Here is a hot tip for MADD and our legislature.....

 

Souksangouane Phengsene, the man convicted of and imprisoned for criminal vehicular homicide after killing Minnesota Timberwolves player Malik Sealy in a
2000 crash, has been jailed once again on suspicion of driving while under the influence.
Phengsene, 51, was in the Hennepin County jail late Sunday in lieu of bail after he was booked at 2 a.m. Sunday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was arrested by the State Patrol.

 

While looking for examples of coverage of the allegations against AG Lori Swanson versus coverage of US AG Rachel Paulose I found this post from the Minnesota Lawyer Blog.  The comments left mirror many of the allegations in Ms. Lawler's letter to Deputy Olson in her letter dated March 14 (and covered in detail by Gary Gross at LFR).  The comments are all anonymous, but given what we know so far it is no secret why!

Anonymous said...
I am one of the attorneys who left the AGO for some of the reasons/concerns raised by Ms. Lawler. It is common knowledge in the Office that both Lori Swanson, as well as her predecessor, would often first decide what kind of lawsuits they wanted to bring (commonly based on whatever topic is hot in the media or being pursued by AGs in other states), assume that there MUST be someone operating in Minnesota to sue in this area, direct the staff attorneys to find a party to sue (or give them the names of parties to sue) and file a complaint within X time period and then orchestrate a big media splash and press conference to publicize the matter. While some people might applaud this as being "proactive," I had the same ethical concerns expressed by Ms. Lawler. Of course, my response to these questionable tactics was to simply leave the Office rather than "stir the pot" so to speak and be subject to involuntary reassignment or other retaliation. It is no wonder that the consumer enforcement division at the AGO (now "complex litigation") had 100% turnover in staff attorneys AND managers while I was employed at the Office. Now the staff attorneys who make up that division are primarily very young lawyers who don't have the experience or courage to challenge or question what they are being told to do, with the exception of Ms. Lawler. Kudos to Ms. Lawler for speaking out even though it will obviously cost her her job.

It is sad that the latest public vetting of the problems at the AGO aren't going to change anything (sorry Mr. Cohen). Believe me when I say that Swanson et al. have convinced themselves that they aren't doing anything wrong despite the continued hemorrhaging of attorneys and negative publicity and will defend their tactics to the death (otherwise known as the 2010 election year).

 

I would say that "hemorrhaging" is the correct term.  According to Ms. Lawlers letter (and confirmed with sources close to the pending investigation) 52 lawyers have left the AGO since Lori Swanson took over.  Given that the AGO employed 126 lawyers, that means that roughly 41% of the lawyers in that office let.  That is a far greater percentage than left the US AGO which is what led to the initial allegations against Rachel Paulose. 

 

Anonymous said...
Mr. Cohen--Having worked in the Minnesota AGO for several years (but no longer), and having worked on multistate cases, I appreciate what you are saying. AGs, like all politicians, prefer favorable press, and I agree that they sometimes may use less than "best practices" in terms of how they pick what cases to file, if they think they can get good press as a result.
However, I also think that Hatch and Swanson have taken that approach to a whole new level, and not a better one. Their attitude towards cases, in my observation, is much like their attitude towards their attorney staff--we were all interchangeable, like cogs in a wheel. And if one cog happened to manifest any independent thought, judgment or to protest (like Ms. Lawler), then the response was to simply remove the offending cog (or get it to quit) and replace it with another one that would do what it was told to do.
All too often, the Hatch and Swanson regimes have the same cavalier, wholly self-serving approach to case management--once the press glamour wore off on a case (which pretty much happened the day it was filed), then upper management lost interest, tended to not want to put appropriate resources towards it, and often drove the case towards settlement to just get rid of it. This didn't happen every single time, of course, but it happened way too often.
And that's what I hope people understand about this union issue--it's not just an employment law issue, as one high-ranking DFL'er has reportedly stated, but it's an issue about the quality of legal services that the State of Minnesota is getting from its own, in-house legal staff. Because if the staff attorneys aren't allowed to act like attorneys and exercise their professional judgment on behalf of their "client," which ultimately, is state agencies and the people of Minnesota, then the people aren't being served. No matter how many cases the AG files in a month.

