Article: A Follow-up To Ashcroft's Heroics, Comey Fills in The Gaps

A Follow-up To Ashcroft's Heroics, Comey Fills in The Gaps In a lifetime in which began for me in Camelot revisited, and heroes were grown in large bunches and cut down by dogs, to a latter period where money and all it can buy are more important than souls and those who say they are Christians or Muslims abuse the privilege of such honorable institutions as easily as those in government, sycophants, cowards and sneak-thieves and murderers. Attorney General John David Ashcroft and former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey are the heroes of the day. The Truth Outs Again in More Detail Below I excerpt from a newly posted speech by former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey at a meeting of the National Security Agency on May 3, 2007. Interspersed within are details of the wider story. In 2004, Comey and other Justice Department lawyers went to battle with the White House over the legality of NSA's warrantless surveillance program. However, his audience in May was unaware of the dispute. If you recall I reported the underlying story of the battle, which included an attempt by Alberto Gonzalez to take advantage of a seriously ill man after major surgery. Gonzales was sent by the White House to overrule Comey, who had said a resounding NO to their attempts to have him sign a statement that would destroy the system of habeas corpus by gaining the approval of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft. At that time, although under siege by the left for his Right Wing politics and his apparent attachment to Fundamentalist Religious Principles, as it turned out Mr. John David Ashcroft's principles, strong religious and ethical beliefs showed him to indeed, be a man, who, although he was frequently at odds with the Left, stood against Bush even and in spite a few of his thugs arriving to Mr. Ashcroft's room to try, it appeared to get him to sign off on the continued use of illegal surveillance. Quoted from my story:

Ashcroft's Principles Meets Gonzales Pimp-ciples http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_professo_070821_ashcroft_s_principle.htm August 21, 2007 at 00:25:52 "To his undying credit, the man who I at times lampooned and criticized, although right out of surgery and barely in control of his senses, fought off the unprincipled attempt to get an anesthetized man to sign-off on something despicable. John David Ashcroft refused to sign-off on the escalation of wiretapping even while seriously ill and not quite able to function. While still dazed and overcome from surgery and the aftermath drugs, assisted by his deputy, James Comey, snuffed out the most unbelievable whoring, slime balling, cowardly action, by what passes in an era of nefarious, and despicable, misbehavior, as by what degrading pestilence, to anyone with an ounce of integrity would agree, is unmatched in American history. It was said by John the Baptist that he was not worthy to unlatch even Jesus sandals, I will say that regardless of what many may hold against John D. Ashcroft, in this case, at least, he was a man of honor and principles, it is a modest matter to say, and I do not mention his name, not wishing to sully the name of Ashcroft by association in the same line, the current Attorney General is not worthy even to clean the outhouse if only perhaps used once by his predescessor." Gathered from TV, Radio and News Stories It was only after Comey and a number of other DoJ lawyers threatened to resign, did President Bush agree amend his changes to the program. Green Bag a legal affairs journal, in its summer issue, published Comey's speech, which is excerpted below. He explains that it is extremely difficult "...for a conscientious attorney to work in the intelligence community, particularly for those whose work touches on war and counter-terrorism. It is not because we don't work with great people. We do. We work with people who have dedicated their lives to protecting this great country and all it stands for." He goes on to say that the rational, is that the DoJ doesn't do this or that, people will die It can be hard, ... extraordinarily difficult to be the attorney standing in front of the freight train that is the need for this. Because we don't want people to die . . .." He goes on to intimate that things may seem simple to some people, but it is not that simple to place honor and patriotism against each other in conflicting pressures... To some requests, which place one's personal integrity but then also, work against the Constitution "...No is much, much harder. No must be spoken into a storm of crisis, with loud voices all around, with lives being uncertain. No is often the undoing of a career. And often, No must be spoken in competition with the voices of other lawyers who do not have the courage to echo it." 