The newsletter raised some eyebrows when it advised women to avoid tight pants and "before choosing a skirt to wear, sit down in it facing a mirror" -- a suggestion some considered "ironic, coming from an agency whose job includes fighting workplace sex discrimination," the Post wrote.

Said one office employee: "You couldn't help but laugh when you saw it. But then people took it more seriously and became offended and insulted. This came through our boss. How is that going to make us feel?"

Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, the head of the OSC, later clarified the OSC dress policy in a memo to employees.

This is not the first time the OSC has been under scrutiny since President Bush appointed Bloch, a former deputy director and counsel at the Justice Department's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, to head the office in January 2004.

Since becoming special counsel, Bloch has been accused of not enforcing bias protections against federal workers based on sexual orientation; of retaliation against OSC workers who disagreed with his policies; and "tossing out legitimate complaints and whistle-blower cases to claim progress in reducing the office backlog," the Post said.

These allegations are being investigated by the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general.

This doesn't even take into account the horrific record whistleblowers have posted since 1999 at the Merit Systems Protection Board (winning two of 55 cases) or at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals since 1994 (winning one of 123 cases). Clearly, whistleblower laws have been gutted by the courts and reforms are needed.

If the OSC can pontificate fashion and dress codes, then they can use stronger tools to protect federal whistleblowers -- especially those in national security agencies who want to contribute to our nation's fight against terrorism but fear retaliation from their bosses.

That means you can help give whistleblowers the stronger protections they need to make us safe, as I described yesterday in my blog post about the defense authorization bill before Congress.

Once again, you can make a difference by calling Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-CA, and Ike Skelton, D-MO, the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, and tell them to include whistleblower protections from S 494 and HR 1317 in the final version of S 2766, the defense authorization bill. Hunter's number is (202) 225-5672; Skelton's is (202) 225-2876.

With your help, we can ensure security -- unlike fashion -- always stays in vogue and never goes out of style.