Does Eric Holder’s Nomination Represent Blood in the Water?

It has been funny seeing Eric Holder labeled as a partisan hack for his apparent involvement in the pardon of Marc Rich. Holder is President-Elect Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General. The media attention only serves to remind some Democrats about another truly partisan AG, Mr. Alberto Gonzales.

Gonzales represented the beginning of a new cynical chapter in American politics. Some Democrats believe President Bush allowed (instructed) Karl Rove to use the Justice Department as a sort of political Gestapo. There are really three incidents those Democrats point to when they level this charge. The first is the federal prosecution of former Alabama Governor, Don Siegelman. Some Republican operatives have made sworn statements saying Rove directly instructed one of Alabama’s United States Attorneys to “take care of” Siegelman.  The firing of eight other U.S. Attorneys is the second thing mentioned by many Democrats. They believe those attorneys were fired because they were not partisan enough to pursue other Democrat witch hunts in other states. Finally, those Democrats point to a recruitment policy which clearly had a partisan and ideological litmus test as condition of employment. They say the Bush Administration dreamed of a day when the permanent career officers of the Justice Department would all be conservative ideologues.

Liberal ideologues have been disappointed in the President-Elect’s cabinet choices so far. They cover their disappointment by saying Obama was the candidate of change and his appointments didn’t look a lot like Obama planned to change anything. Many of these liberal thinkers refuse to give Obama points for pragmatism in the face of extraordinary times. They want a voice in a government they feel has been too right too long.

So, is the nomination of Holder just another pragmatic appointment of a person with the experience to do the job in very trying times or is Obama sending the liberals a message? What is that message? Should Karl Rove find a nice home in a country with no extradition treaty? Is Holder considered partisan enough to do the job? If the democrats who want to continue a war they feel the Bush Administration started they might feel Rove’s involvement is Blood in the water.