One of Gerson's best columns:


"The problem is not primarily a matter of ideology. Holder is the critic of enhanced interrogation who defends the use of killer drones against U.S. citizens. He is the enemy of indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay prison who has institutionalized indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay prison. His views seem to conform exactly to the contours of the president’s political requirements at any given moment. “Like a cushion,” David Lloyd George is reputed to have said of one opponent, “he always bore the impress of the last man who sat on him.”

Yet this does not stop the lecturing. Unlike his congressional detractors, Holder was not “scared” of what Mohammed would say at trial. He prefers not to “cower.” He says his critics lack “confidence in the American system of justice.” It is Eric Holder’s distinctive contribution to the American political system: self-righteousness without the inconvenience of principle.

“The supreme arrogance, the lack of accountability,” says Cornyn, “are driving people up the wall. .?.?. Is he going to be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States or the political arm of the administration? Every time Eric Holder has had a choice to make, he has made the political choice, not the one grounded in a reasonable interpretation of the law.”

This presents an immediate, practical challenge. Holder’s appointment of two prosecutors — one an Obama campaign donor — to investigate administration national security leaks is discredited before it begins. Which points to an immediate, practical need: an attorney general who inspires more trust than contempt."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-an-att...