DHS's Casting Couch

Remember the old "$100,000 job" bit from Albert Brooks' super-duper flick, Lost in America? It was the oversized compensation figure that Brooks' assoholic former ad man character cited to a bemused paper-shuffler in a small-town unemployment office.

Well, the folks at the Department of Homeland Security have their own version of a $100,000 job, and it's a doozy. From the Wash Times:

the Department of Homeland Security has hired former actress Bobbie Faye Ferguson, as DHS's 'liaison to the entertainment industry,' " says a memo from the Republican Study Committee.

Salary for the GS-15 position "could top $136,000 plus benefits. Ferguson's new role as Homeland's connection to the stars began in October 2004," reports the committee, which is the Republican conservative caucus on Capitol Hill.

The Hollywood liaison's job description includes "reviewing movie scripts" and identifying "opportunities for proactive outreach to the entertainment industry," according to the memo.

Whole thing here (scroll down). The Times' notes that Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) is trying to kill the position and redirect the dough allocated for it elsewhere. "'With $100,000, America's first responders could purchase … 165 bulletproof vests or 40 Level A [hazardous material] protective suits,' according to Mrs. Musgrave's office."

For a taste of Bobbie Faye's filmography–we loved her as "Cranky Lady" in parts 1 and 2 of the legendary "Bees Can Sting You, Watch Out" sequence on the watershed comedy Hearts Afire–go here.

And then weep for your country, your Constitution, and your sitcoms.

The worst part of this? They could have gotten Margot Kidder for half that much. Or, for that matter, Albert Brooks, the sole person involved in Finding Nemo to see his Q score tank faster than Billy Zane's did after Titanic.