Fine young cannibal
She drives me crazy
Like no one else
She drives me crazy
And I can’t help myself…
– ‘She Drives Me Crazy’ by the Fine Young Cannibals [Link]
After seven months as an underqualified Alberto Gonzalez scab who replaced a U.S. attorney thought to be insufficiently Republican, Rachel Paulose was finally kicked downstairs today to the equivalent of her former job as a legal assistant in the DOJ. For a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, she was remarkably happy to invoke the soft bigotry of low expectations:
… Paulose, in a single 48-word sentence, played the race card, the gender card, the religion card, the age card, the ideology card, the Federalist Society card, and the Joe McCarthy card…: “The McCarthyite hysteria that permits the anonymous smearing of any public servant who is now, or ever may have been, a member of the Federalist Society; a person of faith; and/or a conservative (especially a young, conservative woman of color) is truly a disservice to our country…” That’s a large percentage of the cards available in the victimology deck. [Link]
The 34-year-old Paulose, you’ll recall, was so disliked for her management style and constant invocation of religion at work that her four top attorneys resigned in protest, triggering a standing ovation by those remaining.
Paulose got her job in part because she was a conservative, a Republican, a Federalist Society member and a loyal Bushie… She is the subject is of two investigations by federal agencies (the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and the Office of Special Counsel) and is the subject of an extensive (and unflattering) Justice Department review over her job performance. [Link]
“They [resigned] jointly because they couldn’t stand her anymore,” the source said, citing what been described as her “dictatorial management style and general lack of management experience.” [Link]
She has been accused of a heavy handed, vindictive management style, of mishandling classified material and retaliating against a subordinate who reported it, and of using a racial slur to denigrate another employee. [Link]
The most troubling thing about this sordid affair is the continual attempt by the Cheney administration to hijack the nonpartisan machinery of the federal government.
on Monday, November 19th, 2007, 11:00 pm in Politics › 
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I agree with that Rachel was unqualified and lacked the experience to be a U.S. Attorney, but the President does have the right to appoint whomever he wants; as they serve at his pleasure. The U.S. Attorney’s office may be a non-partisan position, but it is a political one. Appointment of conservative Republicans is pretty much par for the course. Personally, the political scandal is not really a scandal at all.
No one complained when President Clinton fired all his U.S. Attorneys and replaced them it his own people.
Rhymes with rich?
Appointment of conservative Republicans is pretty much par for the course. Personally, the political scandal is not really a scandal at all.
Dont be so naive. Here is the scandal in a nutshell:
(1) No one is contesting that the New administrations routinely bring in a new team of US Attorneys. Of course the appointments at some level are political. Nothing wrong with that. However this Administration decided to fire a whole bunch of US Attorneys in the middle of their terms. That is unprecedented. All administrations bring in new teams but no administration has decided to change its own team in the middle of the game because it was not doing its bidding.
(2) The firings were because some of the US Attorneys were not doing the bidding of the Administration. That itself is unprecendented. Of course different administrations have different priorities. The Asscroft attorneys wanted to hunt down whores and pornographers while the Reno attorneys wanted to hunt down tax evaders. I dont have a problem with that. The problem with the current administration is that they wanted to fire people because the attorneys were not doing their bidding when it came to investigating the democrats for voter fraud etc. which is purely political and partisan. This kind of partisanship is unprecedented.
That several U.S. Attorneys are fired in the middle of terms may, inf fact, be unprecedented but it’s not illegal. The President has the right to fire and hire whomever he wishes– whether they be cabinet chiefs, heads of agencies, FBI, CIA and, yes, US Attorneys.
Why they were fired? They refused to the President’s bidding. In anywhere else, if you refuse to do what your boss tells you to do, they can fire you. President Bush was right to fire them. That Bush wanted to investigate Democrats for voted fraud is a bit misleading. Did President just want to pursue voter fraud that involved Democrats at the expense of Republicans? Now that would be partistan. Or did he want to focus on both Democrat and Republican voter fraud?
It seems that whenever there is a charge of voter fraud, Democrats often target Republicans. Democrats also engage it just as vigorously. That the Department of Justice wanted some balance is not unreasonable.
Now before people get upset that I’m some Bush guy. I’m not.
When will you guys come to terms with the fact that a substantial portion of elite-educated ABD’s are Republicans? It’s a two-party system in the US–I’m not with Paulose (or the broader GOP) on the social issues, but please–are you really so sure you know the actual underlying facts here as to want to smear her so badly? For shame!
8 or 9 in 10 voted Dem in the last election, actually.
The quotes are from the papers. Got any new info to add?
Indians tend to vote mostly for Democrats. I’m speaking from experience and informal polling of friends and family. Myself? I’ve voted for Democrats and Republicans in the past, but have skewing toward Libertarians lately. And I live in Massachusetts where Democrats rule.
Well, I think the comment below is over-hyped–there is some truth to it, but it also bothers me that a bright young desi like Paulose is being put under a microscope none of us (well, at least me and my friends) would appreciate being put under, and you’re gleeful over the results. I am biased myself on this issue, truth be told, but that’s my 2 cents.
I doubt the surveys of the voting patterns of Indian Americans track Indian American Christians. The majority of Indian American Christians vote Republican.