[dts32041]

Posted with out comment, I figure the Kool Aid drinkers will do that.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Consider? the ?source?, I always? say.

[Russell Scott]

A black helicoptor flew over my house today pulling a banner that said "John Ashcroft is watching you."

[MissAmericanPie]

I would like to know your opinion, do you trust these powers in the hands of Gore or Hillary? Given Bill's use of the IRS to punish his enemies, and their theft of FBI files, what fun he would have had with these capabilities.

Will we never have another Clinton type personality in office? What are your thoughts on the matter?

[donozark]

Contrary to what author states, the voters of Missouri DID want John Ashcroft re-elected. The well documented cases of fraud that have so plagued St.Louis for years, were responsible for his loss, just as they were the defeat of PROP B (CCW) in 1999. I have several articles bookmarked for all to read, which point out the degree of fraud in St.L. 25K "dual residents." Ex-cons. Dead people. Even dogs...were voting.

No excuse for author not knowing this. Another "hit piece" on Ashcroft.

[Rockyrich]

We could always think of Janut Elrenio. Could she do better??

[Dr. Frank fan]

For some reason, John Ashcroft became the anointed bogeyman for all those people who worry about totalitarianism. If a law is passed which "takes away" "some of our most precious rights", it's also (for some reason) "just what John Ashcroft wanted". The image painted is that John Ashcroft secretly craves a totalitarian police state.

I have no idea where people get this idea. There's no actual evidence for it.

And the only possible explanation I can think of is that people have so easily gotten this idea about John Ashcroft because he's a relatively religious person.

I mean, even ignorant high school kids and 55 year old ex-hippie grandmas who don't know jack squat about John Ashcroft still seem convinced that he "wants" a totalitarian police state, and John Ashcroft (about whom they know nothing, except of course that he's religious) "scares" them. Again, the only reason I can think of for why this might be is that people like that are easily convinced that any person who is religious must want a police state.

It's just interesting, that's all.

[joesnuffy]

Wait for Hillary to get in and she can replace Ashcroft
With Chief Moose
No Profiling Of Middle Eastern Men
Open Borders
CAIR
When if comes time to justify the budget...who will they arrest to satisfy their hunger...
the arrestees will be PC as always...imo

[ozzymandus]

Typical leftist hit piece on Ashcroft, loaded with untruths.

[Rockyrich]

We could always think of Janut Elrenio. Could she do better??

[AppyPappy]

Thompson's on the sauce again. He's seeing pink elephants.

[pgyanke]

What a bunch of excrement. The sources I have read-- that haven't been a bunch of hyped up scare-mongers-- say that the reforms being pushed roll back 30 years of Democrackhead dilution of our intelligence capabilities.

Do I trust any government official farther than I can throw them? Nope. However, I'll take a crack at trusting this administration to put things to right over the echoing voices of the previous administration.

[SpaceBar]

Next time you talk to a lib, ask them to specifically enumerate what rights Ashcroft has taken from them. Then watch them stammer and resort to name calling.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

Any aspect of our government with these new enhanced powers scares me. A President Hitlery Rodham with these powers will make me leave the country as that just down right terrifies the hell out of me.

[dirtboy]

Armed with ominous tools like the USA Patriot Act and the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness System, Ashcroft and his legions are turning this country into a police state where every American is a file number, every citizen is a suspect and every action a reason for suspicion.

Uh, Doug, TIA doesn't even exist yet, it's a concept with a $10 million budget over in the Defense Department - and last I checked, Ashcroft was the AG, not the Secretary of Defense.

He has authorized the creation of massive databases to track American gun owners, American travel and the day-to-day financial transactions of all Americans. The new databases will allow Uncle Sam to know how much money you have in the bank, how you spend it, where you go on any given day of the week, what guns you own, what cars you drive and when and where you buy gas, groceries or condoms.

Ashcroft did not authorize this. I think TIA is a bad idea and any research of the government into data mining methods should be an effort to better manage their existing information stream. But Doug, for someone who hectors journalists about failing to check sources, you some blatant mistakes here. Your columns are usually much more accurate than this.

[Savvymusician]

I'm no koolaid drinker by any means and I am afraid there is an element of truth in this editorial. There is no doubting the fact that the Poindexter computer is on its way to encroaching the privacy rights of millions of Americans, including gun owners, and Ashcroft is deeply involved in this administration which is promoting this. This new computer system has the potential to create a Gestapo-like world in America. One of the first things Ashcroft and Bush did after George started his presidency was to take over that little Baptist church, with ATF agents on nearby rooftops, just because they didn't feel they had to pay the Feds taxes on their employees.

[Deb]

What garbage.

As an official hostess at the Koolaid Bistro, let me just say that writing and posting such over-the-top, alarmist propaganda about an agency, an AG and a President will buy you the credibility of a post when a real threat to our liberties comes along.

The TIA doesn't exist and when/if it does it will belong to the Pentagon. The other nonsense you've toggled together in the Joe Conason-like hit piece, I'll let others correct...the smell on this thread is making me queasy.

[verity]

BS Alert!

[FreeLibertarian]

Its time for Ashcroft to go!

[MattAMiller]

Hens and crumbleing firmament come to mind.

This database is far from an inevitabilty. Even for someone who wanted a police state it's an enormously ineffecient way to go about it.

[snooker]

1. fire
2. set
3. ready
4. and lastly, get facts about what you are intending to write/speak.

... oops by the time we get to step 4 we have already done steps 1-3.

The usual disinformation. Read the actual source data for yourself.

snooker