Steve,
I would have never have asked rec.gov about local matters, trail conditions, specifics about the Portal or Horseshoe Meadow. I would have called the Inyo after securing a MMWT permit reservation or visited the world famous whitneyzone.com and asked its many experts, if it is going rain on September 2, 2012 a 1:27 PM PDT.
If I can buy $1,500 - 50" HDTV on the internet, I should be able to acquire a $15 permit reservation for the MMWT online, either through rec.gov or joethepermitseller.com. This is 2012 for God's sake, not 1989.
