John Ashcroft testifies before the Senate.This post has been altered to promote national unity.
John Ashcroft is the wrong attorney general for the U.S. right now. Critics believe that detaining hundreds of people without charges and using military tribunals instead of due process may actually help undermine the Constitution.
During his less-than-cooperative testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft offered this chillingly unambiguous response to his critics: “to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists.”
Congressional oversight is not welcomed by Ashcroft, since questioning his judgment is unpatriotic. His unwillingness to acknowledge these types of concerns bears troubling witness to the idea that he is trampling on rather than defending civil liberties.
