Ashcroft

John Ashcroft is probably the guy in the Administration that I despise the most.  He's a hypocrite, a judgemental moralist, and an incompetent.  There are of course, any number of foibles, ranging from his bizarre obsession with religious rites like getting anointed with oil and speaking in tongues, his demands that his cohorts in the Justice Dept. pray with him, his singing.  But those are just personal, though they certainly reflect poorly on the man (unless you're an evangelist).

I find his willingness to bend the power of the federal government to target perfectly legal adult pornography, users of medicinal marijuana, and democratically-supported right-to-die statutes, to name the most egregious, to be not only immoral but frankly totalitarian.  His prudish decision to spend federal money to cover up a statue of the Spirit of Justice so as to prevent her bare breast from being seen is positively repellent, despite the inherent comedy in this ultimate example of symbolic irony.  His willingness to push the death penalty over the desires of federal prosecutors demonstrates that he's not just some religious freak (though that is the case), but is a genuinely dangerous crusader with no sense of limits to his power.  It is my understanding that Ashcroft actively avoids reading the newspapers, and announces this with some pride.  For my money, any policymaker at any level who's not aware of current events, the national mood, or media criticism of his own deeds is someone that I DO NOT want having any power over me at all. 

I'm not even getting into the issues of the Patriot Act and the war on terrorism, which in Ashcroft's world is really the War on Heathens, I suppose.

I bring this up because Ashcroft is testifying today before the 9/11 commission.  More than perhaps any other person in the government, Ashcroft could be potentially eviscerated by the commission for decisions he made that aren't a question of interpretation or spin like the PDB, but are actually confirmed, undeniable, on the record realities of his behavior and priorities before and after 9/11. 

Salon had a terrific piece with ten questions the commission should ask Ashcroft.  It's lengthy, so if you don't want to read it, here are the best questions:

-- If counterterrorism was a top priority for the Justice Department prior to 9/11, why did Ashcroft ignore the FBI's specific request in August 2001 for additional counterterrorism resources? 

--After 9/11, why did Ashcroft slash almost $1 billion from an emergency FBI request to bolster counterterrorism efforts?

Immediately after 9/11 the FBI made a $1.5 billion request for emergency resources to combat terrorism. But Ashcroft refused to provide two-thirds of these resources. Roughly $1 billion in funding was denied for items such as security improvements, communications equipment and technical support. Why? Where did the money go instead?

--Beginning in the summer of 2001, Ashcroft stopped flying commercial airlines and traveled exclusively by private jet because of an FBI "threat assessment." What, exactly, did the threat assessment say? Why is the threat assessment still being withheld from the public?

--Why, in the days after 9/11, did Ashcroft, along with White House and State Department officials, allow two dozen members of the bin Laden and Saudi royal families to circumvent FAA restrictions forbidding flights and leave the country without full FBI questioning?

I should hope that some of these questions would get asked.  Part of it, of course, is the schadenfreude inherent in seeing a reactionary bastard like Ashcroft get destroyed in public.  But these are also very important questions, because they cut to the heart of the matter--if terrorism is the most important issue and the greatest threat, then why isn't it the priority of the Attorney General, who's more concerned about moral judgmentalism and preparation for the Rapture?

9:55:54 AM    comment []

Paul Krugman has another terrific piece in the Times today, highlighting how entirely out of touch with reality the Bushies seem to be.  He has this winning line:

Meanwhile, Mr. Bush, who once challenged his own father to go mano a mano, is still addicted to tough talk, and still personalizes everything.

Which of course reminded me of this.

9:32:20 AM    comment []