I mean, who has time for underhanded plots nowadays?

I am generally suspicious of conspiracy theories. I just find it hard to believe a true conspiracy can be pulled off—people in power must be too busy with their real jobs to manage the details of a complicated ruse, technology makes it nearly impossible to hide transactions (whether written, spoken, or financial), and the press (while not what they used to be) are still digging up whatever dirt they can.

So I’m having trouble with the brouhaha surrounding Rachel Paulose, the new U.S. attorney in Minnesota. If you follow the Strib/McClatchy logic, former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger saw the writing on the wall and resigned before a wave of firings, prompting AG Gonzales and the Justice Dept. Cronies (great name for a band no?) to appoint Ms. Paulose his replacement (although this was somewhat botched), and her management style, lack of qualification, and affiliations indicate that she is part of a larger plot to steal the 2008 election.

But I have to believe that as wrong-headed as their politics might be, the Bush puppets appointees at the U.S. Justice Department cannot be as stupid as recent events make them appear. More importantly, I cannot believe that Karl Rove is using these morons as pawns in a multi-front assault on the integrity of state management of federal elections so he can swing the vote in 2008.

What troubles me about the Paulose fiasco is this: if the Strib is getting even a fraction of the story right (and let's be honest, that could be generous to the Strib), it would seem that some kind of conspiracy is at work.