| Recently, you may have seen coverage of the mass resignations at Rachel Paulose's U.S. Attorney's office, in protest of her heavy-handed management. The story was covered by the Star-Tribune's Pam Louwagie and Dan Browning, who wrote
Minnesota's U.S. Attorney, Rachel Paulose, took the job in March 2006. No one has linked her to the controversy in Washington.
At the time, I sent them a polite email asking if they had seen any of the blogospheric coverage of evidence refuting the claim that Paulose was in no way linked to the widening scandal at the Department of Justice. I received a reply saying, rather succinctly, that speculation didn't mean jack.
Unfortunately, Mr. Browning has missed the point of the story once again, and his readers are suffering for it.
More below the fold -- way too many blockquotes to have the entire text up here. |
Paulose's appointment in March 2006 as interim U.S. attorney raised eyebrows among some former colleagues in that office and the cloistered world of Minnesota's federal bar.
Publicly, no one objected to the choice, but privately some wondered how a young woman with virtually no management experience had bested more seasoned candidates for one of the most coveted legal jobs in Minnesota.
Good, we've established that the issue at hand is Paulose's management experience, and not her legal credentials. Then why all the quotes about how great a lawyer she is, and nothing demonstrating anything useful about her management experience?
Kate Stith-Cabranes, a law professor who selected Paulose for a fellowship mentoring a small group of first-year students, scoffed at the notion that Paulose would tailor her beliefs to get ahead. She said Paulose is fervently committed to the rule of law and called her a "compassionate conservative" who embraces diversity in people and ideas.
Great, so she's a Bushie. This is politics. Paints her in a "moderate" frame, but doesn't tell us anything about her management skills.
"She's so damned smart, she's just an interesting person to be around," said [A.M. (Sandy)] Keith, who remains a booster.
So she's smart. Great! Is she a good manager?
Scott Tilsen, a federal public defender, said Paulose was "not necessarily feared because of her trial skills."
This seems a kind way to say "she's not a good trial prosecutor." But is she a good legal manager?
Williams & Connolly was sorry to see her go, said partner David Kendall, an attorney for former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, both Democrats.
Yes, thank you, we know that Bill and Hillary Clinton are both Democrats. But this paragraph does nothing except try to frame Paulose as a moderate who is well-liked by both her fellow Republicans and Democrats alike. The primary issue at hand is not her politics, bur rather whether her management experience qualifies her to manage all the responsibilities of a United States Attorney.
Dan Lainsbury, a Wells Fargo attorney who worked for Paulose at Dorsey & Whitney, described her as a "fantastic" lawyer, supervisor and colleague. But that stint lasted only 15 months.
In January 2006, she was recruited for a job as senior counselor to the deputy attorney general, working primarily on health care policy.
Ah! ONE QUOTE calling her a "fantastic supervisor." Apparently, if one good recommendation is good enough to get a job as a U.S. Attorney, it's good enough for a big-city newspaper.
Asked whether she would consider resigning, Paulose said, "No. Absolutely not. ... I've learned some things the hard way through this experience," she said.. "I have plenty of flaws. I daily examine my flaws, and try to do better. I will be doing that until the day I die, I'm certain."
That's such a nice way to end a "strong," "investigative" piece. But this was a softball interview. The responsibility of a media staffer is not to make sure the media have the facts so they can write fair and balanced stories. Their job is to make sure that public officials can guide a story the way that public official wants it to be written -- in this case, to cast a favorable light upon Paulose's hard-working, down-in-the-trenches, dare I say Minnesotan approach to her job.
The only problem is that her approach isn't the issue at all. Sorry Mr. Browning, you got played. |