 

 

If these allegations are indicative of the troubles at the AGO, then a new set of questions arise.  How far down the managerial chain does this attitude go?  If it is indicative of all of upper management, then who prosecutes this case?  For these are the kinds of cases the AGO should be investigating! 

I have never been a fan of unions - I have seen too many abuses (growing up in Chicago) by unions in their attempts to unionize businesses to tend to want to give then any leeway.  That is why when the story of AG Lori Swanson's attempts to block the unionization of her office first surfaced, I gave her the benefit of the doubt.  That was until Amy Lawler bravely came forward and told her story to the Eric Black at MinnPost and then subsequently was placed on "administrative leave" by the AG's office for doing so.  It was at that point that I started paying attention to this case.  The local televised media covered Lawler's suspension, but didn't dig any further into the story or her allegations.  The Star Tribune devoted a couple of stories to the suspension but didn't dig much either.  The St. Paul Pioneer Press didn't cover Lawler's allegations or suspension AT ALL.  The only ones that really seemed interested in digging into the allegations raised by Lawler and others were MinnPost, Minnesota Public Radio, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano) who has repeatedly asked Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm) to open legislative hearings on the issue and a multitude of center right blogs like Let Freedom Ring and the lefts favorite Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

 

Contrast that with the extensive coverage given to Rachel Paulose last fall.  The Star Tribune had 20 stories on Paulose versus 7 on the Swanson allegations.  KARE 11 was Paulose 22 - Lawler/Swanson 3 counting Friday's announcement of the Legislative Auditor's investigation.  WDFL, er WCCO had 50 stories on the Paulose allegations to 3 for Lawler.  KSTP had 32 stories on the Paulose allegations versus 4 for the Lawler suspension.  Only the PiPress gave almost equal coverage to the stories. 

 

So what is the difference between Lori Swanson and Rachel Paulose?  Both are female lawyers who were high profile AG's - one state and on federal.  Both are very aggressive - you have to be in their line of work.  Both have (according allegations) rather brusque management styles.  By all accounts, Ms. Paulose was a competent fairly well liked attorney who made a couple of mistakes and made amends for them.  Ms. Swanson, on the other hand, is universally feared by her employees (see next post).  She has been accused of asking her employees to falsify time cards, give improper advise to clients, file frivolous lawsuits and generally engage in ethically questionable behavior.  So why the disparity in coverage? 

 

The allegations against Ms. Swanson (see LFR where Gary has a copy of the letter sent to Deputy AG Olson), if accurate, are stunning in their scope.  The letter is a peek at an office where political power was wielded like a weapon and woe to anyone who questioned the tactics taken or the orders given.  It seems to me that this just the kind of story most reporters would give their eye teeth to have dropped in their laps and yet our local media seems curiously silent on the issue.  Where are the investigative reporters in this town?  Why has NO ONE outside of MinnPost, MPR and the blogosphere done any digging into this story?  Why is the local media "covering up" for a DFL State AG when they were so eager to go after a Republican appointee US AG? These are questions that all media consumers need to be asking themselves. 

 

During the course of the next 4 years I have seen the Senator at many public forums including the state fair where I saw him interact with a detractor. This person was clearly hostile toward Senator Coleman and his "agenda" but Sen. Coleman smiled and let the man speak and then thanked him for sharing his view with him. Constrast that with how Al Franken treated Peter Fritz at a campaign event last December in Northfield or how he treated Laura Ingraham's producer at the 2004 RNC Convention.

 

Earlier this morning, the bi-partisan State Legislative Audit Committee (made up of Senators and Representatives including SD 35's own Sen. Claire Robling and Rep. Mike Beard) announced what Gary Gross hinted at in his post last night. They are requesting that the non-partisan Legislative Auditor look into allegations that Attorney General Swanson engaged in possibly illegal union busting activities. Michael Brodkorb and Drew Emmer have been leading the charge from the blogosphere and have done a ton of good investigation into these allegations. Keep an eye on their respective blogs for more details as they come to light.

Stay tuned to True North and Ladies Logic for updates.

