Ashcroft: Good-bye and good riddance!

So John Ashcroft followed through and became the first person in Bush Junior's Administration to pack up and leave following the 2004 Election.

Well I say good riddance to him!

Let's count the ways that Ashcroft has hurt America.

• For starters, Ashcroft lost his US Senate seat in 2000 to a DEAD MAN! That should tell you how much trust the voters in his own state had in him. I mean, if this guy was supposed to be so great, how is it that the morals and standards of someone who DIED are stronger than him?

• Second, not too long after getting his job in the DOJ, Ashcroft spent $8000 to cover up two statues depicting Truth and Justice because they were created with a permanent "wardrobe malfunction" on them. (In other words, their mammary glands were exposed.) That in and of itself should have been a sign of things to come.

• Third, right after 9/11, he essentially told all government departments that the Freedom of Information Act is null and void, and that any FOIA requests should go through him to be summarily rejected. This is in direct violation of a federal law. The US Attorney General has ZERO AUTHORITY to override a law passed by Congress and signed by the President.

• Fourth, he used his friends in Congress to RAM the USA PATRIOT Act through to passage. Congress may get the blame for not reading what they were voting for, but Ashcroft was the architect of this and even MORE Gestapo-style infringements. You think secret warrants and foreign courts are bad enough? How about losing your citizenship for just being ACCUSED of associating with groups with terrorist connections? That was just one of many ideas on Ashcroft's wish list for PATRIOT II.

• Fifth, his department's handling of the Anthrax letters and hoax letters is suspect. Even after the President declared any such sender as a terrorist, Ashcroft's people didn't follow through in treating such people as terrorists, especially when they were Christian terrorists like Clayton Lee Waagoner. Hey, a terrorist is a terrorist, no matter what religion they claim to profess! You went out of your way to grab Jose Padillia and to frame Muslim soldiers for wrongdoing, but you soft-pedal a confirmed Christian bad guy? That's not only hypocrisy, but also bad government!

• Sixth, Ashcroft's scare tactics and fear-mongering go right up there along with another former US Senator by the name of Joe McCarthy. Osama bin PigBastard didn't need to send out tapes to scare Americans. John Ashcroft was doing it for him!

• Seventh, Ashcroft challenging the patriotism of his critics. Hey, you don't even have the AUTHORITY to challenge my love of country. And if you do, you better say it to my face so I can give you the appropriate response back at you.

Now despite these seven things that he did to harm America, Ashcroft did do two GOOD things. First, he helped resolve that matter with Microsoft. The "Better Bill" (Gates) was getting persecuted in the courts, and the DOJ under Ashcroft helped bring that to a quick end. Second, he changed federal policy in regards to private gun ownership. His people RECOGNIZED that the Second Amendment was designed to protect INDIVIDUALS by allowing gun ownership.

Unfortunately, Ashcroft's minuses destroyed any of his pluses.

Sadly, his departure will not fix all of the problems that he helped create. The endless persecution of American freedoms will continue. His people will still be in office, carrying on his crusades. Those $8000 curtains will still be in place after he's gone.

And worse yet, he's leaving thinking that he's done a good job for America. That's probably the biggest of insults to any freedom-lover in America. If it were up to me, his departure would begin with the following words: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you..."