CHILLIN’ WITH ASH & JUNIOR
The commentariat continues to pretend to be confused about what it is about the Bushies that have Democratic and Independent voters so motivated to put an end to the radical Bush presidency. Chris Matthews was thinking out loud the other day – as they all do – about how the Dems are just so darn jealous and frustrated with being on the outside looking in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government that they want to fight to regain the permanent power that disappeared when they lost both houses of Congress in the ‘90s and in 2002. The chattering class can’t think of any legitimate reason to toss the Bushies out on their ears, except to put a check on the power of the Republicans.
But all those voters in the 14 states that have been exit-polled so far could care less about what Majority Leader put what Senior Senator in charge of What Committee (the average voter should care more about these things, but that’s another column). They want to get rid of this parasitic president for very good reasons. They hate the secrecy that shrouds everything Bush. They hate the lies that led to the Unnecessary War. They hate the collapse of environmental standards, for the benefit of Bush’s corporate contributors. They hate the tax cuts for the rich that do little for the stagnant economy that has sapped what was left of the good-paying jobs out of every community. They hate Trojan Horse "reform" of the Medicare system that gives billions in corporate welfare to health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and precious little in relief to long-suffering seniors. They hate the political use of the 9/11 tragedy to justify the plans of the neo-cons, laid long-ago, for political reorganization – by force – in the Middle East and to prop up what until then was already a dreary and failed presidency.
Two scary items in the news this week highlighted another reason why the average voter is highly motivated to turn out the Bushies in 2004. The administration that rules by Fear of the Great Unknown Foreigner also creates fear at home of a much different and scarier sort. It is the fear of the Heavy Hand of your own government, using its subpoenas, grand juries, prosecutors, agents and judges to reach where the federal government has never dared to reach before, even during the dark days of Joe McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover. It’s not just the "Patriot" Act and the unprecedented secret detentions of citizens without due process, representation or charges, although that’s bad enough. It is rather the worst impulses of the Ashcroft Justice Department, using all the brute force of power-drunk prosecutors on a bender to chill the exercise of free speech and medical privacy.
First, they had an anti-war forum at Drake University in Des Moines back in November. The Bushies found out about it and decided to make an example by bringing the Heavy Hand down on their peaceful heads. The university itself was subpoenaed and told to disclose all records of the Drake chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild, a historic organization of lefty and concerned lawyers and law students, who had sponsored the forum. They also issued subpoenas to the protesters themselves, requiring them to appear before a grand jury to answer for their temerity. After this got out in the media this week on Monday, it was all withdrawn on Tuesday and, well, never mind. But the Bushies made their point: Challenge us and you will be challenged. And just remember who has the keys to the handcuffs and the jail cells. Today’s protester is tomorrow’s enemy combatant. Beware and behave.
The other item bears the unmistakable imprint of John Ashcroft himself, the nuttiest and most dangerous AG in the nation’s history. Ashcroft decided that the Cause of Christ would be served if his department used the Heavy Hand to go on a fishing expedition into the medical records at various hospitals in New York, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor and Chicago to find out if doctors were providing intact dilation and extraction abortions at those hospitals. That’s "partial birth" abortion, according to the Religious Right and others trying to abort a woman’s constitutional right to choose what to do with her own body. Not surprisingly, the demands for the confidential patient records have been challenged and, not surprisingly, some federal courts have allowed the outrage.
One thing that is entirely clear to everyone is that this kind of outrageous abuse of government power would not be attempted by anyone except the radical Bushies. It is part of the aura of fear and miserableness that the Bush presidency creates, clings to and swings like a dingy hammer. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The people know this, which is why Bush will be an ex-president in 2005.
NOTE: Alright, it appears that the excuse for the Ashcroft Inquisition is as part of discovery for the lawsuit filed by various doctors challenging the law. The doctors claim the late-term abortions at issue are medically necessary, which of course they are -- contrary to the cynical "concerns" of the anti-choice forces, no one does a late-term abortion by choice. Ashcroft says, if that's your claim, then we can look to see if it's true. Discovery in a civil case is fairly broad, so it could be that the Ashcroft tactic is at least somewhat legal. That doesn't make it right. It is still an invasion of privacy, designed to chill anyone from challenging the law.
12:03:50 AM 
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