There are no secrets anymore
No confidences keeping
In Washington, they blab all day
Even when they’re sleeping

Like State Department emails
(I’ve heard that there are many)
Which should be kept behind closed doors
Except there aren’t any

Whisper something softly
In the corridors of power
And the New York Times will hear it
In about a half an hour

A little disagreement
Voiced by two determined men?
Before the shouting’s over
It’s the lead on CNN

Want to spread a story
With a provenance that’s checkered
Tell a young reporter but
Insist its off the record

It’s hard to run a country
With adept administration
When everybody outside
Has the inside information

I’d rather be a coward
Or a soldier who skedaddled
Than, entrusted with a secret
To be the one who tattled

Why, when restraint’s required
Do these mean betrayals mount?
Why are these loose-lipped leakers
Never held to an account?

The reason, I concluded
When my study was completed
What isn’t ever punished
Is then, of course, repeated