Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SuperFed!!!

Actually it’s a very smart guy in a rented tux, or a super-successful (just as smart, if not smarter) woman in an evening dress. Feeling very proud and nervous at the same time. And it happens just once a year. And for many it is the event of a lifetime.

Compared to the big bucks bonuses given the bailout bankers bunch, tonight’s awards program at the State Department is no big deal. In fact some of the Wall Street wonderkids probably wouldn’t bother to warm up their corporate jets to make the trek to D.C for a low 5-figure bonus.

But if you are part of the federal establishment (or a just a humble taxpayer) be advised that Uncle Sam’s version of the Academy Awards takes place tonight. And it is a big deal. Bigger than most people could imagine.

Approximately 70 senior career federal executives, winners of the 2008 Presidential Distinguished Rank Awards, will be honored for the jobs they and their subordinates did and are doing. In addition to saving the government an estimated $93 billion dollars, they were nominated by their agencies for directing mind-blowing operations in health, science, outer space, the inner oceans, national defense, medical research, law enforcement and homeland security.

The execs being honored by the Senior Executives Association are also major cogs in the government wheel that, even as we sleep, keep traffic moving, food and water safe and make life a little better for most of us, and a lot better for some of us.

The back stories on the executives include long family-straining hours. Lots of sometimes not so fun (and sometimes downright dangerous) travel. And hard work and dedication to the country that few of us in the private sector are ever asked to make. Some them handle programs that cost/save as much as the budgets-now-deficits of many states.

So if you can’t make it tonight, and most of us can’t, hit the “silent” button on your TV remote around 8 p.m. EST, face Washington, D.C., and toast the winners. They’ve earned it.

And the winners are:

For more on the distinguished executives honors and awards program, click here.

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

Mystery solved! Yesterday’s NUF left many puzzling over why there was no color code designated for bread delivered on Wednesday. Along comes Ann from Navy with the answer. She says her “father-in-law was a bread man for years and Wednesday was traditionally the second day off each week. So, no bread deliveries.” Makes perfect sense now. Thanks Ann!

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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