  ``The plasma approximation'' is, in the words of Pauli, ``not even wrong,''
as it expresses a disbelief in the symmetries of the underlying gauge field
theory. The electrostatic field in question is divergenceful yet has no sources
or sinks, thus breaking Lorentz covariance explicitly, and has no place in a
self-consistent theory. Utilizing it leads to inconsistencies in the equation
of motion and prevents a proper, field-theoretic treatment of condensed matter
in the plasma state. By exposing the fallacy of replacing one of the field
equations with one of the Bianchi identities, the applicability of Gauss' law
to plasma physics is assured.
