The Plummer Rule

As long as I'm throwing out my theories I'd like to introduce you to The Plumber Rule via this post by Josh Marshall discussing a Washington Post story.

A week ago it was reported that Justice Department lawyers had concluded at the time that the DeLay redistricting plan of 2003 violated the Voting Right Act, but that senior DOJ officials overruled that finding and okayed DeLay's plan anyway.

Justice Department officials have now instituted a policy to assure this never happens again. They have, as reported in today's Post, "barred staff attorneys from offering recommendations in major Voting Rights Act cases, marking a significant change in the procedures meant to insulate such decisions from politics."

It's the Bush model: politics over expertise and/or law. Whether it's at the Pentagon, the CIA, Justice or the EPA hardly matters. The formula is consistent throughout.

See, this is a prime example of The Plumber Rule. What is this Rule? When your toilet is broken, you call a plumber, right? I mean, unless you are a plumber, or have plumbing experience. Likewise, when your garage door is broken you call the garage door people. Why, because you don't know what you are doing and the division of labor in a modern society means that everyone can't know everything so we have a highly splintered and specialized range of occupations whose practitioners have the specific knowlege and professionalism to do what needs to be done. The Plumber Rule says that anyone inclined against calling the plumber is equally inclined against experts in general, largely because either (1) they have control and/or inferiority issues, or (2) they disdain expert opinions in favor of some higher goal toward which they constantly strive. Christian Scientists don't listen to doctors because they believe that their faith (the higher goal) is being tested and will ultimately work out. Sometimes, if you work in the service industry especially, you will get the guy who won't listent to you because he simply believes that in all cases, he always knows better than everyone else.

The Bush Administration is a great example of the Plumber Rule. Does every reputable scientist in the world say that we are headed toward environmental and biological disaster? Yes, and the administration doesn't listen. Did the generals say that the Iraq war plan was bad? Yes, and the administration doesn't listen. Do the lawyers at DOJ say that the Texas redistricting was illegal? Yes, and the administration doesn't listen? The list goes on. We have experts and professionals for a reason. Nobody is saying that you never make decisions for yourself soemtimes the experts get it wrong (to explain why this doesn't mean that they are therefore not still good at their jobs--at least in science--I refer you to the work of Thomas Kuhn), but when you always ignore other people's advice, there's definately something wrong with you.