JUSTICE COVERS 'NUDE' STATUES

DRUDGE ^ | 01/28/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Fed up with having his picture taken during events in the Justice Department's Great Hall in front of semi-nude statues, Attorney General John Ashcroft has reportedly ordered massive draperies to conceal the offending figures -- which have been displayed since the 1930s!

The draperies were installed last week at a cost of just over $8,000, reports ABCNEWS.com's Beverley Lumpkin.

At the center of the controversy: two enormous and stylized but largely naked aluminum statues.

The female figure represents the Spirit of Justice; the male on the right is the Majesty of Justice. The male is clad in only a cloth draped over his essential parts; the female wears a sort of toga-style garment, but one breast is entirely exposed.

Last November, during a press conference announcing new challenges of fighting terrorism, Ashcroft was photographed with the naked breast right over his shoulder!

The snap ran in major papers.

Developing...

[Cold Heat]

Shoveit!

[Rate_Determining_Step]

Why did he have to take the most bone-headed option available?

Why did those damn Republicans close down the government in 1995?

Because the Democrat press said they did. ;-)

You completly missed it. Fanned it. Swung and got air. You're blaming this on the press. Boo-hoo. Time for Republicans to grow a backbone. JA was presented with something he didn't like. He made a choice. I think it was just about the worst choice he could have made. Real smart guy there. I also came up with one thing that would have been worse (putting a pastie on it).

Why are you cutting Gomer slack here?

Face it, at best, JA isn't professional. At worst, he's the kind of guy who covers up breasts on statues 'cause he feels it's immoral.

[an amused spectator]

By Beverley Lumpkin, ABC News

WASHINGTON - About three weeks ago, I received a tip. The attorney general was fed up with having his picture taken during events in the Great Hall in front of semi-nude statues.

He had ordered massive draperies to conceal the offending figures. But initially not only could the story not be confirmed — it was strongly denied.

As some of you may know the Justice Department building was constructed during the 1930s as a WPA project, completed in 1934. The artwork and fittings were strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement. Much of the ornamentation in the building is made of aluminum, apparently a big Art Deco feature.




The Great Hall is basically what it sounds like — a large, even grand, two-story room used for department events and ceremonies. The formal entrance up a winding stairway is adorned with murals depicting great figures in the history of law, including Moses, Hammurabi, and John Marshall.

At the opposite end of the hall, on either side of the stage, are two enormous and stylized but largely naked aluminum statues. On the left, the female figure represents the Spirit of Justice; the male on the right is the Majesty of Justice. The male is clad in only a cloth draped over his essential parts; the female wears a sort of toga-style garment, but one breast is entirely exposed. She's been fondly referred to for years by at least some as "Minnie Lou."

And she's the one the photographers seek out. The most famous pictures of all were shot when former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese proudly released the final report of his commission on pornography. No one in the Great Hall that day could ever forget the spectacle of the still photographers writhing on the floor, flat on their backs, in order to grab the shot of Meese holding up the porn report with Minnie Lou's breast over his shoulder.

So there were some who wondered how Attorney General John Ashcroft, known as a strongly religious and conservative man, would get along with the figures once he became attorney general.

For a long time he didn't seem to mind. But last November he and Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson staged a major event in the Great Hall, to announce their plans for restructuring the Justice Department to address the new challenge of fighting terrorism. Many papers the next day used a photo of the attorney general with — you guessed it — Minnie Lou and that breast right over his shoulder.

According to my original tipster, that was the final straw for Ashcroft, and he ordered that the statues henceforth be draped.

Public affairs people however denied any such thing. They stoutly maintained that the attorney general had never complained and that no draperies had been ordered. They pointed out that periodically, through different administrations, draperies were sometimes rented for particular events.

They noted that former spokeswoman Mindy Tucker always hated the statues; Mindy told me Thursday it was her view that half the women in the department were offended by them and the other half considered them art.

Well, I guess this is a lot of background to get to the point: the draperies have in fact been ordered. Minnie Lou and her mate now can only be imagined. The draperies installed last week at a cost of just over $8,000.

And it turns out that they were indeed ordered by someone in the attorney general's office, who delivered the request to the Justice Management Division and asserted it was the attorney general's desire. I'm told she was the only person in the attorney general's office who knew about it. She's his advance person, and she said it was done for "aesthetic purposes" — she just thought it would look better when staging events in the Great Hall.

So now it appears that rather than making an occasional appearance, the draperies are here to stay — unless and until someone has the temerity to request an event without them.

Reprinted from ABC News:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/
HallsOfJustice/hallsofjustice.html

[sneakypete]

I are having having fun at the expense of the biggest boob in Washington.

