Doesn’t Matter If Holder Stays or Goes William Kristol

[mystery-ak]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/doesn-t-matter-if-holder-stays-or-goes_732061.html

Doesn’t Matter If Holder Stays or Goes
William Kristol
May 31, 2013 10:29 AM

A longtime friend and savvy D.C. veteran emails with these worthwhile thoughts:

    Bill, I trust conservatives will resist temptation to join the chorus to “sack Holder.” As Jack Germond used to say, “It is like wetting yourself in a dark suit, it feels good, but nobody notices.”

    Calls to sack Holder create a useless side show from the main event--a “breathtaking and systematic abuse of power by the Obama administration” that is only a taste of what a full agenda implementation will hold for America (Obamacare, EPA regulooza, and most important and pernicious, an unholy, unspoken, dog whistle relationship between the White House and federal agencies like the IRS).

    Focusing on the fate of Eric Holder could create the catharsis Obama and his allies (the media) need to “reset” and return to business as usual.

    Sacking Holder would inebriate the home team for a weekend, cause the usual “backlash” in the media—guilt, remorse and regret focused on the embattled Obama—and ... return to the status quo ante.

    If and when Holder packs it in, R's should shrug and say, “it's his choice, doesn't matter or change things, stay or go, the real issues are those listed above...”

Update:  Here's an email from a sensible lawyer:

    Apropos your email from a "savvy" friend, I would offer one more point to keep in mind: Another lesser controversy that might distract Republicans from the big picture is this debate over whether Holder committed perjury in his congressional testimony regarding Rosen.

    Holder was certainly dishonest. But it's not clear that he specifically committed "perjury" per se (as the thoughtful Orin Kerr explained recently). A perjury fight will quickly devolve into arguments along the line of "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."

    Better to stay focused on the bigger, more fundamental issues, rather than lawyering a technical point to death, no?

[Relic]

I agree with this, and I don't usually agree with Kristol. The only plan that will work for the GOP is to take a sober, calculated approach that focuses on finding the problem. No finger pointing, no hyperbole, no grandstanding. Simply state the case, over and over again that things happened that shouldn't have, and there is a critical need to fix it, for the sake of all Americans.

Staying to that approach, and being persistent with follow up, will reap a lot of benefit to all of us.