Rules are Rules

The media outlets have been covering the story of 6-year-old Zachary Christie all weekend. It seems that Zachary was suspended from school for 45 days because his Cub Scout eating utensil included a knife. This is not a Swiss Army knife or pen knife. This is an eating utensil knife. It is meant to spread peanut butter, not cut a steak. However, rules are rules. Little Zachary is being sentenced to 45 days in the Christina Delaware School District reform school. The New York Times has the story:

Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school…

…Still, some school administrators argue that it is difficult to distinguish innocent pranks and mistakes from more serious threats, and that the policies must be strict to protect students.
“There is no parent who wants to get a phone call where they hear that their child no longer has two good seeing eyes because there was a scuffle and someone pulled out a knife,” said George Evans, the president of the Christina district’s school board.

Excuse me. Are they going to also ban forks, pencils, pens, and scissors. Those can just as easily be used to poke out an eye in the event of a "scuffle".

What happens when these "rules are rules" bureaucrats get hold of health care? Consider this story from the London Times and pointed out by the Wall Street Journal:

Matthew Millington, 31, a corporal in the Queen’s Royal Lancers, had the operation to save him from an incurable respiratory condition.
But the organs were from a donor who was believed to have smoked 30 to 50 roll-up cigarettes a day. A tumour was found after the transplant, and its growth was accelerated by the drugs that Mr Millington took to prevent his body rejecting the organs.
Because he was a cancer patient, he was not allowed to receive a further pair of lungs, under hospital rules.

That's right. The likes of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel will be on the Health Advisory Benefits Committee. Forget about a modicum of common sense or compassion. Rules are rules.