'For all those reasons, it takes far more than a sharp legal mind to say "no" when it matters most. It takes moral character. It takes an ability to see the future. It takes an appreciation of the damage that will flow from an unjustified "yes." It takes an understanding that, in the long-run, intelligence under law is the only sustainable intelligence in this country . . .." There two men, Comey and Ashcroft put honor, the constitution, and the Law, above men who control their jobs, armies, killers and assassins, but they did not shirk that duty, as so many in the current administration have. The other came away with money laughing all the way to the bank, but crying all the way to Hell. In My Article At The URL Above, I Also Said: "I thought in my lifetime that I had witnessed the most vile, ignominious, lowest of the low, here and there, but I was wrong because until this smirking, miscreant, maladjusted image of Charlie McCarthy, puppet, never have I seen anyone so arrogant, with so little about which to warrant arrogance, if it can indeed ever be warranted, as this popinjay with a badge. Gonzales is not only a schmuck; he is a foolish, schmuck, a coward and a sycophant sucking up to the Gringo, disowning his own heritage. One on one with anyone I know, or ever knew, he would rank last in integrity, and intellectually a shade below Wiley Coyote, with none of Wiley's charm, or anyone else's. Some men do not believe in God, and they display it by selling what little dignity they, (though it is doubtful Gonzales has any) do have and thus eagerly embrace the flames of Hellfire, for the favor of an evil empire and it's despicable Emperor. To one of his disgusting character, neither the Bill of Rights, nor the Constitution has any meaning...and that was before the story we now know so well and about which I elaborate herein. The incident I relate here, reminds me of people blaspheming in the presence of The Lord. In the case, I relate next, Gonzales was allegedly also willing to accost a seriously ill man in his hospital room to get his signature on a malicious justification for unprecedented domestic surveillance. On the evening of March 10, 2004, a few days after Ashcroft was rushed to George Washington University Hospital in the wake of an acute attack of pancreatitis. They removed his gallbladder and he was bedded in intensive care. Mr. Ashcroft's wife banned all visitors and phone calls because of the seriousness of the illness. At the time of Ashcroft's illness there was a tooth and nail battle between the Justice Department and the White House concerning the program of warrantless domestic electronic surveillance which GW Bush had authorized after the September 11, 2001, disaster. The Justice Department had reviewed the program and was doubt, to say the least, concerning the programs legality. As Ashcroft was crushed by pancreatitis, he transferred the powers of his office to Comey, his deputy. Comey said that both Ashcroft and then he had refused to recertify the legality of Bush's warrantless wiretapping program (the reasons for that are classified of the program until changes were made. On the eve the current authorization was set to expire, as Comey was being driven home he got a phone call from Ashcroft's chief of staff, who had been called by Ashcroft's wife to inform her that Gonzales, who was then White House counsel, and White House chief of staff Andrew Card were speeding to the hospital, to attempt to convince get the acutely ill Ashcroft to overrule Comey and recertify by signing the reauthorization. Backing up a bit for a moment, at a White House meeting on March 9, 2004, Comey had told Vice President Cheney that he, was not about to certify the program. In light of this untoward action by Card and Gonzales, Comey ordered his driver to swing about and rush back to the hospital. (Obviously, this is a dedicated man of action) and arrived at the hospital not knowing if he had beaten Card and Gonzales to Ashcroft's room, and rather than risk waiting for the elevator, he raced up the stairs. When he arrived, heart pounding from the stair leaping to the correct floor, once at the room, as he testified, he encountered, the following scenario, "...And Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed. " Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn't clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off." I meant it and finally said it right. So, while we are often congratulating ourselves for being courageous in complementing those who always agree with us, let us again take a moment to honor some who did not always agree with us on every issue but put their lives, jobs and honor on the line against Darth Vader the Death Star and oodles of money and "security" and approval by the Boss, let us honor and welcome to the ranks of heroes, Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey and Attorney General John David Ashcroft, real men, in an era of mobsters, cowards, hypocrites and scum. There are on both side's men of honor who simply sometimes happen to disagree on a few things.