GET THE SEASICKNESS PILLS - AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  In a fawning piece that would make a North Korean journalist blush, Newsweek examines the life, loves, and needs of Attorney General Eric Holder, who appears about to make some very nasty news.  Please note:

Holder, 58, may be on the verge of asserting his independence in a profound way. Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in a matter of weeks, say these sources, who decline to be identified discussing a sensitive law-enforcement matter. Such a decision would roil the country, would likely plunge Washington into a new round of partisan warfare, and could even imperil Obama's domestic priorities, including health care and energy reform. Holder knows all this, and he has been wrestling with the question for months. "I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president's agenda," he says. "But that can't be a part of my decision."

COMMENT:  Nothing like a good movie line to start the day.  "But that can't be a part of my decision."  He gets on his horse, and rides toward trouble.  Gary Cooper has come back to us, and it's high noon.

The idea that the White House wouldn't be involved in such a profound decision twists credibility out of shape.  And note the editorializing - "the Bush administration's 'brutal' interrogation practices."  If you're going to have a probe, Mr. Journalist, you leave those determinations up to the probers.

So, we may have an investigation of the Bush years after all, just as this president's poll numbers are slipping badly, and just as we enter the 2010 election cycle.  This is almost as convenient as the financial shock of late September, hitting us just in time to clinch the election for Barack Obama. 

Lucky, this Obama.  But how much of it is luck?

July 12, 2009