Incentives for Oversight (or why Limbaugh is useful)

By Fester:

I agree with the Obama administration on most issues, or at least the high salient issues for me are close enough to probable preferred policy outcomes that I'll be an activist in opposition over details and wonkery instead of first principals. 

Rush Limbaugh does not agree with the Obama administration on any issue of medium or greater salience and invents numerous micro-salient issues to define his opposition.  He 'hopes he fails...'

This is actually a strong incentive for getting things right, or at least avoiding the blindingly obvious stupid decision making that so often characterized the Bush administration's 'policy process.' A strong, vocal opposition that makes sure that the appointment of a horse lawyer to head FEMA is seen as a national joke is a good thing.  A strong, vocal opposition that is able to highlight massive inconsistencies in the argument to go to war is a good thing.  A strong, vocal opponent that is looking any chance to make the majority party look like a bunch of fools creates an incentive for the majority party to get the little things right.

Tim F. of Balloon Juice has frequently noted that oversight and opposition works because most people do not want to be perceived to be failures and/or idiots:

 emphasize this kind of story because there really is a best practices for running a functional government. People do a more competent job under the threat of transparency and adversarial oversight. Take that away and you eliminate the disincentive for slack, graft and letting mistakes of every magnitude slide uncorrected. To the degree that whistleblowers are actively protected, shitty managers and government programs that fail for whatever reason can be exposed and corrected. Strict ethics rules enforced by zealous and independent oversight keep away the stink that almost always goes along with political power. If these things disappear it hardly matters who is in charge; shitty management will follow like water flows downhill. Tax money will disappear down unaccountable holes, important programs will stop working. National security will be less secure. Idiots who can’t do their job will be appointed to important positions. Said idiots, justifiably fearing exposure of their crappy management, inevitably commit increasingly stupid mistakes in an effort to cover up earlier mistakes.

If Limbaugh and his allies are able to create an anti-idiot incentive by their willingness to pounce on anything that looks like a stupid mistake, then they will have performed a valuable public function.  If they keep on chasing down the kerners and the birth certificate doubters, then they'll be a useless sideshow. But if the threat is out there, let's see if the incentive system lines up in a publicly useful manner.