Obama replaces inexperienced lawyer with another inexperienced lawyer

On May 27, Elizabeth Birnbaum was fired, forced out or simply resigned as Director of the Minerals Management service, roughly a month after the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon explosion.  The explosion and fire killed eleven men and the damaged Macondo well it was drilling is now spewing millions of gallons of raw crude into the Gulf of Mexico, fouling marshes, soiling beaches, killing wildlife and knocking thousands out of work.

That Birnbaum was anywhere near spitting distance of the Director's office is but one of many tarballs on the Obama regime's record of appointing unqualified political hacks to jobs they are incapable of doing.  Birnbaum is an environmental activist and "community organizer."  Like the community organizer in chief, she had virtually no management experience and absolutely no management experience in issues dealing with energy, commerce or natural resources.

Enter Michael R. Bromwich, another Harvard-educated lawyer, with...  surprise: No management experience in issues dealing with energy, commerce or natural resources.  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is in the process of splitting the MMS into at least two new agencies--one to manage leases and revenue collections; the other to manage regulatory enforcement and safety.  It's not clear how rearranging the nameplates at MMS will do much good.  But as of now, there's technically no MMS for Mr. Bromwich to serve as Director.  It's also not very clear how a man with no experience managing any organization that oversees energy or natural resource production will organize two completely new agencies whose only roles are in energy and natural resource management.  Surely, I am not the only one for whom the logic defies belief.

What Mr. Bromwich does have is experience as a prosecutor.  Hmmm.  He's also turned around a pair of ailing police departments:

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Bromwich helped prosecute Oliver North in the Iran-Contra investigation in the late 1980s. After that, he was inspector general for DOJ during the Clinton administration. He then went into private practice at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. But his most high-profile work at the firm has been leading turnaround efforts at troubled agencies like the Houston and Washington, D.C., police departments.

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It's not a stretch to turn to a lawyer and former prosecutor when looking for someone to overhaul a law enforcement agency.  But is it a stretch to turn to someone with that resume when the goal is to overhaul a natural resource management agency?

Gimme some feedback in the comments.

Birnbaum goes under the bus

On Thursday, President Obama fired Elizabeth Birnbaum, the woman he selected to head up the Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service.  MMS is the agency responsible for regulatory oversight of offshore oil and drilling and production.

Like her boss, prior to being put in charge of a large, complex organization with many employees and very serious responsibilities, Ms. Birnbaum had absolutely no management experience, whatsoever.  She was however, a very ardent and diligent environmental activist.

From 1987 through to 1991 she served as counsel for the National Wildlife Federation's Water Resources Program. Impressive management training there huh sports fans?

From 1991 to 1999 she was counsel for the House Committee on Natural Resources, where she handled really hard management stuff, including duties such as legislation writing and oversight activities for the U.S. Forest Service.

For the next two years, she did actually have a supervisory job. Kind of. She was Associate Solicitor for Mineral Resources from 2000 to 2001, where she "managed" a staff of several lawyers providing legal advice and litigation services for MMS.

From 2001-2007, she was Vice President for Government Affairs and General Counsel for American Rivers, and from 2007 until her appointment to head MMS in 2009, she was the staff director for the Committee on House Administration, where she oversaw really, really hard stuff like strategic planning for the agencies that serve the legislative branch. Architect of the Capital, House Historian... You know, important jobs that affect the lives and livelihoods of millions.

I'm sure Ms. Birnbaum is a nice, professional and well-meaning lady. I bear no ill will to her personally. But do you see anything in this resume that qualified her to head up an agency with the responsibilities of MMS?

UPDATE: Birnmbaum Bio

Extra Point: What are the chances Ms. Birnbaum lands a job in either the energy or the environmental litigation sectors?