WE CAN'T WAIT – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  We give you this news bulletin.  We're out of breath:

The Obama Administration is on the verge of making a decision about where to try alleged September 11 plotters including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday.

"We have been working on it and I think we're close to the decision," Holder told reporters during a press availability in connection with a U.S.-Canada meeting at the Justice Department.

"I would hope that whatever the decision is, it would be one that would be judged on the merits," Holder said. "What is best for the case, and for justice in that case will be thing that will guide a decision."

It was nearly a year ago that Holder announced plans to charge five Guantanamo prisoners, including Mohammed, in civilian federal court in Manhattan. The White House nixed that plan in January after an outcry from local officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

During the spring, Holder said he expected the issue to be resolved within a matter of weeks, but no decision was announced and eventually Holder began telling reporters who inquired that he wouldn't want to put a timeline on it. So, the new statement is a change. Many observers, including some who favor a military commission trial for the five men, said they suspected the Obama administration intentionally put the issue on ice to avoid it becoming an issue of dispute in the midterm elections.

COMMENT:  How's that for speed?  This has taken a year, and we still don't have a decision.  And yet, Holder's Justice Department found time to accuse red-hot Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey of overspending on official trips while a U.S. attorney, to the whopping tune of $300 a year over three years.  Well, there goes the economy.

We hope that incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas, no softy, will give the Justice Department the intense oversight that he's promised.  Smith said a few days ago:

"Part of that checks and balances is in fact holding the administration accountable, is in fact insisting on more transparency, is insisting on more honesty, and getting the facts,” Smith said.  “Right now, because of the one party monopoly, the Administration has been able to dodge any kind of supervision, any kind of oversight
committee action, and they refuse to testify, and that is no longer acceptable.”

Right on.

November 11, 2011