Why John Ashcroft won't completely deserve having his grave pissed on.

[BurtWorm]

Some people, even horribly, horribly right wing people who did a great deal of damage to the Constitution and would do more if given the chance, nevertheless occasionally demonstrate glimmers of supreme principle. Consider this moment, in a George Washington University Hospital bed, when Alberto Gonzales (whose grave will probably deserve every ounce of piss it receives and then some) tried to foist warrantless wiretapping on John Ashcroft when he was barely conscious and, therefore, not "acting" attorney general (James Comey, who related this in testimony before the Senate Judiciary meeting today, was):


http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2007/05/15/comey_testimony/index.html

COMEY: ...

I sat down in an armchair by the head of the attorney general's bed. The two other Justice Department people stood behind me. And Mrs. Ashcroft stood by the bed holding her husband's arm. And we waited.

And it was only a matter of minutes that the door opened and in walked Mr. Gonzales, carrying an envelope, and Mr. Card. They came over and stood by the bed. They greeted the attorney general very briefly. And then Mr. Gonzales began to discuss why they were there -- to seek his approval for a matter, and explained what the matter was -- which I will not do.

And Attorney General Ashcroft then stunned me. He lifted his head off the pillow and in very strong terms expressed his view of the matter, rich in both substance and fact, which stunned me -- drawn from the hour-long meeting we'd had a week earlier -- and in very strong terms expressed himself, and then laid his head back down on the pillow, seemed spent, and said to them, "But that doesn't matter, because I'm not the attorney general."


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If someone can find a similarly principled moment from Fallwell's life, I'll reconsider the full justice of soaking his grave in piss.

[MadMaddie]

1. Well he was massively doped up at the time....if thats what it takes

I suppose it's a good thing....just sayin..

[BurtWorm]

2. If that's what it took, all I can say is..

Legalize it!

[MadMaddie]

4. Hah Love the picture and love your words....

[aquart]

3. Yes. This is why Ashcroft will be allowed into heaven.

Or at least a reasonably short purgatory.

[SharonAnn]

5. And it's probably also why he finally resigned. That kind of behavior

was something that he couldn't agree with and couldn't support.

I've always respected true conservatives who live what they believe, and true conservatives believe in the Constitution.

I disagree with them on just about everything, but I respect their willingness to live according to their beliefs.

[salin]

6. I agree. As I read that exchange earlier today I remembered

a Duers assessment (of which I was skeptical at the time) - that when he resigned that it was because he had become sick and tired of acting in ways against his values per the directive of bushco. At the time, all I could think of was his own opportunitistic moments as AG - and couldn't agree with the assessment. But the idea did stick with me (as I remember it years later) as a... I don't think so... but... maybe...? After reading this testimony by Comey, I think that the DUer (and I can't remember who said it - or I would give credit where credit is due) was more on the mark than not. He still presided over some ugly stuff - but the politicization we have read about - and the egregious violations of justice - all appear to have happened after Ashcroft resigned.

Dang. I *never* thought I would say this, but I have a grudging bit of respect for Ashcroft based on this congressional testimony by Comey.

[EST]

7. It's been reportied he was nice to his mother.

[BurtWorm]

8. In an outhouse.

:hide:

[Marie26]

9. Here's another one

One US Attorney, Sharon Eubanks, said that Gonzales pressured her to drop a case against the tobacco companies. She said that Gonzales' style was drastically different from Ashcroft's. In their first meeting, Ashcroft emphasized that US Attorneys should be totally independent, & act without political bias. He also met w/her regularly to oversee the tobacco case, one of the biggest lawsuits ever brought by the DOJ. When Gonzales came into power, he never once met with her, never once discussed this huge case w/her. Instead, he sent his minions to weaken & undermine her case, and later pressured her to lower the judgment amount. Ashcroft seems to have had some principles; Gonzales was just a personal lackey for Bushco.

[BurtWorm]

10. Ashcroft, obviously, was very far from perfect.

I think in particular of his brutal warning to critics of the administration, including Democrats in Congress, in the wake of the Patriot Act. But Gonzales is a complete fraud and, as you say, lackey. Gonzalez is John Mitchell bad. As bad as Ashcroft was, he was, apparently, not in that league of badness.

[BurtWorm]

11. kick

[Javaman]

12. I won't piss, just spit and perhaps do a little jig, but that's it. nt