Many of these debacles stem from Holder's failure to do due diligence: He failed to consult the intelligence community before giving the Christmas bomber a Miranda warning; he failed to read the memos in which career prosecutors explained why CIA prosecutions were a legal dead end; he failed to consult New York officials about trying Mohammed in their city; he failed to conduct even a cursory review before pushing Obama to announce the closure of Guantanamo; he failed to read the Arizona immigration law before publicly opposing it. One such failure is a mistake; this many is a pattern of gross incompetence.

Given his record of stumbling into one foreseeable and avoidable controversy after another, it is amazing Holder is still at his post. Come January 2013, it is unlikely he will remain there - regardless of who wins the election.