get me my bourbon smee!

This always cracks me up. I see this argument rear it's little pea-brained head about as often as the "tech writers need certification" debate. I too have seen SMEs attempt to develop technical information products. It's likely what drives me to teach young engineers how to do technical communication better than they assume they can. It's also why I know good technical communicators will never starve or have something interesting to talk about at the company picnic.