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Who encouraged the 93 US Attorneys to lobby members of Congress who voted for an amendment to prohibit DOJ funds to be used to enforce ""sneak and peak"" warrants? Who failed to bring any new cases against any police departments for police misconduct or abuse and attempted to change the definition of racial profiling to undermine future litigation? Who killed a pilot program that provided federal money to pay for DNA testing to exonerate innocent inmates? Who issued an order that certified federal agents to repeal the licenses of any doctor who prescribed lethal drugs for terminally ill patients? Who further blurred the line between church and state by conducting daily sessions of prayer and Bible study at the DOJ, while being a major proponent of Bush's faith based initiative and working to create a legal theory that would withstand a constitutional challenge to direct federal funding of religious groups including churches, synagogues and mosques? And who thumbed his nose at the First Amendment right to dissent by telling Congress that anyone who raised concerns about his actions would ""aid terrorists"" and ""give ammunition to America's enemies"? In the wake of 9/11, it is understandable that the American people were traumatized and terrified that the next shoe would soon drop – on them. But John Ashcroft and his politically-appointed cronies at the Justice Department blatantly exploited that fear. They pandered to the worst instincts of the American people. Let us not forget that it was John Ashcroft who hastily convened a taxpayer-financed satellite press conference while on a trip to Moscow to proclaim that the U.S. had arrested a man who planned to use a radiological “dirty bomb” to blow up apartment buildings in the U.S. (a charge that was nowhere to be found when American citizen Jose Padilla was finally put on trial after three years of virtually incommunicado imprisonment.) And, speaking of cronies, let us note that Mr. Ashcroft’s loyalty to the president is not without its upside. Recently, the U.S. Attorney for the New Jersey, Christopher Christie, selected Ashcroft, his former boss, as one of four attorneys hired in a no-bid process to monitor five medical device manufacturers companies that New Jersey prosecutors had investigated for funneling kickbacks to orthopedic surgeons. Ashcroft's contract will bring his legal and consulting firm between $27 million and $52 million for monitoring compliance at Indiana-based Zimmer Holdings, Inc. So The Eagle will soar – all the way to the bank.
http://billfisher.blogspot.com William Fisher has managed economic development programs in the Middle East and elsewhere for the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development. He served in the international affairs area in the Kennedy Administration and now writes on subjects ranging from human rights to foreign affairs for a number of newspapers ond online journals.
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