Ashcroft Nostalgia: Gonzales is making John Ashcroft look good.

[jbfam4]

Ashcroft Nostalgia

By Ruth Marcus http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/25/AR2006072501308.html
Wednesday, July 26, 2006; A17



Alberto Gonzales is achieving something remarkable, even miraculous, as attorney general: He is making John Ashcroft look good.

I was no fan of President Bush's first attorney general, who may be best remembered for holding prayer breakfasts with department brass, hiding the bare-breasted statue in the Great Hall of Justice behind an $8,000 set of drapes, and warning darkly that those who differed with administration policy were giving aid to terrorists.

But as I watched Gonzales testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, it struck me: In terms of competence (the skill with which he handles the job) and character (willingness to stand up to the president), Gonzales is enough to make you yearn for the good old Ashcroft days.

Gonzales is an amiable man, not nearly so polarizing or ideological as his predecessor. If you were given the old desert-island choice between the two, he would be the better option -- more likely to share the rainwater, less likely to make you listen to him sing. (If you've ever heard Ashcroft's "Let the Eagle Soar," you know what I mean.)

Where Ashcroft was hard-edged and combative, Gonzales is pleasant and seemingly imperturbable. He's always reminded me a bit of the Pillsbury doughboy: No matter how hard he's poked, he springs back, smiling.

[peace frog]

1. How low the standards have fallen

that scary John Ashcroft looks good compared to "Torture Boy" Gonzales.

[ladjf]

3. Sad but true. (nt)

[ladjf]

2. At least Ashcroft could sing.

[theoldman]

4. I think that Gonzales is very competent but so was Pol Pot.

[ladjf]

5. That kind of competence we don't need. nt

[Sherman A1]

6. Agreed

[valerief]

7. Oh, great, two choices: Chainsaw Whisperboy or the Lunatic Warbler. n/t

[cliss]

8. Don't be fooled by that baggy-eyed creep.

(I'm referring to John Ass___________ insert whatever you want here)> I've never seen so many adjectives as after that man's name.

Don't fall into the Good AG versus the Bad AG. John Ashcrap was the builder/contractor of the mess we are living with today. Think of him as the contractor who poured the cement.

Gonzalez was the carpenter who built the house. That does not let Ashcrash off the hook.

[bemildred]

9. Amazing asshole, he was.

Gonzales is the runt of the two.
Ashcroft was Anslinger-like in his ignorant authoritarianism.
I can't remember that last AG I thought much of though.

[Vidar]

10. Unfortunately true.

[patcox2]

11. Ashcroft was the only cabinet member who stood up to Bush.

He was a religious loon, but he was not a member of the Bush Cult of incompetent ideologues.

Remember, he refused to sign off on the torture, when Gonzalez brought the memo to his bedside in the hospital.

[CPMaz]

12. Nah.

Evil is evil.

'Nuff said.