So true.
As a kid tons of my friends had fathers working at NSA and CIA. Matter of fact, an ex-CIA contractor left my office about 1/2 hour ago (that was one of the first things he told me about his work history).
People living around the Beltway are used to this. It's mildly interesting but not remarkable. Only a small percentage are spooks.
But I have little doubt that every cabbie, waiter, and reporter in DC knew about showboater Joe Wilson's wife.
My parents lived in Northern Virginia for years. Their best friends lived next door. We knew he worked for "The Agency." Everyone did. You cannot keep that a secret in Northern Va. You know who works at the CIA, Pentagon, Secret Service and any other government agency.
We all thought he was a pencil pusher as he drove to work everyday and parked in the parking lot.
My parents went to his retirement party at the CIA. Man, were they surprised to find out he was an operative involved in some of the big issues during the past few decades.
The stories told at that party left my parents speechless. (of course it had been more than 5 years, none of it was classified, all of the operations had long been in the public domain, and none of the specifics were discussed).
In all of the years my parents had known him, they never had a clue. No one did. All we knew is he worked at the agency. They (the next door neighbors) kept their mouths shut, had no involvement with the DC elite and no partisan agenda.....
Contrast that with the Wilsons.