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Apparently, the dreadfully-misnamed Patriot Act wasn't enough. Not only has the government taken away some of the liberties Americans have enjoyed for ages, but now they've cast into the lot of terrorists anyone who questions their actions. Leading this brigade of anti-freedom idiocy is Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft gave a tongue-lashing to people who have brought up what he called the "phantoms of lost liberty." He also accused such people of "aiding terrorists, and said they are "giving ammunition to America's enemies." He made this speech in Congress, where members sat in silence as Ashcroft railed like an old man talking about kids trampling thru his garden.
Let's back up for a minute here. After masterminding the most disgraceful piece of legislation in my lifetime, Ashcroft decides to carry his folly to the next farcical step. Not only has he taken numerous freedoms from all Americans, but those who say anything about it are now aiding terrorists. This is patently absurd. Ashcroft is using his office as a bully pulpit now, since he's apparently too thin-skinned to absorb the justifiable criticisms directed at him for taking freedoms away from all Americans.
Go to Hell, Mr Ashcroft.
If you want to say I'm "aiding terrorists" because I think you're a paranoid, xenophobic, bitter little man who's drunk with the power his office affords him, go ahead. Anyone with nominal ability to think and reason will know otherwise, but you can go ahead and blow your own poorly-tuned horn just the same. If you want to say I'm "giving ammunition to America's enemies" because I think your actions since September 11th have been shameful, disgraceful, and very un-American, go ahead. Again, any rational person will know the opposite is true.
And you can still go straight to Hell. Maybe you'd have more credibility if you could actually beat a corpse in a Senatorial election, but since your own voters know a dead man is preferable to your antiquated, showboating McCarthyism, I won't question their sound judgment.
The Justice Department, of course, rushed to clarify the inane statements of its leader. Communications Director Mindy Tucker said Ashcroft did not mean to slander and pillory all critics of his unpatriotic crusade; rather, he was referring to people who make "misstatements of fact."
Don't worry, friends, it gets better. Tucker cited three examples of what Ashcroft was talking about. The first example: you are considered an aider and abettor of terrorism if you have the temerity to refer to the policy of monitoring attorney-client communications as "eavesdropping." Numerous Americans, including many conservatives, have condemned this policy. Attorney-client communications have always been protected for a reason, but Ashcroft's blind crusade for terrorists has rendered that sensibility obsolete. I've yet to figure out how someone aids terrorists by substituting "eavesdropping" for "monitoring," but maybe it's just me.
Mr Ashcroft: if you don't want people to refer to something as "eavesdropping," don't eavesdrop. Splitting hairs in the name of misplaced patriotism is stupid. By the way, you can still go to Hell.
Next, citizens are aiding terrorists if they refer to his plan of interrogating over 5000 foreign nationals as "racial profiling." Technically, "racial profiling" is an imprecise term here, since various races are affected by it. However, decisions are being made about individuals based on a broad profile, so the parallel is precise enough. Not all Black men in nice cars are auto thieves, and not all foreign nationals from the Middle east are terrorists. This is obviously lost on Ashcroft, though, as he is willing to use small-minded prejudice in his hunt for terrorists.
Mr Ashcroft: while there may well be terrorists in this country, harassing foreign nationals is not the way to find them. Besides, didn't you learn the lesson of Tim McVeigh. Go to Hell.
The last example Tucker cited is the most disturbing. She said that anyone who criticized Ashcroft because of his Congressional testimony was "part of the exact problem he was describing." So not only can Americans aid terrorists by their word choices, now they can give terrorists the same aid by speaking out against the crusading Attorney General. It's convenient that Ashcroft has managed to lump all criticism of him in the pro-terrorist camp. It apparently worked on members of Congress, who don't want to be buried under the Justice Department media blitz that would ensue should any of them speak out against Ashcroft.
Well, go ahead and try to bury me, Mr Ashcroft. Your bravado doesn't impress me, your warnings don't frighten me, and your conduct sickens me. You have undermined everything that America is about: you have succeeded in taking away some of the freedoms this country was founded on, and that thousands of men far better than you have died to preserve. You have managed to fear-monger our elected officials into silence over your reprehensible actions. You have set it up that anyone who speaks out against what you're doing is aiding the enemy.
Now I see why everyone so staunchly opposed your appointment as Attorney General, Mr Ashcroft. I was willing to give our new president the benefit of the doubt, despite your questionable record. I'm now sorry I did that. Now I see that you are an ass of the first division, the kind of ass who quashes people's ability to speak out against his actions in a society that was founded on the free exchange of ideas.
Ashcroft has managed to return us to an earlier period in American history, when our country was very young and we were still struggling with what it meant to be a free society. By isolating foreign nationals and implying they're all terrorists, and by setting up as traitors anyone who speaks against your crusade, you have exhumed the Alien And Sedition Act for all to see. Good job, slugger; you're making us relive one of the more shameful eras in our history. That legislation was eventually repealed. Unfortunately, I don't see either the Patriot Act or Ashcroft going away any time soon.
In the span of just over a month, Ashcroft has spearheaded the efforts to deny Americans some of the freedoms and protections they've enjoyed for ages, and cast into the enemy camp anyone who dares question him. President Bush's approval rating might be thru the roof right now, but if word of Ashcroft gets out to enough people, that could change. I think Bush has done a great job so far, but I promise this: if Bush does not replace Ashcroft or promise to during his next term, I will not vote to re-elect him. Ashcroft is a paranoid pariah, and Bush needs to see his un-American actions for what they are and cut him loose before his presidency is irreparable damaged.
And Mr Ashcroft? You can still go directly to Hell.
Dr. Tom
16 December 2001