David Brooks has been positively gushy about President-elect Obama's choices for his team. In yesterday's New York Times he wrote:

Believe me, Im trying not to join in the vast, heaving O-phoria now sweeping the coastal haute bourgeoisie. But the personnel decisions have been superb. The events of the past two weeks should be reassuring to anybody who feared that Obama would veer to the left or would suffer self-inflicted wounds because of his inexperience. Hes off to a start that nearly justifies the hype.

And, with regard to the possible appointment of Eric Holder as Attorney General, he opined:

Conservative legal experts have a high regard for the probable attorney general, Eric Holder, despite the business over the Marc Rich pardon.

That "business" may be more convoluted and less straightforward than Mr. Brooks lets on. Here is an op-ed piece from today's Times that should at least give some pause:

Under the rules governing pardon petitions rules that were approved by Mr. Holders office the views of United States attorneys are given considerable weight because of the valuable insights they have. And yet Mr. Holder did not consult Ms. White [United States Attorney in New York] and her colleagues about the Rich pardon petition; they did not know of it until it had been granted.Then, on Jan. 19, 2001, Mr. Holder delivered his pardon assessment to the White House, telling Beth Nolan, the White House counsel, that he was neutral leaning favorable on the Rich pardon. His decision, he added, was influenced by the support of Ehud Barak, the Israeli prime minister.The people in the United States attorneys office in New York werent the only ones surprised by Mr. Holders decision. Deborah Smolover, his top deputy for pardon cases, did not find out about the pardon for Mr. Rich until the White House called to inform her of it after midnight on Jan. 20. (Mr. Green won a pardon, too.) After the pardon was signed, Mr. Quinn [Rich's point man on the pardon appeal and former White House Counsel under President Clinton] has testified, Mr. Holder called him to commend him on a very good job. Mr. Holder also asked Mr. Quinn to consider hiring two former aides, one of whom had already contacted Mr. Quinn on Jan. 2 at Holders suggestion.