perfidy

I weep tears of joy and yet I am frightened at who W picks next. Will he be someone who wastes money covering up the boobies of Lady Justice? Or will they be another yes man who desires to trample upon my civil liberties. Just a thought.

Interesting that the letter is dated Nov 2nd. Is Ashcroft going to run for the governor or senate seat in MO again? (wasn't that why he was offered the AG job in the first place?)

I don't see that quote in the link you provided. Ashcroft was never quite the bugbear that many on the left percieved him to be: and personally, if reporters insisted on framing all photos in my press conferences so that lady liberty's breasts were bracketing my head, I might think about covering it up as well.

Buckethead, click through to page 3-- it's in there. I agree he's gotten a bad rap... insofar as AG's go, Reno was an unmitigated disaster. I very much appreciate Ashcroft's work on thwarting the rest of the Administration's moves toward secret tribunals and indefinite detentions.

Maps-- all cabinet officers tender their resignations on election day. It's up to the President to accept them.

My spidey-sense tells me that, apart from being physically sick and tired from the demands of the AG job, John Ashcroft: Eternal Campaigner left before the stink of Gitmo and the Patriot Act (rightly or wrongly) permeates his reputation among voters.

It looks like the new guy is Gonzales, who is great except for one thing: he's">http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4999734/]he's the author of the infamous memos arguing that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to the Great All Consuming War on Terror. Ergo: torture, detentions, general perfidy: (legally definsible and therefore) ok!

Maps,
This will get worse for you before it gets better.

Imagine Ashcroft on the Supreme Court, for example.

GL - That thought is enough to give me an ulcer...

As a guy who thinks Ashcroft's primary role has been "lightning rod", I'd say he's done the job well. I discount 95% of the claims that he's prosecuted his job to the detriment of civil liberties in the US.

Having said that and let it sink in, I'd then be forced to follow with the thought that his claim in the resignation letter is vacuous and self-serving, and that while it's technically true today, the fact it can be proven false by an event tomorrow means it ain't really true at all, right?

Maps, a lot of conservatives are very happy that Gonazales is nominated for AG, as it means that he won't be Bush's first choice for the eventual supreme court nominee. He is viewed as to soft on many social issues. Among their favorites are Miguel Estrada and Ted Olson, the Solicitor General. Many also believe that when Rehnquist leaves the court - after this session in all likelihood - Bush will elevate Scalia to Chief Justice and nominate Estrada to Associate.