And, you know, it's funny: there was a story on NPR some time ago that was basically talking about how it was important to get the word out to late teens and twentysomethings: one of the few growth industries where you can actually get a decent job these days is government work (either as a federal worker or as a contractor). And many of these jobs require clearances of some kind. So they were saying it's important that kids understand that they need to live a lifestyle that allows them to get & maintain a clearance so they can, you know, have a job. One of the big things they will tell you leads to denial of clearances is uncontrolled alcohol consumption, substance abuse, and/or association with...let's say..."unstable" characters. Basically they want to know could you end up in a position where you could be blackmailed or otherwise forced into giving up info that would risk national security.
I just fail to see how Dragoneer goes to cons and gets black-out drunk and that doesn't figure into his investigation. Oh, and by the way- they tell you also that if you have a clearance, you're not supposed to fucking advertise it. Not really sure what the rules/conventions are when it comes to resumes and the like, but I can't imagine that advertising that info on a social network, even if it is LinkedIn, is a particularly encouraged practice. Granted, it's not a public profile, but it kinda sounds like all you need to do is sign up and you can see it.
Although, on the other hand, I do know people who do tech support in government contractor roles and some of them are as much of a fuckup as Piche is, yet I think they have some clearance. So maybe the government just doesn't care anymore, or is so desperate for people...who knows. Piche with a security clearance scares me, regardless.
