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John Ashcroft visit draws controversy at Skidmore College in NY
Times Union ^ | Thursday, April 3, 2008 | Marc Parry

Posted on 04/03/2008 8:16:25 PM PDT by Right-Wing Champion

ASHCROFT, CRITICS FACE OFF

Former U.S. attorney general peppered with questions in wide-ranging talk at Skidmore College

By MARC PARRY, Staff writer

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Nobody threw eggs. The crowd didn't walk out in protest. But John Ashcroft was treated to a verbal grilling Wednesday as a guest speaker at largely liberal Skidmore College. An overflow assembly of more than 600 people questioned Ashcroft, President Bush's former attorney general, about the war in Iraq, abortion, torture, surveillance, drugs and immigration. A gay student asked him about gay marriage.

"You can have a relationship, you just can't have the special status," Ashcroft said. "You're not going to get all the benefits that the culture assigns to couples that are likely to produce the next generation."

Ashcroft's appearance, arranged by conservative students, had aroused opposition on a campus where only five students voted Republican in the presidential primary. A vandal drew a swastika on a poster promoting the event.

The visit began with a friendly audience: a cocktail party at the Surrey Williamson Inn attended by Republican students and leaders like former gubernatorial candidate John Faso.

In an interview there, Ashcroft, 65, said his wife, Janet, had been born in Albany. Her father was an Army scientist at the Watervliet Arsenal, he said.

Asked whether he regretted anything about his tenure as attorney general, Ashcroft said he wished he had better explained the Patriot Act, which gave law enforcement agencies more power in the fight against terrorism.

Ashcroft said he had not read about the controversy that preceded his arrival.

"I cannot express affection for the symbolism of Nazis," Ashcroft said. "But I will defend the right of people to speak freely and to protest my appearance.

"Part of what it means to be a leader is that people will have disagreements with you. My career has been spent making sure that people who want to disagree with me have the right to do so."

Ashcroft's lecture sparked tremendous interest. The 279-seat Gannett Auditorium was nearly filled 90 minutes before the talk, when State Police cleared it to walk through with a bomb-sniffing dog. Students spilled into the aisles, the lobby, the student center and a second auditorium.

Ashcroft's speech, on leadership, veered from Revolutionary War history to an account of the days following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The former Missouri senator got some laughs at his own expense, pointing out that he was "the only person in the history of the universe ever to lose his Senate seat to a deceased opponent" -- a reference to his November 2000 loss to Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, who died in a plane crash a month before the election.

He drew hollers of disapproval when he accidentally called Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama "Osama."

One student, Jamie Worrall, expected Ashcroft's talk to reverberate in classroom discussions. "There are so many topics that were brought up tonight," said Worrall, 21, of Massachusetts. "It's just quite overwhelming."

* * * * *

Also worth checking out are these reports that highlighted the controversy surrounding his speech at the notoriously liberal Skidmore College in upstate NY:

http://www.saratogian.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/BigDaily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTST%2FHome&r21.content=%2FTST%2FHome%2FTopStoryList_Story_1827305

http://capitalnews9.com/default.aspx?ArID=113481

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S397990.shtml?cat=300

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=676995&category=SPORTS&newsdate=4/1/2008


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ashcroft; doj; highereducation; liberals; protest; skidmore

1 posted on 04/03/2008 8:16:25 PM PDT by Right-Wing Champion
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To: Right-Wing Champion
He drew hollers of disapproval when he accidentally called Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama "Osama."

I was making this same mistake frequently myself. Now, I've just started calling him Barack Hussein. That took care of the Obama Osama problem.

2 posted on 04/03/2008 8:22:17 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (How many more "scientists and researchers" can the taxpayers afford to support with Federal grants?)
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To: Right-Wing Champion

>> at largely liberal Skidmore College. An overflow assembly of more than 600 people

fish in a barrel


3 posted on 04/03/2008 8:27:02 PM PDT by Gene Eric
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To: Right-Wing Champion

This is such a shame. When I lived in NY from the 1950’s - 1960’s Skidmore was all girls, fairly exclusive and expensive school. It went coed in the 80’s I guess the students their now have taken on the Liberal approach to entertaining a guest on campus.


