NP Ashcroft

[Doug Millison]

He has long been close to Pat Robertson. He introduced the 
televangelist and Christian
Coalition founder at the 1992 Republican convention. In 1996, 
Robertson touted Ashcroft as veep material. In 1998, while Ashcroft 
was contemplating a presidential bid, Robertson donated $10,000 to 
Ashcroft's political action committee. Wouldn't it be fun to see 
Ashcroft asked this query: In his book, The New World Order, Pat 
Robertson, your close friend, wrote that President Bush -- the father 
of the man whose Cabinet you are joining -- was, knowingly or 
unknowingly, assisting a global conspiracy to bring about Satan's 
rule of Earth. What do you make of such an assertion? Do you agree 
with Robertson that Satan is trying to gain control of the world and 
uses political leaders to do so? If you do, can you please explain 
how this conspiracy is being waged and identify which political 
leaders are involved? If you do not, can you please explain why you 
have accepted so much political support from someone who holds these 
opinions?

After football star Reggie White created a fuss in 1998, when he told 
the Wisconsin legislature that abortion is a sin and that America has 
turned away from God by permitting homosexuality to "run rampant," 
Ashcroft congratulated him and sent him a note declaring, "You are a 
credit to sports." This, too, might warrant a probing question or 
two. Does Ashcroft believe America has disavowed God? If so, how 
should America get right with the Almighty? Would it help if America 
eliminated homosexuality by one means or another? What does he think 
of civil disobedience designed to shut down abortion clinics? If he 
sincerely believes abortion is mass murder and a sin, shouldn't he 
encourage such action? But, then, how could he do his job as Attorney 
General and protect abortion clinics from those anti-abortion 
fanatics who attempt to block their operations? What a wonderful 
hearing this could be.

Bush has selected not merely a conservative, but one who hangs with 
the true believers. In 1997, Ashcroft was encouraged to run for 
president by leading figures of the religious right, including Paul 
Weyrich, Michael Farris, and Phyllis Schlafly. He personally took two 
thousand Promise Keepers on a tour of Washington. In 1998, he came in 
second on the legislative scorecard of the John Birch Society. (He 
placed ahead of Jesse Helms and behind Bob Smith.) Yet Bush has 
praised Ashcroft as a fair-minded man of integrity and principles. 
Fair-minded? Not if you're gay or even merely a political opponent. 
Ashcroft has been a partisan warrior. During the 1992 campaign, he 
attacked Bill Clinton for advocating programs that "would cripple" 
the economy. At the GOP convention, he denounced Democrats for having 
written God out of their platform and for turning the "traditional 
family ... into any two people with the same address." He has been an 
ardent critic of the National Endowment for the Arts, denouncing it 
for "communist-style central planning."

http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/01/02/
-excerpt of David Corn's article on John Ashcroft