The Angry Liberal Commentary Archive:
Ashcroft's Policy on Terrorist Gun Purchases:
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
"Let the terrorists among us be warned: If you overstay your visa - even by one day - we will arrest you. If you violate a local law, you will be put in jail and kept in custody as long as possible. We will use every available statute. We will seek every prosecutorial advantage. We will use all our weapons within the law and under the Constitution to protect life and enhance security for America."
Attorney General John Ashcroft, U.S. Mayors Conference, 10/25/01
"Bullsh*t."
Well, folks, our beloved Attorney General is now officially a liar. Not a "Clinton-esque" liar, where one might deny an affair under oath. This is the kind of lie that could cost American lives. Yesterday we learned that Ashcroft will use every means at his disposal to fight terrorism - as long as it's all right with the National Rifle Association.
It seems that Ashcroft is ready to dispense with every civil liberty in existence in the name of an as-yet-undeclared war on terrorists. Ashcroft will snoop around their bank accounts, their tax returns, their e-mail messages, their conversations with their attorneys, hold them indefinitely without charges, and even deny them access to our courts. But he draws the line at searching the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) audit log to see if suspected terrorists have purchased guns.
You heard right. Ashcroft is willing to suspend all sorts of rights and liberties to determine whether a suspected terrorist got an e-mail from Aunt Minnie, purchased a Tickle Me Elmo Surprise from Toys-R-Us.com, or missed a decimal place on his 1040EZ. For some reason, however, Ashcroft has no interest in whether the suspected terrorist purchased 157 high-powered semi-automatic rifles during the last three weeks.
Why wouldn't the Justice Department want the FBI to have this information? Wouldn't the FBI have a passing interest in whether a suspect was armed to the teeth? There is only one possible explanation: Giving the FBI access to this information might make the NRA mad. The National Rifle Association, which recently declared Ashcroft "instrumental in helping America maintain our 30,000 annual gun deaths," might take offense if anybody starts snooping around gun purchase records. Never mind that refusing to access the NICS log makes Ashcroft a liar, breaking his promise to use every means at his disposal to fight terrorism.
Kids, if there were ever a shred of doubt as to who Republicans like Ashcroft are really working for, it was removed yesterday. Nothing comes between the attorney general and the NRA. Not even a war against terrorism. Not even at the potential cost of the lives of FBI agents and civilians.
In his appearance on 12/6 in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft said this:
``To those who pit Americans against immigrants and citizens against noncitizens, to those who scare peaceloving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends.''
Ashcroft is apparently interested in depriving America's enemies of ammunition only in the figurative sense.
So, terrorists, beware! Take care not to surf to controversial websites. Double-check your tax forms before filing them. Take care to balance your checkbooks. If you're being held in custody, don't talk to your attorneys about anything except the weather. But feel free to make all of the firearms purchases you want. Attorney General Ashcroft will do all he can to see that the FBI will never know.
No wonder Ashcroft lost his last election bid to a dead guy.
. . .The Angry Liberal
12/08/01