How bout you, Pete?

I think you are giving Ashcroft too much credit. Sure,he screwed up here with his fundie fears,but by DC standards he is a mere amateur. The RealDims are still the undisputed champs at this,but the DimReps are doing their best to close in fast,

[an amused spectator]

I can see you're not the brightest bulb in the box. The Democrat press does this kind of stuff because they can.

[sneakypete]

. Meese should have had some assistants empty buckets of kitchen slops on those little pee-ants.

You're kidding,right? Meese was the kind of cretin that makes crack heads look good by comparison.

[an amused spectator]

Actually, my suggestion was just a rule of thumb for dealing with ANY Democrat shill "reporters".

I'm not too familiar with Meese. Did he make Reno look like a rocket scientist?

[sneakypete]

You remind me of a friend I have. He's 55 now,and smoked ever since he was 14. He only smokes on Saturday and Sunday when he is drinking beer,though. I have no idea how he gets away with this. I sure as hell can't. If I ever have to face anything harder than quitting cigarettes,I'm screwed.

[sweetliberty]

Spoken like a normal heterosexual man!

[Rate_Determining_Step]

I can see you're not the brightest bulb in the box. The Democrat press does this kind of stuff because they can.

It's what, 2002... and you still won't come to terms with the liberal press? Do you think you can whine to the liberal press about the transgressions of the liberal press?!! Are you fully retarted, or what?

[sneakypete]

Maybe....by people who don't have any morals....

The people lacking in morals are those afraid of getting boners over a aluminum tit.

[an amused spectator]

Are you fully retarted, or what?

Strawberry retart, or blueberry retart? retorted an amused spectator. ;-)

[sneakypete]

This is true; however, Lumpy wrote the real truth: The natural habitat of a liberal "newsperson" is in the dirt. ;-)

Yup,it's no exaggeration to say both types NEED each other to be fulfilled. Meanwhile,most of us would be content to do without the freak shows.

[sweetliberty]

"I wish he hadn't done that. It plays into every 'Puritan', 'anti-culture', etc. etc. etc. stereotype that the left brandishes against the right."

You meant they're not screaming "government cover-up?"

I have visions of a Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielson film where the statues don clothing every time Ashcroft enters the room.

I agree with you Laz. Tastefully nude statues have always been, for the most part, acceptable as works of art. At least so far nobody has demanded that they be changed to statues of a bi-racial homosexual "couple" brazenly pawing each other or of the virgin Mary holding a glass of urine.

[JoeMomma]

Ashcroft is just making himself to be a laughing stock. This is probably Ashcroft's idea of REAL art ...

[Dane]

The people lacking in morals are those afraid of getting boners over a aluminum tit

Why do you? The rubber cousin of Ms. Aluminum Justice that you are dating may get jealous.

Anyway you are missing the point. This is Ashcroft exercising his right to stop pictures being splattered on front pages across the nation embarrassing him.

[JoeMomma]

This is Ashcroft exercising his right to stop pictures being splattered on front pages across the nation embarrassing him.

Oh yeah ... it's the statues that are embarrassing Ashcroft. Ol' Ashcroft seems to be doing a fine job of embarrassing himself without any help from the statues.

Face it. Ashcroft is a prude and wasted taxpayer money to satisfy his ignorant behavior.

[sneakypete]

I'm not too familiar with Meese. Did he make Reno look like a rocket scientist?

He spent about a gazillion bucks hiring researchers to screen x-rated movies ,regular movie,magazines,etc,etc,etc to determine "what is porn" so he and the feds could stop it. He'd get all red in the face while describing PlayBoy as "hard-core porn". In short,he was a alien from another planet who spent a LOT of our tax bucks to watch porn movies and get paid for it. Of course,watching this stuff never harmed him or his researchers. They were made of far sterner stuff than we mere mortals whose who lives would be totally destroyed if we saw somebody nekkid. He wanted to put people in jail for looking at this stuff,to "protect them from themselves,and to keep them from destroying our society".(paraphrase)

He was SOOOO heartbroken when he called his little press conference to rant and rave,and everybody laughed at him.

[BikerNYC]

Look at that! The dog is passing a card under the table with his paw!! LOL. It works on so many levels! Teeheehee.

[Dane]

Oh yeah ... it's the statues that are embarrassing Ashcroft. Ol' Ashcroft seems to be doing a fine job of embarrassing himself without any help from the statues.

Face it. Ashcroft is a prude and wasted taxpayer money to satisfy his ignorant behavior

You can rant all you want, but let me ask you a question. Would you appreciate a picture of you with that big boob hanging over you on every front page in the country? Would you compliment the photographer for taking the picture?