This week on Need to Know, Jay and I welcome the great Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton. We discuss his new book Conscience and Its Enemies and then consider the scandal-laden week just past. Is Obama Nixonian, or something worse? Does the messianism of his presidency encourage corner-cutting, even contempt for law? How much should conservatives care about Eric Holder’s sweeping investigations into the press? We note with wry amusement Charlie Rangel’s outrage at the IRS, and examine the possible motives of other Democrats.

I endorse human cloning.

Robby and Jay disagree about whether Romney and Ryan deserve censure for failing to campaign on questions like the birth-control mandate, life, and marriage.

We all agree that Republicans should use their power in the House to the fullest — issue subpoenas, grant use immunity to witnesses, assign lawyers to ask questions at the hearings, and avoid the word “impeachment.” The overriding goal should be to get the truth, not to see people go to jail.

Finally, a Need to Know first: Our closing music is Robby himself playing the banjo. A Renaissance man!