ashcroft

ashcroft rests

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Tonight ashcroft is doing something he is marginally qualified for:

John Ashcroft’s nationwide tour to defend the government’s new surveillance powers in terrorism probes has stopped for the night. The U.S. attorney general is settling in at Comerica Park to watch some baseball

Remember that this is the guy who was so down and out that he could not even beat a dead man:

Two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the conservative Republican from Missouri has become the most powerful attorney general in decades.
Since losing his seat in the U.S. Senate to a dead man in the 2000 elections and barely surviving Senate confirmation hearings for his current job, Ashcroft emerged after 9/11 as one of the most formidable members of the Bush administration. At the heart of Ashcroft’s influence, and his awakening from what senior Justice Department officials describe as an unfocused first few months in office in 2001, is the increased surveillance authority granted to federal agents by the Patriot Act.

Overall this USA Today article is pretty decent.

Welcoming ashcroft

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Scott at the Gamer’s Nook reports that herr ashcroft is now being well received as he enters his closed door events on his tyranny tour. Bostonians greeted ashcroft with middle fingers, boos, hisses and:

Ashcroft was bombarded by cries of “Shame!” and the sound of the “Imperial Death March” from the movie “Star Wars” as he entered a meeting with law enforcement officials in Faneuil Hall.

As ashcroft morphs into his natural persona he might want to strive for the full Darth ashcroft look.

Should YouTrust Big Brother

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Jeralyn Merrit wonders:

We don’t know why people aren’t screaming bloody murder about this.

The this is CAPPS II, the new airline passenger screening system currently under development.
Yes, why aren’t we up in arms about this? Go read Jeralyn’s post and the related links. CAPPS II looks like Total Information Awareness is alive and well not something 5 years away as Fox News argues:

Any real development of TIA technology is more than five years away, so concerns that the technology will be abused are speculative, at best.

Well, since Fox’s 5 year forecast is clearly speculative why would we expect it not to be abused.
Gosh, just imagine, you are headed to New York next summer to provide peaceful input to the GOP convention but, oops, your color is red and you don’t get to go. What set of data in the fed files might cause this to happen?
Even though the absence of information may be as problematic as the information the feds have you just might want to start making yourself a little less visible by learning how to use cash again.

Aiding and Abetting?

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rumsfeld tells the world:

… opposition to the U.S. President was encouraging Washington’s enemies and hindering his ‘war against terrorism’.

Is he accusing the opposition of aiding and abetting the enemy? And will this prompt another round of talk show blathering about critics of bush policy being treasonous?
According to that great upholder of civil liberties ashcroft:

Peaceful political discourse and dissent is one of America�s most cherished freedoms, and is not subject to investigation as domestic terrorism. Under the Patriot Act, the definition of �domestic terrorism� is limited to conduct that (1) violates federal or state criminal law and (2) is dangerous to human life. Therefore, peaceful political organizations engaging in political advocacy will obviously not come under this definition. (Patriot Act, Section 802)

Just how big a step is it from rummies words to the FBI knocking on your door.
It must be time to step up the dissent even more.
Via a Scott at The Gamer’s Nook.

Taking on ashcroft’s campaign

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The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights filets an August 19th ashcroft speech.
ashcroft also announced a Patiot Act propaganda site: preserving life & liberty. blargblog took some issue with the campaign:

Angered by the ACLU’s lawsuit against what they consider the PATRIOT Act’s “radical expansion” of surveillance powers, the Ashcroftians have targeted three main ACLU claims as myths: 1) the suppression of political dissent through intimidation, 2) the surveillance of library usage and 3) the “sneek and peek” provision delaying notification of surveillance skirts the Fourth Ammendment. Go read it for yourself to see if you can spot gaping holes in the DOJ’s collective memory or some fine legal points it deliberately elides.

The Angry Bear found Dave Ross‘ defense of the patriot act wanting.
For a view supporting the patriot act from a philosophical perspective take a look at at David Veksler’s posts here and here.
Via beSpacific.