Free Republic

The Siege at Ruby Ridge is often considered a pivotal date in American history. The shootout between Randy Weaver and his family and federal agents on August 21, 1992, is one that kicked off the Constitutional Militia Movement and left America with a deep distrust of its leadership – in particular then-President George H.W. Bush and eventual President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno. The short version is this: Randy Weaver and his wife Vicki moved with their four kids to the Idaho Panhandle, near the Canadian border, to escape what they thought was an increasingly corrupt world. The...

<p>That paragon of rectitude and competence, former Attorney General Janet Reno, disapproves of the way her successor, John Ashcroft, is doing his job. Speaking to university students in Minnesota Monday, Miss Reno suggested that Mr. Ashcroft had questioned the patriotism of critics of the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terror. "It is important that we bring people to justice according to the principles of our Constitution," Miss Reno declared. "The day we start giving up our freedoms, the bad guys have won." While this editorial page has criticized Mr. Ashcroft's handling of some issues (such as the administration's push for military tribunals), he has done an outstanding job in the wake of September 11 of mobilizing U.S. law enforcement action to prevent more terrorist attacks on Americans.</p>