Just about the time I submitted last week's column, the news broke that the U.S. House of Repugnants had finally come up with a surefire fix for all those problems they'd been ignoring the last 3 or 4 years. And the answer was as clear as that juris doctorate diploma hanging on your wall.
They're going to sue the president. For not doing his job. Or doing it. Depends on who you ask.
Now you may be for this idea or you may be against this idea. Seems like the pot calling the kettle black to me, but let's not play the race card. Whatever, it raises all sorts of questions in my mind and it probably does in yours. Maybe something like, "Who pays for this" or "What diploma were you talking about SJ?"
Well my biggest question is this: Did you know it's easier to get a license to practice law in this country than to get a plumbing license?
It's true. To be licensed as a plumber in most states you must pass several tests and work as an apprentice for 4-6 years. Once you've done that, you can hang up your shingle and do what a plumber does (rake in money). All it takes to practice law in many states, including Virginia, is pass one test. No apprenticeship, no rehearsal, no training. Just pass a test and you're a lawyer.
If you don't believe me, grab whatever you're using for a phone book and do this: Look at the listings for attorneys in Pike County. Now look at the listings for plumbers. See a difference? What's wrong with this picture?
According to the last census labor statistics I can find, there were 1.1 MILLION attorneys in the U.S. in 2012 and 390,000 plumbers. That's about 2.5 lawyers per plumber in this country.
I'm not against lawyers. Some of my best friends made that unfortunate career choice. And a good lawyer CAN come in handy. We need good lawyers! Unfortunately, for every good one there are about six guttersnipes. You can usually identify them through commercials on Duck Dynasty or their presence in the Congress.
As you might see, the problem with all this is we're a nation of laws. If the standard for who gets to work in that field is so low, how can our laws be any good? And if an attorney can't find enough useful legal practice to make a living in, what does it do? That's right. Can you say Caution labels on ladders? Too many attorneys, like too much cheese, just clogs up the system. What do you need most when the system is clogged?
I guess that gets me back to the original situation. We've got a congress whose best response to fixing problems and moving the country forward is to sue the president. Maybe if there were more plumbers in DC, and every state capital, today's government wouldn't be so full of crap.