Thursday, April 29, 2004
Ashcroft's Testimony at the 9/11 Hearings
I made a point to listen to John Ashcroft's testimony at the 9/11 commission in it's entirety, and I thought he was great! He made everything crystal clear. I really liked the way he went point by point comparing what he did to what the Clinton administration did. And, it was so appropriate that he pointed out how the left kept criticizing him for not having the dots connected before 9/11, but as soon as he connected them, he was criticized for that. Too bad people in NYC don't listen to these hearings first-hand, because I think he cleared up any possible lingering doubts people might have about the US Patriot Act. He did a great job explaining that all the powers the government is granted in the Act are already in use in other areas of law, so one can't legitimately argue that it violates civil rights. And, as soon as he said that a member of the commission wrote the 1995 memo instructing an expanded policy on "the wall", I knew it was Jamie Corelick. Did you hear her ridiculous defense on the Lou Dobbs show? It was true she wrote the memo with these policies, but it was John Ashcroft's fault for leaving them in place when he first took office. What a joke. Finally, I told a friend prior to this, that I didn't believe we should have a 9/11 commission because everyone already knows what happened and it's just a political ploy to bash the Bush administration. I knew about the wall for the last year. I was shocked to find out that most of the commissioners did not know about it. If little Debbie from NYC knows, how come all these big former senators don't know? Ashcroft's testimony was not a shock to me; however, the commission's surprise at his information was. The left is saying he "bashed" Clinton, but in fact, he said not one condescending word or negative characterization: he just gave the facts. (But when the left calls Bush "a jerk", to them that's a fact). The main message I got out of it, was that he is a very principled person, and will do the right thing even if he has to pay a political consequence for it. As someone who had to run for my life, I am GLAD we have someone like him in office: I sleep better at night. On a personal note, I thought his introduction on the tragedy of 9/11 was very moving. I don't know how anyone could listen to him and not like him. We should all thank G-d that we have a man like him as Attorney General.
I made a point to listen to John Ashcroft's testimony at the 9/11 commission in it's entirety, and I thought he was great! He made everything crystal clear. I really liked the way he went point by point comparing what he did to what the Clinton administration did. And, it was so appropriate that he pointed out how the left kept criticizing him for not having the dots connected before 9/11, but as soon as he connected them, he was criticized for that. Too bad people in NYC don't listen to these hearings first-hand, because I think he cleared up any possible lingering doubts people might have about the US Patriot Act. He did a great job explaining that all the powers the government is granted in the Act are already in use in other areas of law, so one can't legitimately argue that it violates civil rights. And, as soon as he said that a member of the commission wrote the 1995 memo instructing an expanded policy on "the wall", I knew it was Jamie Corelick. Did you hear her ridiculous defense on the Lou Dobbs show? It was true she wrote the memo with these policies, but it was John Ashcroft's fault for leaving them in place when he first took office. What a joke. Finally, I told a friend prior to this, that I didn't believe we should have a 9/11 commission because everyone already knows what happened and it's just a political ploy to bash the Bush administration. I knew about the wall for the last year. I was shocked to find out that most of the commissioners did not know about it. If little Debbie from NYC knows, how come all these big former senators don't know? Ashcroft's testimony was not a shock to me; however, the commission's surprise at his information was. The left is saying he "bashed" Clinton, but in fact, he said not one condescending word or negative characterization: he just gave the facts. (But when the left calls Bush "a jerk", to them that's a fact). The main message I got out of it, was that he is a very principled person, and will do the right thing even if he has to pay a political consequence for it. As someone who had to run for my life, I am GLAD we have someone like him in office: I sleep better at night. On a personal note, I thought his introduction on the tragedy of 9/11 was very moving. I don't know how anyone could listen to him and not like him. We should all thank G-d that we have a man like him as Attorney General.
