Posted on 08/16/2004 3:24:00 AM PDT by csvset
Ashcroft attends homecoming as son’s ship returns from gulf
By STEVE STONE , The Virginian-Pilot
© August 16, 2004
Last updated: 1:34 AM
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| Ensign Andy Ashcroft, son of Attorney General John Ashcroft
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But some among the throngs of kin and friends on hand to greet the ship’s crew of 300 may have been a bit surprised at one face in their midst at Pier 1 : Attorney General John Ashcroft.
He and his wife, Janet – accompanied by a cadre of security personnel – were there to meet their son, Ensign Andy Ashcroft, a crew member on the McFaul.
“They’re over in a part of the world where freedom is in the balance,” Ashcroft said. “I am glad that when freedom is in the balance, America is not on the sidelines.”
The McFaul left Norfolk Feb. 19 as part of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group.
Since then, the ship patrolled the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman with U.S. and coalition warships.
During the deployment, the McFaul conducted maritime interdiction operations, oil platform protection and special warfare operations.
The ship and its crew seized more than 500 automatic weapons and more than 42,000 rounds of ammunition, the Navy said.
For the Ashcrofts, Sunday’s homecoming wasn’t just a family reunion. There were chores to do, the nation’s top law enforcement officer said. His son needed help moving into a new apartment. “I brought the pickup truck,” Ashcroft told WVEC-TV. “We’ll be moving furniture this afternoon.”
While dad might easily have pulled strings, Janet Ashcroft said the family wasn’t going to ask for any special treatment for their son’s return. They were not even certain whether he’d be free from duty.
“We understand he has some responsibilities we have to respect,” she said, “so we have to ask him first what we can do. But we’re just going to be very glad to see him.”
Soon enough, the younger Ashcroft found his folks. And he had their day all planned .
“I am going to put them all to work right away,” he said with a grin.
The elder Ashcroft said he is proud of his son. “We’re grateful that he chooses to serve to defend freedom. We’re grateful that he’s in the Navy,” he said.
And, Ashcroft added, echoing the mood of others at pierside: “We’re grateful that he’s coming home.”
WVEC-TV 13’s Joe Flanagan contributed to this report.
Reach Steve Stone at 446-2309 or steve.stone@pilotonline.com.
Welcome home Ensign Ashcroft.
ping
Michael Moore: what was that about willingness to "send" your child.....
Can't be, according to Moore only the poor and the underprivileged are in the army.
Funny. I was just thinking the same darn thing. Gee, I wonder why Fattypants did'nt interview AG Ashcroft?
Ping for irony.
The Fat One's lies are plated with fine gold and will not be seriously questioned by the media.
curious to know if that fat bloviated slob Moore overlooked this particular instance of a Cabinet level position sending his / her child into a war situation
Ha! This doesn't count because he's in the Navy and only slackers join that service. Unlike war hero John F'ng Kerry who served proudly in the...ummm...oh never mind....
Missouri,settled in the center of our nation, sends a lot of her men down to the sea in ships. Welcome home ensign.
John Ashcroft is a former governor and a former senator who ran for the Republican presidential nomination. You would think that that would be strong credentials for a president.Seemingly off point:
Alan Keyes was asked, and should not but did answer, that he favored repeal of the 17th Amendment on direct election of senators (for the sound reason that the Senate was intended to represent the state governments, not the people of the states directly).Unfortunately, repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment seems unlikely, so I crafted a compromise which would be less problematic and would have noticable advantages:
This would change the character of the Senate:
- To synchronize senate seats with governorships, the term of senator should be only 4 years.
- One senator should be installed because he was the runningmate of the winning gubernatorial candidate.
- The other senator should be installed because he was the incumbent governor (or another runningmate, if the sitting governor was reelected).
It might however also modify the governors' races if the candidate's running mate was a popular incumbent senator. And that effect might be most prominent in the smallest states. After all, the senators are all of equal importance - but the governor of California is a big deal, and the governor of Rhode Island is basically a glorified mayor of Providence.
- it would restore at least executive branch representation of the state governments in the senate. The federal legislature would not pass laws which made the state executives' job unnecessarily dificult.
- it would make the jury in presidential impeachment cases more sensitive to any implication that the senators - half or more of whom would be former governors - were unwilling to uphold high ethical standards for themselves.
- And it would produce a lot of John Ashcrofts - former governors who are former (or sitting) senators. Natural presidential timber (It is however true that presidents tend to attain national office within a dozen years or so of attaining statewide office, or not at all - GWB did it in about 6 years).
Did not even know that Ashcroft's Son was in the Persian Gulf serving his Country. WELCOME HOME ENSIGN ASHCROFT! I know your parents are proud of you and glad you are home! Thank you for your service!
I remember a big deal about Tim Johnson's son serving when he was up for reelection, but nothing about Ashcroft.
No media bias here.
That fat a$$ reproduced?
Who would...nevermind...
What I did learn in the MSM these past months is all about a 30-year-old house of cards.
I had to come to FR to get the rest of the story about the house. It has dry rot and is held up with hot air.
"When duty called, Andy Ashcroft said SEND ME!"
Welcome home. Thank you for being part of our volunteer military forces, Ensign Ashcroft.
Jeeze, he has half of his presidential candidate qualifications already. Now all he has to do is get command of a 6-man boat for a couple of months.
(Sarcasm off)
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