During the last legislative session, many folks on the "right" were trying to put the brakes on the spending spree that the DFL led legislature (and the Governor to be fair) were going on. Well in light of the deficit, some are (correctly I might add) saying "I told you so"(scroll down to the Guest Commentary).

One year ago the economy was doing well and the Legislature was overflowing with ideas on how to spend the $2.2 billion state budget surplus. It was the first time in several years that we weren't facing a large deficit. A new cast of leaders was eager to validate its sweeping victory in the 2006 election by turning their campaign promises into promises kept.
In the midst of the spending frenzy, I wrote to constituents my belief that "we need to be prudent with spending and not leave ourselves in a tough situation if the economy takes a sudden downturn." There was at the time plenty of historical evidence to suggest such a downturn could take place.

The legislative update referenced above can be found here. Rep. Beard goes on to say:

However, the new legislative leadership had a different view and they pursued their spending agenda. Given their large majorities in the House and the Senate, that is certainly their right. Assuming that the $2.2 billion surplus would fund it, they grew the state budget to $34.5 billion. Doing so left us vulnerable to the exact situation we find ourselves in today.

 

HT Il Duce who is definitely NOT a hippie!

Yesterday, Jazz Shaw and I had the distinct pleasure of again talking to author Barbara Oakley about her book "Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole My Mother's Boyfriend".  Barbara has been our guest on more than one occasion and every time her insight has been eye opening to say the least.

 

 

“The terrible things your own people say about their country,” said Captain Shevchenko one night as we sat up drinking after another late night trawl was tucked into the hold. “No self-respecting person should ever say things like that about where they live. Not if they have any respect for their history and their culture and their race. Not if they have any patriotism.”
“You can’t teach patriotism,” I began.
But Shevchenko interrupted contemptuously, as if I’d just drooled.  “Of course you can teach patriotism. We do it all the time.”
The conversation rolled on, but that part of it stuck, bothering me.
I remembered dozens of one-sided tipsy Slavic arguments, which from the Soviet’s perspective involved clear-cut dichotomies of good against evil.   Excessive Western personal freedom, for example, versus sacred duty to the state. All-pervasive Western drug addiction versus minor Russian drinking habits (not quite!). The wicked American invasion of Vietnam versus the high-minded Russian invasion of Afghanistan, which was solely for the good of the Afghans.
I could see the crumbling decay of the Soviet Empire all around me, from the rotten fish processing plant below decks, to the hollow eyed fear of the political commissar and the KGB, to the “who cares” attitude toward work, to the rampant alcoholism of the crew. But despite the all-pervasive rot, it was a rare Russian who could see—much less admit to—any problem with the system of government.

 

It is then that she introduces the concept of the "emote control" and links it politics and how defenders of both sides use it to justify every action of "their guy".

 

A recent imaging study by psychologist DrewWesten and his colleagues at Emory University provides firm support for the existence of emotional reasoning.  Just prior to the 2004 Bush-Kerry presidential elections, two groups of subjects were recruited—fifteen ardent Democrats and fifteen ardent Republicans. Each was presented with conflicting and seemingly damaging statements about their candidate, as well as about more neutral targets such as actor Tom Hanks (who, it appears, is a likeable guy for people of all political persuasions).
Unsurprisingly, when the participants were asked to draw a logical conclusion about a candidate from the other—“wrong”—political party, the participants found a way to arrive at a conclusion that made the candidate look bad, even though logic should have mitigated the particular circumstances and allowed them to reach a different conclusion.

 

We saw an example of there here just this week, where a commentor chose to respond to remarks I made with the standard "well your guys are just as bad" rather than looking at the facts presented.

 

 

We got the following today from a reader that is in response to Margaret Martin's post "Free Towing for Welfare Recepients"

 
Margaret was very clear in the post that this was an "off mike" remark and that she was getting this information second hand.
 

Rep. Kalin contacted us asking that the post be removed.  An email was sent to Rep. Kalin's official email address today asking if he would be interested in offering a response to the post.  We will be posting his response as soon as we get it and we will also be more than happy to hear from anyone who may have heard the remarks that were made, off mike, on the House floor. 

The latest in the long list of taxation bills is HF 4103 - Rep. Lenczewski's bill to "help" balance the spending shortfall.  Rep. Lenczewski implies that the burden of this bill will be business, but what the press and Rep. Lenczewski don't tell you is that the quintessential Minnesota cabin is also in the sights of "the taxman".
 
