Change the name from Clinton's National Security Advisor to a senior official in the Bush Administration, say Rice, Powell, or Cheney. See if the press would accept excuses for it.

I regularly work with classified documents. If I did even a tiny bit of what Berger has admitted to doing, not only would I lose my clearance and my job, I'd probably be facing jail time. For contractors like me, it can get even worse.

Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI agents armed with warrants after he voluntarily returned documents to the National Archives. However, still missing are some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration.

Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had made while reading classified anti-terror documents at the archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.

"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement to the AP.

I love the way he phrased that last sentence. It makes me wonder about the documents not specifically requested but were pertinent to the investigation.

Severe security violations like the one described in the article can cause a contractor to be decertified to handle classified information. In my case, that would lead to a lot of people losing their jobs. We take this stuff very seriously, but then, we know the rules apply to us and no one will make excuses for us if we screw up.