4 posted on 04/03/2008 8:37:30 PM PDT by mojo114
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To: mojo114

Maybe they should rename “Skidmore” to “Slipmore,” since they seem to be sliding more and more to the left. I heard
John Ashcroft speak in Memphis (before he was our attorney general)at a family values rally. I loved what he had to say about his godly father. Much later he was asked by the press what he thought of Islam. He said, and I quote, “Islam
is a religion that sends their sons out to die for their god. But Christianity is a faith that has a God that sent His Son out to die for for His enemies.”


5 posted on 04/03/2008 9:08:14 PM PDT by LetMarch
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To: LetMarch

Oh My!


6 posted on 04/03/2008 9:16:43 PM PDT by mojo114
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To: LetMarch

“Islam is a religion that sends their sons out to die for their god. But Christianity is a faith that has a God that sent His Son out to die for His enemies.”

Thank you very much for that post.


7 posted on 04/03/2008 9:23:14 PM PDT by Gator113 (Obama has "changed" me. I am now "a Typical White Person”.)
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To: Right-Wing Champion
One student, Jamie Worrall, expected Ashcroft's talk to reverberate in classroom discussions. "There are so many topics that were brought up tonight," said Worrall, 21, of Massachusetts. "It's just quite overwhelming."

That's alright chicky. We understand that liberals have a hard time processing information larger than a soundbite at a time.

8 posted on 04/03/2008 9:27:17 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Benedict Arnold, the Rosenbergs and Joe Kennedy were all against the Terrorist Surveillance Program)
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To: LetMarch

“Islam
is a religion that sends their sons out to die for their god. But Christianity is a faith that has a God that sent His Son out to die for for His enemies.”

Love that statement, you gotta love this guy.


9 posted on 04/03/2008 9:43:55 PM PDT by garylmoore (Faith is the assurance of things unseen.)
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To: Right-Wing Champion

Skidmore has always been lib.....I can’t imagine sending my kids there.


10 posted on 04/03/2008 9:46:54 PM PDT by wardaddy (I just bought my daughter a Mini-Cooper, man....that thing is a blast......I need one.)
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To: mojo114
They are still girls...queers for the most part. What has happened to the schools in the northeast is a crime! There is almost no conservative voice in any of the great schools along the New York Thruway. No wonder that the state is now almost solid D’crap. There used to be a balance between the upstate voters and the city/island vote..now there is no hope. Sad, sad times.
11 posted on 04/03/2008 10:50:52 PM PDT by BatGuano
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To: BatGuano

I disagree. It was the college’s Young Republican Assembly that sponsored Ashcroft’s visit, which was (according to other reports) partially funded by the ultra-dominant Republican party of the Saratoga County region. Plus, ol’ Joe Bruno (R) is still Senate majority leader of the whole state.


12 posted on 04/03/2008 11:02:42 PM PDT by Right-Wing Champion (God Bless the USA- Home of the free, because of the brave.)
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To: Right-Wing Champion

God bless John Ashcroft.


13 posted on 04/04/2008 12:38:43 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat ((I am SO glad to no longer be associated with the party of Dependence on Government!))
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To: Right-Wing Champion

John Ashcroft is a true patriot and we should be thankful that people such as himself are dedicated to the preservation of liberty and justice in our society. I found his book “Never Again” very informative.


14 posted on 04/04/2008 4:08:21 AM PDT by RU88
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To: Right-Wing Champion

And yet if the speaker were Janet Reno, the mass murderess of innocents at Waco, the little Marxists would have stood in line to fallate her.


15 posted on 04/04/2008 4:11:23 AM PDT by Skooz (Any nation that would elect Hillary Clinton as its president has forfeited its right to exist.)
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To: LetMarch
Are u a Skidmore Alum? I am and I think Skidmore has actually gotten a bit more conservative then in years past. When I first got there it was a shit ton of hippies sprinkled in with a few metros and preppy kids now when I go back to campus i have no idea where I am. Conservative speakers’ lectures are more attended then any other lectures. Skidmore definitely is still very liberal but the fact that students at a liberal college will attend a lecture arranged by SYRA is a step towards the middle don't you think?
16 posted on 04/07/2008 1:54:25 AM PDT by 4merStudnt421
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