The Amazing Ashcroft
Brian Doherty's "Ashcroft's Power Grab" (June) seemed more like an assault on the attorney general's character than an examination of whether he has compromised civil rights. I agree that the USA PATRIOT Act and the ever expanding police state is cause for grave concern. But Doherty doesn't offer a better solution.
Our nation's security has been penetrated. We now have two options. The first is to simply pick up the pieces each time everything blows up. The second is to take some pre-emptive action and try to deny the bad guys their opportunity. The best measures would be adequate tracking of foreign nationals in the U.S., maintenance of military and intelligence capabilities, and a more solid commitment to national defense. Why didn't Doherty write about this?
Farrar Puckett
Manzanita, OR
If John Ashcroft were a true conservative, he'd respect states' rights and limited powers for the federal government. Yet ever since taking office, he's used his authority to increase those powers. In doing so, he has revealed conservatives' hypocrisy. They say they want to limit government and respect personal liberty but instead they act to increase government's power to advance their own narrow agenda.
Stephen V. Gilmore
Charlotte, NC
The violence John Ashcroft has done to the Constitution and to civil liberties -- and the further potential danger he poses to both -- cry out for illumination and coherent discussion. Sadly, Brian Doherty's sophomoric screed, which focuses almost entirely on the irrelevant topic of the unpopularity of Ashcroft's religious beliefs in leftist media and academic circles, is neither illuminating nor terribly coherent.
Robert J. Stepp
Monument, CO
I have come to expect articles in reason to be of the highest quality. Imagine my surprise when I read "Ashcroft's Power Grab." I expected an erudite analysis of the legal decisions Ashcroft made that are unpopular with libertarians. What I got was a misrepresentation of facts, personal slander that in places degenerated into hysterics, slippery logic, and a distinct lack of hard information.
Doherty's summary of Ashcroft's career until he became attorney general is particularly deceptive. He went from a virtual nobody to the highest legal officer in the land, and Doherty thinks he's a loser?
Mark Alliksaar
Scarborough, Ontario
Canada
l could perhaps tolerate a little bit of mixed-up editorial belching, but gee whiz, Brian Doherty: "cornpone hokum" in Branson, Missouri, that "difficult little state." As a native of the area (not an Assembler), I have to defend it.
That quadrant of Missouri, you should know, is the Earth's hottest spot of devotion to duty-honor-God-and-country (choose your order). That may seem hopelessly naive to those enthralled with the Upper East Side, but consider who is more likely to populate the Special Forces. And nowhere is devotion to individual liberty stronger -- it's the core of the Ozarker's DNA.
Jack Robinson
Via e-mail
Brian Doherty replies: In response to Robert Stepp, my piece was intended as a profile of the attorney general's career, not merely a discussion of his civil liberties record (though that was covered too, particularly in the sidebar). In discussing Ashcroft's career and character and considering what to expect from him in the future, his religion and the strongly negative reaction of many highly influential Americans to his beliefs are important. Showing respect for a public figure's beliefs does not mean one has to ignore them.
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