Andy McCarthy — on the short list for Attorney General for any smart future GOP president — argued earlier today that we have overlawyered the war on terror and abdicated what should be political decisions to the courts. I was mulling it over and thinking that there are good arguments on both sides. Then along comes Arthur Branch Thompson in South Carolina who declares that if we capture Osama Bin Laden we shouldn’t just interrogate and execute him we should afford him “due process.” I know, I know –Howard Dean said the same thing last election. I am certain a trusted communications fellow or gal will be sent out to “explain” but isn’t this part of what McCarthy was decrying? Yes, we want check and balances, we want some legal oversight and I agree that when pushed to its limits executive authority may be lost or circumscribed but do we have to Mirandize OBL? A jury of his peers? The mind reels. Something tells me no other candidate will agree with this one.