Huh? Can anybody 'splain this? Is Treasury Sec'y "Hank" maybe trying to demonstrate that our Rummy isn't the nuttiest nutjob in the cabinet?

From Al Kamen's "In the Loop" column in the Washington Post, without further embellishment (except to say that we have a feeling somebody's lost their marbles, and it ain't us):

New Treasury Offering: 5.5% Fashion Notes

The Treasury Department's official newsletter indicates concern that the standard of dress at headquarters may not be adequate for new boss Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former Wall Street executive.

"Treasury's fashion collection needs an upgrade," says the July 21 issue of Treasury Notes. "It's time to use Treasury's long marble hallways as a runway.

"Ladies, we work for Treasury. I don't have to encourage you to shop--it should be your priority, nay, your national duty to contribute to our nation's economic growth," says the newsletter, published by the Office of the Executive Secretary. "I would recommend visiting different types of stores and mixing, and, since everything is on sale, you should indulge."

". . . Take your every day suit, find a fabulous and outlandish oxford, and pair it with glamorous sunglasses and colorful bag and shoes to match. . . . Gallatin would have wanted it this way, trust me." (Albert Gallatin served as Treasury secretary under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.)

"Gents," the newsletter goes on, "have to get creative to make the every day jacket and tie less like an every day sandwich and more like an every day special." So "indulge in the beauty and love of a suit, by buying yourself a custom-made suit," the newsletter advises. "Outfit it with quality oxfords and eye-catching cuff links." Then "a pair of elegant, perhaps distressed leather loafers and you've got yourself a look more debonair than Alexander Hamilton, himself." Maybe as sharp as Paulson himself.

Have those folks been given a big raise no one else knows about?