My wife Julie has a degree in sociology. Furthermore, she has a knack
for sociology, the way I have a knack for computers. It’s part of what
makes her such a great mom and teacher. Anyway, Julie once told me that
sociology is easy because everything you need to know about a given
theory is in the title. Not sure how true that is in sociology in
general, but it certainly is true of my own personal sociological
theory, the aptly named “Harry Pierson’s Numero Uno Theory of
Sociology”, which states:
Everyone Looks Out For Numero Uno.
This applies not only to individuals, but also to organizations. When
forced to choose between what is “right” (as defined by
the organization’s core principles) and what will protect the
organization’s long-term survival, the organization will always
choose to protect itself and sacrifice its core principles.
I first came up with this theory several years ago, when the Catholic
priest sex abuse
scandal
was in full swing. The Catholic Church – like pretty much all religions
– has very rigid definitions of what is right in the way of values and
morality. Yet when their own priests violated these very principles and
acted immorally, the representatives of the church chose to “look out
for numero uno” and protect the organization by suppressing the evidence
rather than doing what is right by their own definition.
Now we’re embroiled in a similar scandal, this time in politics. Last
week, Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla)
resigned
when it came to light that he had sent sexually explicit emails and IM’s
to underage male Congressional pages. While criminal, what makes this a
Numero Uno scandal is that Republican leadership has known these
messages since late last
year but
decided to “look out for numero uno” and try to cover it up. Even as
late as last week, Congressman Tom Reynolds’ (R-NY) chief of staff Kirk
Fordham tried to cut a
deal
with ABC “not to publish the raw, sexually explicit
messages“.
The fallout from this scandal has already been massive. Liberals and
conservatives alike are appalled by both Foley’s predatory behavior and
Republican leadership’s attempt to sweep it under the rug. While other
recent scandals on Capital Hill – such as those involving Jack Abramoff
and Duke Cunningham – have been further reaching, Foley’s scandal is
more likely to be covered at length by the mainstream media. To quote
Kevin
Drum,
“It involves sex, it involves coverups, it involves powerful players
turning on each other to protect their own skins, and it involves lots
of documentary evidence.” Like it or not, that’s the kind of scandal
that gets eyeballs and ratings.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Republicans, as this comes barely a
month before the mid-term elections. Most political analysts give the
Democrats a decent chance to take back the majority in one or both
houses of Congress, and that was before this scandal broke. We won’t
know how big an impact the Foley scandal will have until after the mid
term elections.
However, if Republican leadership had dealt with it last fall or even
last spring, the election impact would have been drastically reduced. Of
course, it would have gotten wall-to-wall media coverage, but it would
have lacked the coverup angle and it wouldn’t be taking up so much
pre-election airtime now. Foley wouldn’t be on the ballot in Florida.
And I wonder what this will do to Republican voter turnout across the
board, given that a significant percentage of conservative voters are
anti-homosexual.
But that’s the thing about Numero Uno, you’re always looking out for it,
regardless of the potential consequences down the road.