Op-Ed Columnist - ROGER COHEN - A Command of the Law - NYTimes.com

A reader comments with this forward, "I'm not as sanguine about Gates as Cohen is, but the part on the rule of law is on the mark, though it doesn't quite convey what a close call we've had." [excerpt] ... President Bush had one overriding criterion in choosing his inner circle: loyalty. The result was nobody would pull the plug on stupidity. Obama wants the kind of competence and brainpower that challenge him. The God-gut decision-making of The Decider got us in this mess. Getting out of it will require an Oval Office where smart dissent is prized. ... Op-Ed at the NYTimes.com