Posted on 06/24/2005 4:00:24 PM PDT by Crackingham
With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 3 1/2 years. Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall.
The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about and criticism of the deeply religious Ashcroft. The 12-foot, 6-inch aluminum statues were installed shortly after the building opened in the 1930s.
With a change in leadership at Justice, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced the question: Would they stay or would they go? He regularly deflected the question, saying he had weightier issues before him.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I have heard about the covering of the statues before but wasn't sure if it was just folklore - apparently it was't. I have to admit that covering the statues is a just bit over the top.
Pfff, those look fake.
Ashcroft probably noticed that all the Legacy-Media photographers were crowding one area, just so they could get "that" shot.
If we're not careful, the next AG may end up putting
them in chadors. . .
Heartily agree.
And when is he going to pick up his drapes and cut a check to the treasury
This had to be one of the most stoopid, ridiculous wastes of tax-payer money we've come across. What, Ashcroft couldn't speak in the Great Hall in such a way that the *breast* wouldn't be in the shot? The mics aren't mobile, the cameras are stationary??
He had a problem with them because they made him think about Huge Marble Breasts, and he was disturbed by the strange tightening of his pants when he approached them...
They should blindfold the statue, too. Might as well, symoblism is everything.
Some are better than others
Why is this considered newsworthy? Ashcroft has been out of office for some time now.
Let me think on this a few minutes. The government has really had some mindless moments. Not saying this is not one of them.
Yeah, but the statues were uncovered today, not some time ago.
They're spectacular - and they're real!
From what I recall, the statues were covered because they were becoming a distraction as juuvenile press photographers were going out of their way to include the naked statues in pictures of Ashcroft as an attempt to mock his religious beliefs. They could only get away with somethhing like that because they were mocking Christians.
Because the MSM never misses a chance to ridicule people of faith. Mr Ashcroft is a great American.
He thought it was just a couple of pinatas.
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