Who says Obama can't make quick decisions? Some observers criticize President Obama's decision-making process, calling it overly lawyerly, maybe a bit ponderous. But there are times when he seems able to make significant and difficult decisions quite promptly. Take, for example, his decision Friday to appoint Loretta Lynch, the federal prosecutor in the eastern district of New York, to be attorney general. White House press secretary Josh Earnest, shortly before noon that day, told reporters at a briefing: "I know that there is a lot of attention around some news reports indicating that the president is prepared to announce his nominee to be the next attorney general." "Attention" in this instance is a euphemism for flat-out frenzy. "The president has not made a decision on that," he told reporters. We're not going to have any personnel announcements on that matter at all today. We had reported Friday morning that smart money was drifting to Lynch as the pick. But CNN on Friday morning touched off the scramble when it flatly reported Obama had selected Lynch. One reporter at the briefing said members of Congress were upset they hadn't been notified. "The reason that there hasn't been extensive discussion with Capitol Hill about the president's nominee to be the next attorney general," Earnest explained, "is that the president hasn't made a decision about who the next nominee to be the attorney general will be." But the frenzy continued as more outlets, including The Washington Post, were confirming the story. And about four hours after Earnest's original pronouncement, the White House tweeted: See? So all those critics obviously were wrong. Obama can make a quick decision. Unless it had long been made and he wanted to wait to announce it after he returned from his trip this week to China, hoping it wouldn't leak.