I Have A Government Job

The following is a true story.

I had a question regarding a case I had been assigned, so I took it to my supervisor.
My supervisor told me what to do.
I documented the conversation I had with my supervisor in the case and did what he told me to do.
I disposed of the case (meaning it no longer is something I work on, but it goes to somebody else).
Months pass.
Today my supervisor comes into my office and asks me if I remember the case.
I kinda remembered it, as it's not often that I have to ask my supervisor what I need to do, so when I go talk with him, it's a bit unusual.  I didn't fully remember the details of the case, but I remembered that there had been some case at some time that sorta sounded familiar to what he was describing.  And the more he talked about it, the more I remembered it.  But it was never really clear.
He told me the case had been returned from our regional office because we hadn't developed the case correctly.
Normally, this would be my fault, as the development of MY cases is MY responsibility.
However, since I documented my conversation with my supervisor and it was clear I had made the decisions I had made based on my conversation with him, it was now HIS responsibility that the case wasn't developed properly.
As he told me all of this, I started having questions:
Is this a teaching moment and you're trying to teach me how to develop this case correctly in the future?  No.  Okay, are you telling me that my actions should be different in the future?  Yes.  What actions should be different?
So I tried to clarify.
"Is there some other way that I should have developed the case?"  He told me that I shouldn't put his name on the cases.  Rather, I should put down "appropriate measures are..." or "policy dictates that...", and I should leave his name out of official documentations.  I laughed a little, as I was starting to get the picture of what he was saying to me. 
I asked if it was inappropriate for me to ask him for help with development.  He said it was completely appropriate.
I asked if it was expected that I document any kind of help I receive.  He, again, said that is what I should do.
I said, "So pretty much what you're saying is I should document receiving help from my supervisor without actually indicating that you, personally, are my supervisor.  Or I should develop the case without indicating that my supervisor has given me instructions so that I get talked to in the future rather than you?"
He smiled a little, and said yeah, I pretty much understood.
I spelled his last name out loud, as I smiled a smile that was supposed to indicate my intellectual superiority without pushing it into an insubordinate arena.  "Just making sure I know how your last name is spelled so that I can document this conversation that we've just had, where you've told me that you take no responsibility for your work."
He smiled, and said yes, and left my office.  The look on his face let me know that he knew he hadn't pushed me over this time.
I felt a little better, but also a little pissed that this is the environment I work in.  This is the environment I live in: Fuck Your Neighbor Before You're Fucked, No Matter What.
I Have A Government Job.