The FBI interrogated Faisal Shazhad for over three hours before reading him his Miranda rights. Agents secured his cooperation, gained some unspecified information that allowed the FBI to establish a TTP connection — establishing, for the first time, the Pakistani Taliban’s ability to project power (however unsuccessfully) to the United States — and, it’s safe to say, build a case for his ultimate conviction. So, naturally, Attorney General Holder decides to weaken Miranda.

It’s one thing to back down after a loss. It’s quite another to back down after a win. So much for the case on the merits.

What about the politics? Here’s the salient paragraph of Charlie Savage’s write-up, anticipating and cutting off the political argument for weakening Miranda:

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and Republican presidential candidate, said Sunday on “This Week” on ABC that he supported Mr. Holder’s proposal. However, he also suggested that enacting it would not quell conservative criticism, arguing that it would be even better to hold suspects like Mr. Shahzad as military detainees for lengthier interrogation.

Holder looks like the kid on the playground who turns out his pockets the second the bully makes eye contact. Even after he went up a few belts in his karate class.