Unfortunately, the Curia seldom looks at anything but the big picture.
Their logic is that Michigan is small potatoes compared to the persecutions going on in China and Africa.
They took a similar stance with the child-molestation cases in Boston. They want the local bishops to hash it out. Unfortunately, in the Arch-diocese of Detroit, the local active bishop is Gumbleton, who is pretty useless. Gumbleton is a holdover from Paul VI days. Paul VI was pretty notorious for assigning bishops on recommendations from dubious sources. It's the orthodox catholics lack of faith in Gumbleton that drove the law school prof to try Maida.
But have no fear - things are slowly changing. When I was in Rome last month, I met one of the Msgrs on the committee for selecting bishops for the English-speaking world. He is incredibly solid and working toward getting orthodox bishops in charge. Right now, we have to deal with the holdovers, who are slowly retiring.
Hope springs eternal.