determined are not related to the business of managing the interior of the United States, including weblogs because “some include sexually explicit language, libelous or defamatory commentary, and outrageous language,” Frank Quimby, spokesman for the agency, told FederalTimes.com.

( The funny thing is, DoI’s public affairs office now has to appeal for special access to be able to view weblogs that carry news about Interior.)

However, and here’s the rub � apparently, some wingnut employees tried to visit their favorite neo-Nazi sites, only to be blocked. But they could still visit Daily Kos and a whole slew of lefty weblogs. Gasp! There’s obviously a conspiracy at the top of DoI to prevent employees from being exposed to the brand of truth served up by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill OReilly. But why?

Enter Baron Bodissey of the conservative weblog Gates of Vienna. He was given the task of “investigating” the story. If you have the time, it’s worth reading the article, which is told in a deadpan yet breathless kind of noir Web detective tone, as he drags the reader through every last step of the investigation. Here are a couple of the more interesting excerpts:

She passed me on to the Director of Communications, Mr. Frank Quimby. He was pleasant, and explained that the Department most emphatically did not selectively block conservative blogs. �We block all blogs. We�re still getting the glitches out of the system, so some get through here and there, but we�re blocking all blogs.�

I told him that I would report what he said, but that it strained credulity, because the chance of the system randomly blocking blogs that just happen to have a conservative political content � and not blocking liberal ones � was so small as to be negligible. Someone, somewhere had to have done this intentionally.

Mr. Quimby passed me on to to his deputy, Mr. Ed Meagher, who was more familiar with the technical aspects of their internet filtering system. Mr. Meagher was not as friendly as Mr. Quimby � he bristled at any suggestion that the Interior Department was selectively blocking blogs based on their political orientation. �I can guarantee you 100 percent that we do not do that,� he told me. �We block all blogs.�

When I explained to him what Penpal had said, Mr. Meagher became quite vehement. �It didn�t happen. If your sources say that, then your sources are lying. Nobody here ever did anything like that.�

That was as unequivocal a denial as one can get.

Bodissey finally gets to an explanation that apparently doesn’t strain credulity:

I consulted a network expert, a friend of mine named Joe who runs his own consulting company. He�s very familiar with internet filtering software, and he also has extensive experience with network administration.

�Here�s what happened�, he said. �The department started blocking certain categories of websites, and then made a list of exceptions that would be allowed through the filter. That�s a long list, and it would be passed down the food chain from the Network Administrator through his subordinates until it reached the poor schmoe at the bottom of the heap who would have to do all the data entry to list the exceptions.

�Now imagine this guy: he just happens to be a left-winger, and likes to hang out at Daily Kos and Atrios during his downtime. He realizes that won�t be able to do that any more, so he adds his favorite sites to the list of exceptions, and then that he can continue with his recreational reading.

�He thinks that nobody will notice, or that his superiors are too stupid to ever figure it out. In any case, it never occurs to him that there are conservatives at DOI who will notice and object.�

I like this explanation. It�s simple, it�s elegant, and it satisfies Occam�s razor. It posits the least amount of conspiracy � at most, a couple of flunkies in the basement of DOI taking action on their own behalf � and it doesn�t require that my sources be liars.

A grand conspiracy at the top of DOI is unlikely. If they wanted to screen out conservative content � say, in order to keep their employees from learning about the Harry Reid caper � they could block all blogs, just as the other federal agencies are doing.

On the other hand, Joe�s theory indicates that the higher-ups in the Department of the Interior are not getting good information from their subordinates. Instead of stonewalling inquiries from the media, Mr. Meagher�s interests would have been better served by looking into the details of the situation. Calling your own employees liars � the very people you consented to hire � is not necessarily the wisest policy.

It�s time for an Interior dialogue.

You can find Bodissey’s “Interior Dialogue” at Gates of Vienna.

So, might there be a conspiracy at the top of Interior? Unlikely. Could there be a hotbed of liberalism in the basement of DoI? Maybe. Is the Department of the Interior blocking employee access to Pensito Review? Definitely � along with every other wedlog.

Good luck to the guys in the public affairs office.