4.6    Subdivision 1. Levy amount. The state general levy is levied against
4.7commercial-industrial property and seasonal residential recreational property, as defined
4.8in this section. The state general levy base amount is $592,000,000 for taxes payable in
4.92002. For taxes payable in subsequent years, the levy base amount is increased each year
4.10by multiplying the levy base amount for the prior year by the sum of one plus the rate of
4.11increase, if any, in the implicit price deflator for government consumption expenditures
4.12and gross investment for state and local governments prepared by the Bureau of Economic
4.13Analysts of the United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period ending
4.14March 31 of the year prior to the year the taxes are payable. The tax under this section is
4.15not treated as a local tax rate under section 469.177 and is not the levy of a governmental
4.16unit under chapters 276A and 473F.

How do you think you will be able to afford to pay the taxes on your cabin when your jobs are taxed out of existance. Employers like 3M (remember the three "M's stand for MINNESOTA Mining and Manufacturing) are already leaving the state due to the threat of ever increasing taxes and regulations from the Legislature. 

Sgt H from Nine-Sixteenths blog has a report from the Forest Lake VFW.

Anyway, I made it to the rescheduled event in Forest Lake but only caught the last hour of he event and heard David Bellavia speak. He gave a pretty good speech about how war and combat aren't partisan events. He, and I, went to war with Republicans and Democrats. Seventy-seven Senators and 296 congressmen of both political parties voted to authorize force in Iraq. The VFF message is that regardless of political affiliation that we need to stay and win in Iraq. Three quarters of both houses of congress voted to send the military into harms way, and the government needs to honor the sacrifices the military has made while carrying out the national policy.

In 1954/55, John Fitzgerald Kennedy wrote the classic book "Profiles In Courage" which became required reading for school kids when I was growing up.  Needless to say, Steve Massey will never be on any list of courageous leaders.

A national tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't be stopping at Forest Lake Area High School today as planned, after school leaders abruptly canceled the visit.
Steve Massey, the school principal, said the decision to cancel was prompted by concerns that the event was becoming political rather than educational and therefore was not suitable for a public school.

 
When given the opportunity to come on a local radio program to explain his reasoning, he gave the producer of the program a curt "No" before hanging up on him.  Not exactly courageous.
 
It is so nice to know that the same soldiers that fought so hard for the right for people to protest are not allowed the same free speech that the protesters so freely enjoy - at least in this principal's eyes.

It is not often that you see a blogger fisking something on their own site (unless you read Anti-Strib regularly that is) however there are times when it is necessary and today is one of them.
I put up a post yesterday on the Bureaucratic Nightmare that Sara Jane Olson (aka Kathleen Soliah) found herself in over the weekend. An anonymous commentor left the following in response to my post (profanity redacted and spelling is left uncorrected - as much as it pained me to do so)

And can you imagine having those people in charge of you ROADS and BRIDGES?!?!?
They'd like, be crashing down all over the f*****g place!
And your national defense? They'd be going to war against the PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T CRASH JETS INTO OUR BUILDINGS!!!
Can you imagine such ineptitude?
Holy s***, I'm glad we have people in charge who can fix our really big problems. Whew.

But Anonymous opened up another subject...the propensity of people who would rather score political points instead of reasoning an issue out. Here is a person who obviously cares about the issues who is more concerned with saying "yeah well your side screwed it up too" then he/she is about actually FIXING the problem. The larger problem here is that our government IS messed up. You have legislators who have no respect for the people....who actually believe that the people who voted them in to office are too inept or too dumb to take care of their own family. However, these hyper-partisans would rather trash the other side or attack the messenger than they are in fixing the problem.

Sarah Jan Olson (aka Kathleen Soliah) is going back to prison. (HT Lassie)

 

Just days after being told she could serve her parole in Minnesota, Olson is back in a California prison, where she'll stay for almost another year.
California Corrections Department officials said Saturday that criticism of Olson's release spurred a review of her case. That review showed that her parole date had been miscalculated -- she was not supposed to be released until March 17, 2009.